Dana White, King of MMA

fights. Myself, Dana, two of my brothers, and a few other people were walking down
the hallway to Dana’s suite and I was speaking with someone about Randy, (and by
the way, I adore Randy, he is so Captain America). Dana was walking about ten feet in
front of me when he yells, “Why don’t you shut the fuck up? You don’t know
anything.” I knew he spoke that way to his fighters and employees, but I never
expected he would talk to me like that. I’m his mom, who says that to their mom? I
didn’t respond, I didn’t know how to respond to what had just happened. Later, when
Dana was no longer with us, everyone said, “don’t let what Dana just said bother you,
he’s under a lot of stress and he didn’t mean it.” I thought the same thing and just let
it go, although an apology at any point would have gone a long way.
At every fight, Dana always asked me if I was going to the press conference. In
the beginning, everyone wanted to go to the press conferences, but soon it was only
me going. Everyone else wanted to get to the after-fight parties. I’m sure people
would find it hard to believe, but many of the men who make their living fighting in
the octagon are extremely religious. On occasion, you’ll hear one of them say in an
after-fight interview that they thank God or Jesus for their success, (a lot also thank
their moms). In these press conferences I attended, when the winners of the fights
spoke, many started out by thanking God, and saying that, without His help, they
would not have the success they have. At one of the press conferences in 2004, a
Brazilian fighter who fought Randy for the light heavyweight championship was in
tears as he spoke because his sister had been kidnapped a month before (and it would
be years later before four people were arrested for her kidnapping and murder). He
said it was only with the help of Jesus that he was able to get up every day and move
forward. I had a lump in my throat listening to him, and I think everyone else in the
room did. There is a little irony in all of this because Dana claims to be an atheist.
After the press conference was finished I would wait while Dana talked privately
with the MMA press and fighters, and then we would head out for the after-fight
party. It would take us anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour to get through the
casino and hotel lobby because of all the fans still around in the hotel after the fights.
The minute they saw Dana walking by, they would stop him to ask him for a picture or
autograph or just to talk with him and let him know how much they loved the fights