(NewsNation) — Dana White may be best known among UFC fans, but the face of the popular mixed martial arts brand has climbed the ranks of those promoting Donald Trump as their choice to win the White House in next week’s election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
White’s relationship with Trump dates back 25 years to his early ties with UFC. His support for the former president has put him front and center at campaign rallies as Trump and Harris remain nearly deadlocked in the presidential race with just days remaining.
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As White has become more publicly connected to the political arena, who is he, and why has the former amateur boxer turned mixed martial arts executive become so politically active?
Dana White is the UFC president and CEO
White, 55, acquired a minority stake in UFC in 2002 after breaking into the fight game near Boston, where he was boxing, training and managing fighters. However, after he said he was threatened by men who claimed White owed them $2,500, he abruptly left the East Coast for Las Vegas, according to Forbes.
White began training MMA fighters in Las Vegas, including some who were featured in UFC events. He told Forbes he began attending UFC events.
“I ended up finding that out, that they’re in trouble and they’re probably going to go out of business,” White told Forbes. “And I’d been to a (UFC) event, and I was looking around and thinking, ‘Imagine if they did this, and imagine if they did that. This thing could actually be really big.’”
Serving as the president of Zuffa LLC, White became part of a group that acquired UFC when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and began sanctioning fights out of Las Vegas.
More than two decades later, Forbes valued UFC at $11.3 billion, the highest combat sports promotion in the county, well ahead of World Westling Entertainment, which was valued at $6.8 billion by Forbes earlier this year.
Dana White is a staunch Donald Trump supporter
Long before Trump first sought the presidency in 2016, he helped to get White’s UFC brand off the ground.
Due to the brutality of the sport, many critics — including late U.S. Sen. John McCain — helped get UFC events banned from cable television. McCain referred to MMA as “human cockfighting” and was among those hoping to have events banished.
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However, after the sport was legalized in New Jersey, Trump allowed UFC fights to be held at Trump-owned properties.
Former President Donald Trump, right, talks to Dana White while attending the UFC 302 mixed martial arts event Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
“Nobody took us serious then, except Donald Trump,” White said in a 2018 interview. “I would never say anything negative about Donald Trump because he was there when other people weren’t.”
White is now the one supporting Trump and promoting his brand, beginning in 2016 when the UFC executive spoke at the Republican National Convention when Trump was named the Republican nominee for president.
“I know fighters,” White said in his speech. “Donald Trump is a fighter, and I know he will fight for this country.”
White rallied for Trump again in 2020 and called the then-president’s reelection “critically important,” according to the BBC.
White introduced Trump at this year’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and has since been featured at several high-profile campaign events, including a recent rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Outside of his support for Trump, White maintains that he attempts to stay out of the political spotlight, he told Yahoo Sports. He said that when he does appear on political programming, he is trying to appeal to everyone — not just conservatives.
“I don’t care what side you’re on. We’re all Americans,” White said in the interview. “We all want the same things. We want to make a good living. We want to get a house, we want a car. We want to feel safe in our hometown and definitely in our houses, and we want to take care of our families. No matter what walk of life you’re from, what you want, we all want the same things.”
However, in appearing in support of Trump, White has become more partisan in his commentary.
“The stakes have never been higher, and the choice has never been clearer,” White said at the New York City rally.
Donald Trump has appeared at many UFC events
Since attending many of the UFC fight cards that took place at his properties, Trump has become a prominent figure at several of White’s events. That includes one in New Jersey just days after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in his high-profile hush money trial.
At the event, Trump was ushered to his seat to blaring music and fanfare, escorted by White.
FILE – Former President Donald Trump waits for the start of the lightweight bout between Matt Frevola and Benoit Saint Denis, of France, at the UFC 295 mixed martial arts event Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in New York. Trump has spent less time campaigning in early-voting states than many of his Republican primary rivals. But his campaign has been bolstering his schedule with appearances at major sporting events, including this weekend’s Edwards vs. Covington UFC fight in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
White said that his friendship with Trump dates back two decades and took shape just because of their common love of combat sports and fighting.
“This guy is a fight fan,” White said, according to NJ.com. “He’s been a fight fan.”
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According to White, he would treat any American president with the same attention at his events as he does for the Republican candidate for president.
“If (Joe) Biden came to a UFC event, I would treat Biden the same way,” White told Yahoo Sports. “I probably wouldn’t walk, but if Biden was there, we would cover the fact that the president of the United States — or if (Barack) Obama or (George) Bush or any of those guys ever came to an event — we would treat them with the same respect.”
Donald Trump was shocked at UFC’s merger with WWE
After White helped to broker a merger this year between UFC and WWE, Trump expressed surprise after White once bristled at the two combat sports companies coming together in 2016.
But after the deal was finalized in 2023, creating TKO Holdings, which is valued at $21.4 billion, Trump credited White for making it happen,
“He is the greatest guy,” Trump said of White on the ‘Joe Rogan Experience.’ “You know, I always say, everybody, nobody is indispensable, you know. Everybody can be replaced. Maybe you can’t be. You might not be. But Dana White truly, I don’t think, you know, the things he sold for $4 billion. I said, ‘What the hell! Who the hell is gonna pay $4 billion?’ And they made like a great deal. I mean, because of him. Take him out, I think it’s a whole different world.”
