Opinion: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Dana White Character

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

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A recent scandal involving UFC President Dana White in which he was caught on camera fighting with his wife at a club in Mexico—it included the two participants slapping one another across the face—means now is as good a time as any to reflect on how he has shaped the Ultimate Fighting Championship during the nearly 22 years he has stood at the front of it. For better or worse, White profiles as an utterly unique character and unlike any other head of a sports league in history. Obviously, a complete analysis of his time with the company could fill an entire book, but we can look at the general aspects of his tenure and its effect on mixed martial arts, along with where his trailblazing persona was a massive benefit and where it was a huge liability.

Let me first state that I have no interest in getting into the nitty-gritty of the sordid details of White’s personal life. I don’t care about a fighter’s dirty laundry, and I care even less when it comes to a promoter. If you go through my archives, I have yet to write a single article focusing on a scandal that occurred outside the cage, and I sincerely hope it will stay that way. White’s private life and behavior are between him and his family, no one else. I will only briefly mention it as it relates to his stewardship of the UFC.

Right away, one notices a massive difference between White and the typical head honcho in sports. Compare him to David Stern, the longtime commissioner of the NBA and the gold standard of sports league bosses. In 1984, when Stern took over, the NBA was only popular in the United States, players held offseason jobs and franchises were valued at a few million dollars. When he left in 2014, it was a massive global sports entity raking in $5.5 billion a year. Stern was a top lawyer whose alma mater was Columbia Law School. He was a highly educated, well-spoken, proper man from upper-crust society. He stayed out of the public eye, except for when he was talking about basketball.

White is a two-time college dropout and ran boxercise gyms in Massachusetts. He left for Las Vegas when an associate of infamous mobster Whitey Bulger threatened him over an alleged debt. He lacks higher education, as evidenced by his unrefined speech. White does not live a quiet personal life. He has himself publicly bragged about gambling and losing $1 million on a single boxing fight, is known to play blackjack at $75,000 a hand and threw a lavish $1 million Sweet 16 party for his son, all while Charles Jourdain begged for a bonus to move out of his parents’ basement and Paddy Pimblett got $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win as the biggest attraction of the night in his UFC debut. His own mother claimed White had an affair with his brother’s wife, and there was a lurid lawsuit in which a stripper allegedly filmed a sex tape with White without his knowledge before she and her boyfriend tried to extort him for money. Frankly, White’s list of scandals rivals or exceeds those of Jon Jones, Conor McGregor or any other troubled star.

What are the pluses and minuses of such a unique personality? On the bright side, White passes himself off as a “man of the people,” someone who understands and appreciates the common man and speaks his language. Obviously, part of this narrative is pure nonsense. For instance, White attained his position with the UFC because he was childhood friends with Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta—they bought the company in 2001 and owned it until 2016—not through hard work, skill or gumption. Cronyism is unavoidable, whether in government or business, and occasionally the cronies even do a good job, as White arguably has during his tenure. However, let’s call a spade a spade. I do not believe the average UFC fan can relate to spending $1 million on a Sweet 16 party, losing millions of dollars gambling or allegedly cheating on his wife with a myriad of other women. In fact, those are all aspect of hedonism and materialism that working-class folks associate with out-of-touch Hollywood elites. Nevertheless, even with those faults, it is likely true that White speaks to fans better and more directly than NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, both of whom are even further removed from the blue-collar followers of either American football or basketball. There is much less phoniness with White. He is much more authentic, and there’s a lot to be said for that. Many consider him a type of folk hero. I completely understand why and think this is a great, laudable quality.

Unfortunately, it comes with an awful lot of baggage. To slightly paraphrase what the great Demetrious Johnson said in an interview in which he mentioned the UFC president screaming and cursing at him over the phone, no one buys a ticket or pay-per-view to watch Dana White. In that sense, White’s personality is a massive liability. His various scandals take attention away from the actual fighters and events he promotes. Instead of talking about the first UFC card of the year on Jan. 14, or the UFC 283 pay-per-view the following week, we’re all discussing White’s messy personal life. That would be perfectly fine if this were professional wrestling and White could book himself in a match against one of his disgruntled fighters, ala Vince McMahon and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the 1990s. There is no pay-off for this attention, only distraction.

Another big problem: White’s relationship with fighters. When Zuffa first bought the UFC in 2001, he was far more respectful towards his athletes. Over the years, as he has become more successful, rich and established, White has increasingly cursed and insulted his fighters directly or at press conferences. His growth in physical size is mirrored by the growth of his ego and attitude. Again, this works fine when fighters have no recourse. They simply have to ball up their fists and take it. However, it backfires once fighters gain some leverage, either in terms of popularity or being able to jump to a rival promotion.

White insulted Corey Anderson, and not long after, “The Ultimate Fighter 19” winner left for Bellator MMA. Anderson might not be a popular megastar, but as an elite fighter, he sure would have been nice to have around when the UFC had to play musical chairs for the vacant light heavyweight crown in a lousy division, right? Instead, the UFC was forced to rely on a 43-year-old Glover Teixeira, a man Anderson utterly dominated four-plus years ago. White insulted Francis Ngannou and paid him a pittance of what he is worth. Now, the company is locked in a power play with the Frenchman, who fought only once in 2021 and has not defended the heavyweight championship in almost a year. Think the UFC could have profited from an additional Ngannou pay-per-view or two? I can provide other examples, and those are just the ones we know.

If White could marry his tough-talking persona and relatability with a more low-key personal life and a wiser, more respectful attitude toward his fighters, he would have a nearly perfect personality—something akin to MMA’s version of David Stern. Rougher around the edges, but just as effective. At present, the negative outweighs the positive. It’s easy to dismiss this reality while the UFC dominates the MMA market and figures to continue to do so in the near future. However, as his most recent scandal proves that White’s unique persona does more harm than good. The UFC might succeed in the coming years, but it will do so in spite of him not because of him.