Dana White

Tom Brady’s Role in Sparking Dana White’s Vision for UFC 306 at the Sphere

Tom Brady Dana WHite UFC Tom Brady, NFL all-time great, played a piece in the UFC booking the Las Vegas Sphere for its UFC…

Tom Brady, NFL all-time great, played a piece in the UFC booking the Las Vegas Sphere for its UFC 306 event. UFC president Dana White was on the fence about this until a phone call from Tom Brady convinced him.

Tom Brady and Dana White

September 14 the UFC will host Noche UFC, a Mexican Independence Day Celebration live from the Las Vegas Sphere. It will be headlined by Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili and Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko. A stacked event with two title matches for UFC 306.

However, the UFC was originally not interested in hosting an event at The Sphere. According to Dana White, he saw a U2 concert there with his friend Tom Brady, notable for his NFL career, and then changed his mind. In an interview, he said:

“Had Tom Brady not called me and asked me to go to U2 with him, I would have never even gone to the Sphere, and would have never seen it … Every day, when I wake up, crazy s**t goes down, and we have to deal with it on the fly, and it always leads to something bigger, or some other storyline, or something crazy that goes on.”

The reason they were hesitant to book at the Sphere was because of a prior bad relationship with the company MGM. Dana White explained:

“Like, look at this thing that happened with UFC Noche. The way that this played out is we’ve been treated like absolute s**t for the last 20 years by the MGM, and because of that, they allowed (Al) Haymon, God bless him, to slide in and steal that date after I had it and I flipped out.

Football star Tom Brady is certainly a long-time fan of the UFC and a friend of Dana White. When all-time great Jon Jones was making his heavyweight debut, Tom Brady sent him a message and said:

“Hey, Jon. I wanted to say welcome back to the main stage. It’s great to see the GOAT doing what he does best and doing what he’s meant to do. So I thought seven titles was a lot, you’ve doubled it, man! I know tonight’s not gonna be easy, Ciryl Gane standing on the other side of that octagon, he’s a bad man. It’s gonna be an incredible fight, Dana knows how to put on a great show, as always, and I wouldn’t miss this one for the world.”

Tom Brady’s Role in Sparking Dana White’s Vision for UFC 306 at the Sphere

Tom Brady, NFL all-time great, played a piece in the UFC booking the Las Vegas Sphere for its UFC…

Tom Brady and Dana White

“Had Tom Brady not called me and asked me to go to U2 with him, I would have never even gone to the Sphere, and would have never seen it … Every day, when I wake up, crazy s**t goes down, and we have to deal with it on the fly, and it always leads to something bigger, or some other storyline, or something crazy that goes on.”

The reason they were hesitant to book at the Sphere was because of a prior bad relationship with the company MGM. Dana White explained:

“Like, look at this thing that happened with UFC Noche. The way that this played out is we’ve been treated like absolute s**t for the last 20 years by the MGM, and because of that, they allowed (Al) Haymon, God bless him, to slide in and steal that date after I had it and I flipped out.

Football star Tom Brady is certainly a long-time fan of the UFC and a friend of Dana White. When all-time great Jon Jones was making his heavyweight debut, Tom Brady sent him a message and said:

“Hey, Jon. I wanted to say welcome back to the main stage. It’s great to see the GOAT doing what he does best and doing what he’s meant to do. So I thought seven titles was a lot, you’ve doubled it, man! I know tonight’s not gonna be easy, Ciryl Gane standing on the other side of that octagon, he’s a bad man. It’s gonna be an incredible fight, Dana knows how to put on a great show, as always, and I wouldn’t miss this one for the world.”

Dana White Proposes MMA in the Olympics to Increase Viewership: ‘You Want Viewers?’

UFC CEO Dana White believes MMA should be in the Olympics. As the 2024 Paris Olympics are underway, many…

UFC CEO Dana White believes MMA should be in the Olympics.

As the 2024 Paris Olympics are underway, many MMA fans believe the sport should be in the Games. Wrestling, boxing, and Judo are among sports in the Olympics but not MMA.

Now, Dana White believes MMA should be an Olympic sport and it would add plenty of viewers to the Games.

“I think it should be an Olympic sport already,” White said (via MyMMANews)… ““It’s not my job. It’s not what I’m looking to do. I’m not pushing to turn this thing into an Olympic sport. [But] I agree with whoever said that, yes [I’d like to see it added]. And not to mention the fact that one of the big problems the Olympics is having right now, is viewership… You want viewers? Put MMA in the Olympics.”

Although White believes MMA should be an Olympic sport, there are no signs of it happening anytime soon.

Chael Sonnen doesn’t think MMA would work in the Olympics

Although Dana White thinks MMA should be an Olympic sport, former fighter and now MMA analyst Chael Sonnen disagrees.

Instead, he thinks the wear and tear from MMA compared to boxing makes it hard to compete that many times and such a short period of time. He also says getting approval from the IOC will make it hard.

“I think that most people would say ‘yes’ but they never finish the thought – do you know what it takes to be an Olympic sport? You’ve got to get approval through the IOC, you’ve got to have proof of governing bodies, you’ve got to have a lot of funding and a lot of interest and above all else, you’ve got to have a venue. That’s the one thing that so many people do not understand that’s difficult, and I don’t mean that to condescend, I say that because it looked like there was going to be a push for many years [already]… So, I’m going to say no,” Sonnen said (via BloodyElbow).

Ultimately, it doesn’t seem likely that MMA will be an Olympic sport anytime soon.

Chael Sonnen, Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou, Stipe Miocic — Mandatory Credit: Desiree Navarro/WireImage

How ESPN’s PPV Pricing Backfired, Leading to Increased UFC Piracy

UFC pay-per-view prices have increased four times since the promotion inked its broadcast deal with ESPN in 2018. Unsurprisingly,…

UFC pay-per-view prices have increased four times since the promotion inked its broadcast deal with ESPN in 2018. Unsurprisingly, that has led to a significant increase in piracy.

Over the last five years, the cost of a UFC pay-per-view event has jumped up from $59.99 to the current $79.99 asking price which was implemented in 2023. During a quarterly financial call on Thursday, TKO Group Holdings president Mark Shapiro acknowledged that the aggressive increase in cost over the last few years has resulted in an even higher number of pirated cards.

“ESPN and Disney were very aggressive, if you will, on pricing the pay-per-views and they have full control over that, but they have control given what they’re paying us for those rights,” Shapiro said. “Over the period of our partnership, they probably went a little quicker and a little higher than we would have liked.

“We voiced that to them, especially in this era of piracy where we’re seeing our piracy numbers really jacked up and we think that’s driven by them pricing it too high. They were very receptive to that feedback” (h/t MMA Fighting)

Shapiro also revealed that executives with TKO, including UFC CEO Dana White, had a meeting with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro to discuss growing concerns over the current price structure and the ensuing piracy.

As a result, ESPN began offering a discounted price for those who purchase an event early versus ordering the card on fight night.

“We had a meeting in Las Vegas a few months ago with Jimmy Pitaro and Dana [White],” Shapiro said. “They took the price down, if you will, in terms of offering a new marketing promotion where if you buy by a certain date, well in advanced of the numbered fights, you are going to get a discount and then the price of course increases once you pass that date. They’re seeing good success with that.”

ESPN’s deal with the UFC expires at the end of 2025

While the promotion has seen its live-event revenues skyrocket in recent years, the same can’t be said for pay-per-view. However, the overall market for UFC PPVs appears to be settling which Shapiro suspects could lead to increased revenue in the future.

“Like audiences in the live events where we’re selling out and breaking records and you see it all in the press release, and like the yield that we’re commanding, which in many cases specifically with WWE have been higher than we even planned for, we’re also sustaining our buys when it comes to pay-per-view,” Shapiro said. “So we feel really good about that.”

ESPN and the UFC are expected to go to the negotiating table soon as their current broadcast deal expires at the end of 2025. With the promotion’s business buddy World Wrestling Entertainment making the move to Netflix next year, we could potentially see the UFC follow suit and go exclusively to streaming.

Fight Night Backlash: UFC fans criticize event: ‘Card is actually horrific’

WIth the Octagon landing in the United States this weekend following a quickfire salvo in the Middle East –…

WIth the Octagon landing in the United States this weekend following a quickfire salvo in the Middle East – the promotion’s UFC Vegas 98 has been hit with it’s vast share of criticizm, for an apparent card lacking real star power.

Returning to the Apex facility – the promotion will host a 10-fight card in ‘Sin City’ – with a rehashed heavyweight rematch booked to headline between two European talents.

Fans revolt over UFC Vegas 98 card

Attempting to work his way back to contention, Polish veteran, Marcin Tybura matches with Moldova prospect, Serghei Spivac – in search of his second win over the former, having previously landed a unanimous decision win over four years ago.

In the night’s co-main event, a bantamweight matchup between one-time main event feature, Chris Gutierrez, and Javid Basharat had fallen to the wayside, with Quang Le co-headlining against Gutierrez on short-notice.

Further down the admittedly lacklustre main card comes a matchup between former featherweight title challenger, Yana Santos, who takes on Chelsea Chandler – fresh from her own weight miss in her return to 135lbs.

And with just Santos holding prior title fight merit on the entire card – fans across the board have pointed to a potential snoozefest in the making for UFC Vegas 98 – even with a slightly earlier start time for North American and European viewers.

“Oh my I just looked and that card is actually horrific,” A user posted on X.

“The card lost Kinoshita too right? Kinda of unwatchable this Saturday but they gave us a solid 304 card, a great Abu Dhabi FN and loads of announcements recently its a good weekend to take off from UFC ahead of 305 week.”

“Welp, that was the only great fight.”

“10 fight card big yikes.”

“Yeah, this card is a pass.”

“Well that’s decided then, I shall not be watching the fights.”

Dana White Clashes with CNN’s Laura Coates on Donald Trump and Kamala Harris: ‘It Goes Both Ways!’

In an interview with CNN, UFC President and RNC Speaker, Dana White had some choice words on Donald Trump…

In an interview with CNN, UFC President and RNC Speaker, Dana White had some choice words on Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Trump and Harris will likely be running against one another in the upcoming US election this November.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris is a former Attorney General, District Attorney, and Senator. She is the current Vice President of the USA. As her November running mate, she chose former Command Sergeant Major and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on the Democratic Party ticket.

They will be running against the New York-born Donald Trump who is a luxury hotel billionaire and former President of the USA. For his running mate, Trump chose Silicon Valley investor, former Marine, and State Senator JD Vance. Vance and Trump will be representing the Republican Party.

Dana White On Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

Dana White has worked with Donald Trump in the past as Trump opened his casino doors to the UFC when the sport was nearly bankrupt. Later on, Trump would finance the MMA organization Affliction. More recently, Dana White has given speeches to the Republican Party campaigning for presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The UFC President and RNC Speaker White spoke with CNN’s Laura Coates to discuss the upcoming election. Coates is CNN’s chief legal analyst with a background as a federal prosecutor. Dana White explained his disdain for the media which includes CNN and FOX. He said:

“But either way, she’s going to say other nasty stuff about both of them. It goes both ways. And as voters, what we need to do is cut through all the BS and you have to look at who do you think is best fit to run the country for the next four years. That is our job as voters. All of this stuff is a bunch of nasty BS.”

“You guys are really bad. Fox is bad. Everybody’s bad. Cut through the BS and vote for who you think is most fit to run the country.”

On the upcoming election, White said:

“I don’t judge people by their politics and who they vote for or any of that stuff. I don’t know Kamala. She seems like she’s a nice person. I have nothing against her whatsoever, and like I said, I’m not political. But do I think that she is fit for the job? I do not.

Politics are the most disgusting, nasty, it’s atrocious what is said in politics. And things that are being said on one side are being said on the other side, too. [Similar things are being said] about Trump and, you know, his choice for vice president. It goes both ways. This isn’t like, ‘Oh my god, look what’s being said about Kamala.’ It goes both ways.” [H/t MMAWeekly]

See the full exchange below: