Contrary to what some people think, Dana White and the Fertitta brothers didn’t start the UFC. But they did save it. When they bought the promotion in 2001, the UFC was on life support, struggling for mainstream acceptance and even banned in multiple states. Fast forward two decades, and it’s a global juggernaut worth billions.
In 2001, White and brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta saw potential in the struggling Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and purchased it for $2 million. At the time, the promotion was facing financial difficulties and lacked mainstream acceptance.
Determined to turn things around, the new owners invested heavily, pouring over $40 million into the company to revamp its image and operations. Their efforts paid off as the UFC gained popularity, leading to its sale in 2016 for an unprecedented $4 billion.
According to UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, who fought both before and after White took over, there’s no way the UFC would have survived without them.
Liddell saw firsthand how White and the Fertittas poured their money, time, and vision into making the UFC what it is today. In a conversation with Jake Shields, Liddell said, “Before him and Lorenzo came in, when I was in the sport a home run was making $150,000 a year. By the end of my career, I was making that on my shorts.”
“If they had not come in, I don’t know if we would have got there where I was still fighting. We would not have what we have today.”, he added on a grateful note.
Feb23.2001
19 years ago today,
UFC 30 took place at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This was the first UFC event that took place under Zuffa regime.
Dana White and the Fertitta brothers propelled the sport into the next dimension. pic.twitter.com/22RH6bfD6z
— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) February 23, 2020
Furthermore, the promotion has seen an exponential growth in the last 5 years and is currently valued at over $10 billion.
White is now hoping to use the same playbook that made the UFC successful in his Slap Fighting venture as well as his boxing ambitions.
White plans a boxing campaign
White has long been critical of the way pugilism as a sport has grown in the last decade or so. While his voice has largely fallen on deaf ears, it looks like it’s only a matter of time before he becomes a major promoter in the sport.
According to reports, the UFC boss is in advanced talks with Turki Alalshikh to launch a new boxing league, potentially shaking up the entire industry.
For over three decades, White has been the driving force behind the UFC, turning it into a global powerhouse. But despite his success in MMA, White’s first love was boxing—he even competed as a young fighter before shifting his focus to promotion.
His first boxing event took place last September at Dublin’s 3Arena, where he promoted Callum Walsh, a fighter he’s been managing for years.
Now, White and TKO Holdings (owners of the UFC and WWE) are working with Alalshikh, who has been pushing for a unified boxing system, much like the UFC.
Whether or not that is a good thing is yet to be seen. However, with Ari Emanuel, the CEO of TKO Group Holdings, talking about abolishing the Ali Act, things may not be as rosy as they look.
The Ali Act is a federal law protecting boxers by limiting the length of contracts promoters can keep boxers beholden to. Interestingly, it also focuses on revenue sharing between promoters and pugilists, something the UFC has not had a good track record of.
