UFC events may be incredible spectacles but sometimes, other situations have to take priority.
While Dana White may have recently handed his face-off role to Daniel Cormier at UFC 318, he can usually be found cage-side for the biggest events.
As shown with White currently putting ideas together for the UFC’s event at the White House in 2026, running an event requires a lot of planning.
Of course, not everything can be prepared for and that has led to the UFC CEO having to take some important calls during fight night.
There is one instance in particular that jumped to mind for White when he reflected on a crazy emergency that took place while Daniel Cormier recorded one of his most iconic wins.
Dana White had to leave Daniel Cormier vs Alexander Gustafsson after being told about a grisly family emergency
In a recent interview with Candy Funhouse, it was referenced that Dana White is often busy with his phone while attending UFC PPV events.
The UFC CEO may be taking in the fights, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other matters to attend to.
When naming the craziest call he’s ever received during an event, White reflected on a family emergency that required his immediate attention.
UFC 192 took place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on October 3 of 2015 where the light heavyweight title was defended.
On the same night that Islam Makhachev suffered his one loss, Daniel Cormier defeated Alexander Gustafsson via split decision in a classic UFC title fight.
Unfortunately, White wasn’t able to see the fight through from start to finish after receiving a call about his daughter being involved in a grisly situation with their family dog.
The story certainly isn’t for the squeamish as the UFC boss diverted his attention away from the action inside the Octagon to deal with the problem as quickly as possible.
“Actually, that’s a great question and it just hit me,” White recalled.” I think we were in Texas and it was a Cormier fight, I don’t remember who Cormier was fighting but my daughter was really young and the dog that we had at the time ripped her ear off during the fight. As you can imagine, my wife was losing her mind and everybody was freaking out.
“So, I ran over and grabbed Dr. Davidson, who’s the UFC doctor from Vegas, and we started making calls, got a plastic surgeon. Not only did the dog rip her ear off, it ripped her ear in half, too… They had to go to the freaking hospital and have her ear sewn back on. That is definitely the craziest call ever.”
Dana White provided more context on the story during an old appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast
Dana White told the same story during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience in 2015.
He said that after receiving a call from his sister-in-law, he couldn’t even understand what his wife was saying due to her state of panic.
White also said that after calling for a plastic surgeon, his daughter was able to make a remarkable recovery following a scary moment for his family.
“When the plastic surgeon came and put her ear back on and then fixed the ear this way, sewed it back together. My daughter’s ear looks unbelievable.”