Dana White: Art of Controlling the Message (And He Signed Up For Another Seven Years As UFC’s Ringmaster)

By ALAN SNEL

LVSportsBiz.com

 

The former boxing trainer who left Boston on a Delta flight for Las Vegas in 1995 after a mobster’s rep tried to shake him down for $2,500 — as the much-publicized story goes — sat across from one of his employees and chatted with her recently.

 

It was a pleasant conversation. Except UFC called the chat an “exclusive interview”and the 21-minute conversation that was videotaped and uploaded to YouTube showed UFC President Dana White and UFC “interviewer” Megan Olivi. (Note to UFC: It’s not an “exclusive interview” when your company is the organization doing the interview.)

 

It wasn’t so much an interview as it was a video commercial for the 49-year-old White to explain that he has signed up to work for UFC owner Endeavor for the next seven years, while he also lauded UFC’s partnership with ESPN, discussed UFC growth initiatives about its new international performance institutes and crowed about up-and-coming MMA prospects. UFC’s Olivi tossed softball questions and White used the fluff to provide an infomercial on UFC’s latest content. That’s not necessarily unusual these days. Teams in all leagues have “insider” reporters who offer questions to team brass and players to promote the product.

 

White mentioned UFC is expanding at its impressive Las Vegas headquarters off the 215 near Jones Boulevard with a new production facility that will allow UFC to film original programming (and do interviews with his pals at ESPN).

 

And White also said UFC is building new performance institutes in China, Mexico (three PIs) and Puerto Rico.

 

“It helps the sport overall,” White said of the impact of the new global performance institutes on the growth of mixed martial arts.

 

Before UFC opened its gleaming new headquarters off the beltway and was purchased for more than $4 billion in 2016, White was accessible to fans and local media as he enjoyed holding court in his jeans with the holes in them, T-shirts and his sneakers. I remember jogging with White at a UFC 5K event in downtown Las Vegas on Independence Day in 2014. There were days when White went toe-to-toe with fans at UFC fanfests, chatting about this fighter and that one.

 

Yet, White went out of his way during this UFC “interview” to say it wasn’t about the money after UFC was sold in 2016. And when someone proactively says it’s not about the money, it’s usually about the money. White made millions on the sale and expects more revenue to be flowing for UFC under Endeavor.

 

“After the sale I stayed on,” White said during the video. “It’s not about money. I like to win. I like to take this to the next level and the next level and the next level.”

 

Before serving as UFC’s ringmaster and public face, White was a trainer in Las Vegas in the late 1990s . The kid from Boston would later become friends with Donald Trump and White even spoke on Trump’s behalf at the 2016 Republican Convention. UFC even did a segment on Trump and combat sports. Take a peak.

 

White was also part of the 2017 promotion tour when UFC’s biggest name — Conor McGregor — tried to become a boxer and fought undefeated boxer and Las Vegas resident Floyd Mayweather in a crossover fight spectacle in August 2017.

 

These days, McGregor’s MMA skills are getting eclipsed by his hothead shenanigans outside the Octagon, like his toss of a dolly onto a bus at an arena in Brooklyn (and arrest) nearly a year ago and his recent arrest in Miami for breaking the cell phone of a fan who took a photo of him.

 

White was asked during the chat about his thoughts on McGregor and he offered this quip: “If he could stay out of trouble that would be incredible.”

 

I hope White doesn’t go too Hollywood with Endeavor owning UFC these days. He appears on ESPN all the time pitching UFC programming and I don’t see him talking with local media like he used to. I liked the days when White chatted with the masses and fans while wearing his jeans with the holes and a ragged T-shirt instead of showing up on ESPN in a blazer all the time.

 

I asked for a few more comments from UFC about White signing on for seven more years and a PR guy from the fight organization offered these words, “Dana’s comments speak for themselves. There are no additional comments about it at this time. ”

 

I guess I have to wait for UFC’s next “exclusive interview” with the ol’ boxing trainer from Boston.

 

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