Dana White, King of MMA

had been dilapidated and dangerously close to being shut down, was saved by
generous local donations and a dedicated new board of directors. The board consisted
of Joseph Gray, Director; Dan Long, President; Dana White, Vice President; Peter
Welch, Treasurer; Tom Atado, Facility Coordinator; Tournement Coordinator, Derek
Barnes, ; and Administrative Trainer, Jim Gifford, .” Dana was quoted in the local
Southie newspaper in an article on the gym: “Any youth that comes through that door
and is willing to apply himself will get the best training in Massachusetts. In amateur
boxing it is rare to get individual and specialized training, due to the fact that there
is no money involved” ( The Southie News , September 1994).
Peter and Dana began working together, and they set up a workout program
called boxing aerobics. They were teaching it in most of the gyms and health clubs in
Boston. Dana would later teach these classes in the gyms in Las Vegas when he moved
back out there. Dana boxed training with Peter for a brief time, but he was hurt
sparring one day and decided he would rather manage and train other people to box,
than to be the one in the ring fighting.
Dana worked with Peter at the Pals gym, teaching and training young Southie kids
to box. He was also teaching classes at the health clubs and gyms Peter had lined up.
The classes were very popular at all the gyms, and Peter and Dana were very busy.
Peter and Dana were like brothers, until one day, there was a huge falling out. Dana
decided he had to leave Boston and get far away, and so he packed up and moved
back to Vegas. I was very upset about Dana leaving because the fight was over a
disagreement about money, but once again, this was a twist of fate for my son. Had
Dana and Peter not had this falling out, there would be no UFC today because Dana
would never have left Boston.
Peter runs a gym in Southie these days, and he and Dana are friends again. I
imagine that, when Dana thinks back to his years in Boston, he recalls them as some
of the best of his life, spent with some of the best friends of his life. Dana truly did
have the best bunch of friends, and they did not care about money or who you were
or where you came from. They hung out because they all got on so well together and
had such a good time. One day not long ago, Baso, (another good friend of Danas from
Southie) told me he would give anything to have his old friend Dana back, the Dana