Over its 32 years of existence, the UFC has grown exponentially into one of the biggest sports promotions in the world with a lot of that down to the work of the current CEO, Dana White.
When the UFC was created in 1993, there was a lot of criticism surrounding the sport of MMA and it came with its preconceptions of being barbaric, which led to its many issues.
Fast forward 32 years and it has grown into one of the most popular sports, with the UFC growing in popularity each year.
Joe Rogan and Mark Zuckerberg praise Dana White for growing the UFC
UFC boss, Dana White has been largely praised for his role in expanding the business but it’s fair to say, a lot of the UFC’s success has come as a result of luck, especially in their early days.
In 2005, the ‘most important fight in UFC history’ took place on The Ultimate Fighter, as Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar put on one of the greatest combat sports fights of all time.
Before this Hall of Fame fight, White along with owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta were fighting to keep the UFC alive after the Fertitta brothers purchased the company for $2m back in 2001.
After fighting tirelessly to get the sport sanctioned in many states, they pictured The Ultimate Fighter Finale as the final roll of the dice, and it thankfully paid off as it put the sport and the UFC on the map, securing a TV deal.
American businessman, Mark Zuckerberg, has praised White for his role in growing the UFC after he announced earlier this week that he was appointing White to the Meta board of directors.
“Running this company is not for the faint of heart, there’s definitely a lot of pressure from all of these different governments,” Zuckerberg began to explain on the Joe Rogan Experience.
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“Without him, none of the UFC would’ve ever taken place the way it did, I mean you needed the Fertitta brothers, they had to come in with all of the money and the vision,” Joe Rogan agreed.
“It’s really funny, Eddie Bravo and I went to a live show in the 90’s, I was working for the UFC as a backstage interviewer… We were talking about it in the 90’s like, ‘You know what this sport needs? This sport needs some billionaires who just throw a tonne of money at it’, and then the Fertitta brothers come along.
“Then they buy the UFC for $2m which is probably the greatest purchase ever, except they were $40m+ in the hole when they financed The Ultimate Fighter… And then this one fight takes place with Stephan Bonner and Forrest Griffin… The sport’s born.
“Without Dana, it wouldn’t have ever taken place, he’s tireless,” Rogan continued.
Could we see Mark Zuckerberg vs Elon Musk in 2025?
Zuckerberg has been teasing a potential MMA fight against fellow businessman, Elon Musk for several years now and White even revealed that he was in ‘legitimate negotiations’ with the Colosseum to host the fight.
The Meta owner has been consistently training MMA for a while and even won a jiu-jitsu competition in 2023. With the 40-year-old’s love for MMA continuing to grow, he told Rogan that he is likely going to fight in 2025 but it probably won’t be against Musk.
With Zuckerberg’s relationship with White extending to the next level, we could see the business mogul step foot inside the UFC Octagon in a historic appearance.
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