Joe Rogan once speculated that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO Dana White was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), based on his “impulsive” behaviors and “gambling addiction.”
White did little to refute those claims with revelations like this.
Ahead of the UFC 306 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sept. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, White documented some of his ongoing medical issues, which include (but are not limited to) “black spots” on his brain.
“I used to box when I was younger,” White told TIME. “I went in and I did one of those brain studies. I have black spots all over my brain from what I did. I wouldn’t take one back one punch. Not one. The position that I’m in right here, right now, today, I wouldn’t take one punch back because I loved it that much. And the doctors all talk about, ‘Somebody could die’ — I got news for all the doctors. We’re all gonna die. How do you want to live your life? What do you love and what are you passionate about? People always ask me, what if your daughter wanted to fight? If she really loved it, am I going to tell her no? It’s what she wants to do.”
White has been faced with repeated criticism after creating his own Power Slap league, widely-panned for its unprotected head shots. Those “mistakes” did little to deter White from doubling down on his new endeavor.
“Getting punched in the head, or slapped in the head, or heading a ball, or hitting with helmets in football, it’s bad for you,” White continued. “So as a grown adult living in America, you have the right to choose what you want to do. If you want to play soccer and head a ball, you want to play football from peewee to college and take the head blows that you do, or if you want to go out and professionally fight, there are inherent risks. What I try to do is, I make sure that I spend all the money that I possibly can to take as much risk out of it as possible for the health and safety and the life of the people who complete.”
Good thing White called off that boxing comeback.
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