Introduction
Very few people can take a company on the brink of bankruptcy and turn it into a
multibillion-dollar international business in eight short years. What type of person is
able to accomplish this feat while keeping the competition from even coming close to
taking any part of the market from them?
First, if you know that the initials MMA stand for mixed martial arts, you also
know that the UFC is the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the biggest promoter of
mixed martial arts in the world. If you know all of that, then you certainly would
recognize the name Dana White, King of MMA and President and part owner of the
UFC. Dana White was named Promoter of the Year from 2005 to 2008 and Nevada
Sportsman of the year in 2009; and in 2010, he was invited to speak at Oxford
University, the same place where President Reagan, Mother Teresa, and the Dali Lama
have been invited guest speakers.
There are few if any in the world who can claim the titles of President and King.
Although Dana can claim both titles, dictator could be another of those titles.
Everywhere Dana goes in the world — and the UFC is seen in more than 170 countries
and territories — his fans and the fans of MMA treat him like a rock star.
In an article titled “White Makes Hub-Bub” in the Boston Herald (August 9, 2009),
“White said, ‘I’m serious...it doesn’t make a difference to me, (but) it’s going to
happen. And it’s going to happen everywhere else all around the world. There’s no
stopping it.” Also high on White’s list is holding an event in Mexico. White said the
UFC secured a television deal for over-the-air broadcasts in Mexico and noted that the
initial results, for the broadcast of UFC 100, were an estimated 25 million Mexican
viewers tuning in.” This is what Dana’s fans love him for, the fact that he has taken
the sport of MMA to where it is today, and for Dana, there is no end in sight for the
expansion of the UFC and MMA.
Dana became involved in the sport in 2001. After four years of struggling against
enormous odds and losing money, the UFC exploded with the introduction of The
Ultimate Fighter reality show on Spike television in 2005. Now, even in these tough