Dana White: UFC, Fighting, Khabib, Conor, Tyson, Ali, Rogan, Elon & Zuck | Lex Fridman Podcast #421

Dana White tells Lex Fridman how he bought the UFC for $2M, built it into a global sport, and why the Elon vs. Zuck fight was genuinely happening.

• Dana White and the Fertitta brothers bought the UFC for $2 million after the previous owner told White he couldn’t fund another event.
• White was receiving daily death threats from an Affliction co-owner during the early competitor wars; MMA promoters in Europe were car-bombing each other.
• The Griffin vs. Bonnar fight on Spike TV was the UFC’s breakout moment — Spike executives signed a new deal with White on a napkin in the alley that same night.
• White trained both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, was scouting the Coliseum in Italy, and says the fight was genuinely going to happen.
• White once lost $3 million in a single blackjack session while drunk — he thought he’d lost $80K until the casino called the next morning.
• White beat Caesars for $12 million over one summer and won a single $1M hand at Mandalay Bay.
• White credits Vision Quest as the movie that changed his life trajectory, and says fighting evolved more in 30 UFC years than in the prior 300.

Guests: Dana White, UFC CEO and president · 2024-03-25 · Watch on YouTube