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Staff post about: Dana White Become an Author

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“It was around 1997 or 1998 that it all turned around for us,” says White. “We were all boxing guys and I used to think UFC was a joke. I would say, ‘those guys would get their asses kicked by a boxer.” That was, until White and the Feretti brothers began taking Jujitsu lesson, which White says, “opened our eyes to a whole new world. It literally changed my life.”

From there, White began to get more involved in the UFC. And, he claims that after meeting the athletes, the deal was sealed. He wanted to be a part of the organization. “They were college educated, they were good guys,” White says. “There was so much misconception about the sport and the guys that fight.” White began to wonder what would happen if they “got out there and really promoted it in the right way and let people know what kind of athletes these are.”

After deciding to purchase the almost bankrupt UFC for $2 million, White now had on his hands the challenging task of trying to turn the organization’s fate around. He began, first, by changing the ‘no holds barred’ label to ‘mixed martial arts,” emphasizing the athletic nature of the sport and enforcing stricter rules. White and the Fertitta brothers also created Zuffa, LLC as the UFC’s parent company, which would later secure sanctioning by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. This, too, would help bring an air of legitimacy to the sport.

White revamped the UFC’s marketing campaign, more effectively targeting his desired demographics. He also increased corporate sponsorship, and began releasing UFC fights on home videos and DVDs. While many fights aired live on television, White also initiated pay-per-view events, which were held at such places as the Trump Taj Mahal. This helped to bring profits back to their previous levels.

In 1997, the UFC got its first television deal with Fox Sports Net, creating the show ‘The Best Damn Sports Show Period.’ But, it wasn’t until the Fertitta brothers were featured in a reality television series that they got the idea to create their own. The result was ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ which was finally picked up by Spike TV only after White agreed to pay for the $10 million production costs himself. The show became an immediate hit, and UFC’s pay-per-view sales continued to skyrocket. In fact, in 2006, the UFC broke the pay-per-view industry’s all-time record for earning over $222,766,000 in revenue.

Already broadcast in 36 countries worldwide, the UFC is currently planning to expand into regular shows in both Canada and the United Kingdom. In March 2007, UFC announced it would be buying out its main competitor, PRIDE Fighting Championships, aligning the two to co-promote both organizations.

Today, White continues to run his company with the same gusto he did on the very first day. “If I'm not spending time with my family, then there is nothing I would want to do. No games, no hobbies, no special interests,” says White. “This company, those fighters, this job, they're my hobby. This is my life. It's my everything.”

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