Dana White insists that he will never retire from fight promotion.
The 55-year-old helped turn mixed martial arts from a niche sport branded ‘human cockfighting’ by some to a mega-money-making business worth billions of dollars.
As the greatest fighters of all time come and go, Dana White remains ever-present at the forefront of MMA’s premier league after more than two decades in his UFC boss gig.
If the Meta board member gets his wish, he’ll continue in the job until the day he dies.
Dana White insists he’ll never retire
White is believed to have hundreds of millions in the bank. After the UFC was sold for $4billion in 2016, he could’ve sailed off into the sunset and spent his days sipping cocktails on a beach.
Nine years later, he’s still traveling the globe to promote big UFC fights. This weekend will be no different as he’s expected in Sydney, Australia for UFC 312, which will see Dricus du Plessis and Zhang Weili defend their respective world titles in the top two fights.
“Everybody changes when you make a lot of money,” White told Tucker Carlson.
“No matter what walk of life you’re in, once you get to a certain level of success, you have to be a certain type of person to stay hungry and get out and fight every day.
“When we sold in 2016, 99 percent of the people said that I was going to retire and walk away. I’m not wired like that.
“I’m still out building new brands and doing s— that I don’t need to be doing. But I do it because I love it. You know how many people in a sale like mine in 2016, you never see that guy again? They’re done.
“I will never retire. Ever. I will keep dogging this out until the day I drop dead. I love it, 100 percent.”
Dana White plans to emulate boxing promoter he hates
White has picked up a few enemies during his career in the fight game.
Famously, he has a long-running feud with boxing promoter Bob Arum, who continues to put on big events despite being 93 years of age.
The MMA mogul openly admits that he holds ‘hate’ for Arum, but he also admires him because the Top Rank boss has maintained a relentless work ethic throughout his Hall of Fame career.
White added: “I hate him, he’s an a——, but Bob Arum, the boxing promoter, he’s [93] years old. I hate him. This guy’s the biggest douchebag of all time but I’m at the [Las Vegas] Aces WNBA game — Bob Arum is [93] years old, it’s 9 o’clock at night and he’s sitting over there courtside.
“I’m like holy s— Bob Arum is here, this is crazy, this guy’s [93] years old. He’s sitting over there, it’s 8:30, I s— you not, two days later I’m watching a fight, Bob Arum is in Saudi Arabia ringside at a boxing event. Two days later, he’s in London at a press conference. He’s [93] years old.”
“I hate him but you got to respect it right? How can you not respect that?”