White and his sister, Kelly, were raised by their mother and her family for the majority of their childhoods.[9] White's mother was a nurse, and the family moved to Las Vegas when White was in third grade, as Vegas offered higher wages for nurses.[10] White attended Bishop Gorman High School, where he first met Lorenzo Fertitta, although they did not become close friends until years later. White said he disliked school and "got kicked out of Gorman twice".[11] Despite living in Nevada, the Whites returned to the East Coast in the summers, to spend time with White's grandparents in Levant, Maine, a small town near Bangor. White spent his senior year of high school in Maine.[10]
After graduating from Hermon High School in 1987,[12] White started college twice, once at Quincy College and once at UMass Boston, but dropped out during his first semester each time.[13] During this time, he had various jobs, such as laying asphalt, working as a bouncer at an Irish bar, and being a bellhop at the Boston Harbor Hotel. White had begun boxing at age 17, and befriended former Golden Gloves champion Peter Welch. Through this relationship, White decided he wanted to enter the fight business, and he started a boxing gym in Boston with Welch. White initially intended to become a professional boxer himself, but was put off by the idea after seeing a punch drunk boxer and worrying that he would suffer the same neurodegeneration.[14]
White then worked as a boxercise coach.[15]
White has stated he left Boston to return to Las Vegas in the early 1990s after being threatened by mobster Whitey Bulger and his associate Kevin Weeks. "He basically said, 'You owe us money'. It was like $2,500, which was like $25,000 to me back then, and I didn't pay him. This went on for a while and one day I was at my place and I got a call and they said, 'You owe us the money tomorrow by 1 o'clock'. I literally hung up the phone, picked up the phone and called Delta and bought a ticket to Vegas."[16]
In Las Vegas, White continued running boxercise gyms and also began training jiu-jitsu under the tutelage of John Lewis (a competitor in UFC 22 and UFC 28), alongside Lorenzo Fertitta and his older brother Frank Fertitta III.[17][18] White had reconnected with the Fertitta brothers after meeting Lorenzo at a mutual friend's wedding; they had not spoken to each other in 10 years prior to this encounter.[19] It was in Lewis' practises where White met mixed martial artistsTito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell and ultimately became their manager.[20][18]
While working as a manager for Ortiz and Liddell, White met Bob Meyrowitz, the owner of Semaphore Entertainment Group, the then-parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). When White learned that Meyrowitz was looking to sell the UFC, he contacted his friend Lorenzo Fertitta (an executive and co-founder of Station Casinos, and former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission), to ask if he would be interested in acquiring the company. In January 2001, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank acquired the UFC for $2 million, which subsequently became a subsidiary of Zuffa. White was installed as the company's president.[21] He was also granted a stake in the company as a finder's fee and as sweat equity.[22]
White said that when he and the Fertittas acquired the UFC, all they received was the brand name "UFC" and an old octagon. The previous owners had stripped the company's assets to avoid bankruptcy, so much so that the UFC.com website had been sold to a company named "User Friendly Computers".[23] The first UFC cards under White's leadership, UFC 30 and UFC 31, were held in the Trump Taj Mahal, which led to the development of White's long-term friendship with Donald Trump.[24][25][26] The UFC did not immediately have success after the Zuffa takeover, and by 2004 the Fertittas had invested over $40 million into the company without attaining significant growth or reaching profitability.[27] White, alongside the Fertittas and television producer Craig Piligian, developed the idea of an MMA-based reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, as an attempt to create interest in the sport. The company self-funded the show as television networks refused to pay for the cost of production. The Ultimate Fighter, particularly the finale fight between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin, is credited for having "saved the UFC".[27] The UFC subsequently developed into a highly successful business under White's leadership; in 2006, UFC 66 headlined by Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz generated over 1,000,000 pay-per-view buys, and by 2008 the company was valued by Forbes at $1.1 billion.[28]
In 2010, Flash Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Government, bought a 10% stake in Zuffa for a reported $150–175 million, leaving White with a 9% stake in the company and the Fertittas with 40.5% each.[29][30] In a 2011 street interview with TMZ Sports, White responded "never ever" to the question: "When will we see women in the UFC?"[31] He later reversed this stance and in February 2013 the UFC held its first women's bout, featuring Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche.[32] Rousey subsequently became one of the UFC's two main marquee stars in the mid-2010s, alongside Conor McGregor. The pair accounted for 4.6 million pay-per-view buys in 2015, 61% of the company's total buyrate that year,[33] as the UFC's gross revenue reached $600 million in 2015.[34]
In July 2016, Zuffa was sold to a consortium of investors led by WME-IMG for $4.025 billion. White owned 9% of the company at the time of the sale.[35] White continued in his role as president,[36] and was given a stake in the new business.[34] In March 2019, White signed a new, seven-year contract to remain president of the UFC, as the UFC signed a deal with ESPN.[37][38] In April 2023, Endeavor (re-named from WME-IMG) announced a deal that would see professional wrestling company WWEmerge with UFC to form a new public company, TKO Group Holdings.[39] White was subsequently given the title as the chief executive officer of the UFC.[40][41]
Boxing
White entered the boxing scene by co-promoting Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor due to McGregor being contracted to the UFC. In October 2017, White said at Freddie Roach's Wild Card West boxing club that he was "getting into boxing, 100 percent."[42] White said in 2019 that he wanted to incorporate boxing into the company portfolio of the UFC.[43] He later backpedaled on these plans, stating in 2022 that boxing promotion is "a broken business that is an absolute nightmare to try to fix".[44] In 2024, White promoted a card featuring Irish boxer Callum Walsh which was streamed on UFC Fight Pass. He subsequently re-announced his intention to enter boxing promotion, and said he is "coming in guns blazing" in 2025.[45]
Other ventures
In 2017, White began hosting Dana White's Contender Series. Available initially through UFC Fight Pass, the promotion's digital streaming service, and licensed separately from the UFC brand, the show allows burgeoning fighters to compete for a contract in the UFC.[46]
White was an executive producer of The Ultimate Surfer, a surfing competition television series styled after The Ultimate Fighter. It was created by Kelly Slater, a professional surfer and long-time friend of White.[47] The show premiered on ABC in August 2021, and was canceled after one season due to low ratings.[48][49]
White alongside the Fertittas co-founded Power Slap, a slap fighting competition that debuted in January 2023 and was previously televised on TBS.[51] After TBS did not renew its deal with Power Slap, the competition then began to be aired on the digital streaming platform Rumble.[52]
Personal life
White met his wife Anne (née Stella) when they were in the eighth grade, and they married in 1996.[53] They have two sons and one daughter. White bought a mansion in Pine Island Court, Las Vegas, in 2006 from Frank Fertitta III for $1.95 million. White bought three other mansions in the same area from October 2016 to June 2017 for a combined total of around $6.2 million. Demolition permits were issued for the houses, presumably with the intent of creating a mega-mansion for White and his family.[54]
In 2011, White's mother, June, released the book Dana White, King of MMA: An Unauthorized Biography.[57] June claimed in the book that, since his success with the UFC, Dana had "turned his back on his family and friends who were there for him when he needed help and support".[58]
Health issues
In May 2012, White revealed that he had been diagnosed with Ménière's disease, an inner ear disorder.[59] He said, "It's like vertigo but on steroids."[60] White said that the disease was brought on because of a large fight he was involved in during his youth.[61] The UFC on Fuel TV 3: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier event in May 2012 was the first UFC card he had missed in 11 years with White staying home, adhering to medical advice.[62]
White underwent Orthokine treatment for Ménière's disease in 2013, which he says has greatly reduced his symptoms.[62]
In 2022, White stated he had undergone medical testing and was diagnosed with extremely high triglyceride levels and other irregularities. He was given 10.4 years left to live if he did not rectify the problems. White said that since then he has adhered to a ketogenic diet, which he says has remedied his sleep apnea and alleviated his leg pain.[63][64] The regimen was prescribed by biologist Gary Brecka, who White credited for the improvement in his health.[65][66]
Politics
White spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where he endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump.[67] White said that Trump helped the UFC at its beginnings, allowing the UFC to host its first event under Zuffa ownership (UFC 30) at the Trump Taj Mahal when other venues refused to host the UFC.[68] White said, "No arenas wanted us. This guy reached out, and he's always been a friend to me."[69] White reiterated his support for Trump for the 2020 election and spoke at the podium at a Trump reelection rally in Colorado.[70] In February 2020, White donated $1 million to America First Action, a super political action committee that supported Trump's re-election.[71] In April 2020, White joined a group of industry leaders to help the United States rebuild its economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic.[72] White again endorsed Trump in 2024 and introduced him at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[73]
White has been a fan of the New England Patriots since childhood, and has stated that he is an admirer of the former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.[79] White said in a 2022 interview alongside Rob Gronkowski that he had worked to negotiate a deal which would have brought Brady and Gronkowski to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, but Jon Gruden nixed the deal and the duo instead signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[80]
White began training Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1998, and stated it had a positive impact on him and made him realize the importance of having ground skills in fighting situations.[81]
In a season 15 episode of History Channel'sPawn Stars (originally airing on February 5, 2018), White purchased around $60,000 worth of katana swords, including one of Rick Harrison's 17th-century Japanese katanas.[82]
White is a recreational gambler.[83] He plays high-stakes blackjack, and has been limited from playing at multiple casinos in Las Vegas. He states he plays $75,000 a hand, and if he wins the first couple of hands, he takes the $150,000 profit and leaves.[84] White also gambles on sports. He stated in 2021 that the biggest sports bet he had placed was in 2007, when he wagered $1 million on Jermain Taylor to beat Kelly Pavlik. Taylor lost the bout by technical knockout, and White said about the experience, "I was in Cabo, relaxing having fun. That ruined my fun. Ruined my whole trip."[85] White stated in 2024 that he plays high-stakes baccarat, and wagers up to $350,000 per hand at Caesars Palace. He claims to have lost $8 million in one night, and from January to March 2024 to have won $26 million at Caesars Palace. White stated a "goal in life before I die" is for a casino to allow him to play $1 million per hand.[86]
Altercation with his wife
During a 2022 New Year's Eve party at a nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, White and his wife Anne were filmed arguing and then getting into a physical altercation with each other. Anne slapped White and White responded by slapping her in return. They both apologized for their actions, and said they had consumed too much alcohol that night.[87][88] The UFC did not respond or address White's actions after the incident. The California Legislative Women's Caucus sent a letter to Ari Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, the company that owns the UFC, requesting White be removed from his role in the UFC.[89][90][91]
Charity work
In 2010, White donated $50,000 for a liver transplant to Tuptim Jadnooleum, the daughter of "Kru Nai" Rattanachai, one of the instructors for Tiger Muay Thai and MMA in Phuket, Thailand.[92] In 2011, White donated $100,000 to his former high school to fund renovations to their athletic facilities.[5] In 2017, White donated $1 million to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.[93] In 2019, after UFC 242, Khabib Nurmagomedov raised $100,000 for Dustin Poirier's charity, The Good Fight Foundation, White followed and also donated $100,000 to Poirier's charity foundation.[94][95] In 2024, White donated $50,000 towards the support of victims affected by the attempted assassination of former president Donald J. Trump during a rally held on July 13 in Butler, PA.[96]
^writer, Lance Pugmire Lance Pugmire is the Los Angeles Times’ former boxing/MMA/Ducks beat (July 11, 2009). "The driving forces behind UFC". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
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