Dana White: This Generation Thinks You Can Build A Business From Home, It's Impossible!
In a Nutshell
Dana White built UFC from a $2M purchase to a $50B valuation by being obsessed with winning, assembling elite talent, and refusing to accept "no" from anyone. He rejects the modern notion that you can build a successful business from home, insisting entrepreneurship demands relentless daily problem-solving, no days off, and showing up in the office to generate ideas that remote work kills. His core message: most people aren't cut out for it, and if you want to win, you need the killer instinct, the right team, and the willingness to take risks while staying obsessively focused on the core business rather than distractions.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
I've already built the biggest fight brand to ever exist. The UFC was purchased for $2 million. And if the Lakers sold for 12.5 billion, then the UFC is worth 50 billion. And every day that I show up here, I'm here to win. When I'm dead, it's going to be impossible to beat what I built. And I am addicted to chaos. And if there isn't any, I create it.
From UFC fighters to CEOs of multi-gazillion pound companies to world leaders, I see in you a man that is truly obsessed. Early on, I knew exactly who I was and I knew that I wanted to be involved in fighting. That's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Conor McGregor, Khabib Mamedov, and Ronda Rousey, but I didn't want women in the UFC. But Ronda Rousey grabbed me said, "Can I get 15 minutes with you?" And she came in with the whole bravado and I'm like, "Holy I think I'm going to do this." And she's the one to do it with.
When you decide who you are, what you want to do, what you're going to accomplish, and you work toward it. It is impossible for you to fail. Do not be afraid to take the risk. But some of these kids that think they want to be entrepreneurs, they don't know what it really takes. And there is a formula. And guess who has it?
And then this is a book your mother published about you unauthorized as a biography. She's critical of you at certain points. I don't go on shows to speak negatively about my mother, but I mean that's one of the grossest, most disgusting things. You couldn't even imagine possible until it happens to you. And sometimes family is the worst. And that was the beginning of the end with me and her. Have you forgiven her?
Dana, you know more than anybody that to become a great fighter, often times you have an anomalous upbringing. And I have some of these fighters in front of me like Khabib and Islam and Mike Tyson. And when you look at their backgrounds and where they came from, they have atypical origins. And when I look at you, I consider you to be a great fighter in your own regard. So that's my question is what is that early context that's made you the fighter that you are?
I don't know. Uh, you know, I I I always have trouble when we start talking about me and my upbringing and psychoanalyzing me. I I I don't know how to really answer those questions. Um, I don't know. It's not like I grew up like these guys grew up, but early on I knew exactly who I was and I knew that I wanted to be involved in fighting. That's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
In terms of your mom and dad, I I I listened to you talk about your dad and his absence and his difficulty with alcohol. Divorced at 8 years old, left with your mother and that was also a turbulent relationship as you as you grew up. Is there anything from that early context that you look back on? I know you don't like being psychoanalyzed. I've heard you try I've heard you respond to like Pierce Morgan and others who who have talked about your childhood before, but is there anything from that early context that you think did shape you into this sort of like%.
You know, I I always say that, you know, you see these people that play the victim, you know, the victim mentality. It's like, oh, I didn't have any role models when I was growing up. Yes, you did. You just didn't look at it the right way. when you grow up, everybody who's involved in your life, they're all role models in good and bad ways, right? I I used to look at, you know, some of my uncles and and and and my dad and some I was like, "Yeah, we don't we don't want to go in that direction. Let's let's go in this direction."
And in America, you you can start drinking when you're 21. Mhm. I quit drinking when I was 21. I believe that that I wouldn't be able to accomplish all the things that I wanted to accomplish if I was drinking. And I saw a lot of, you know, family members and other people where drinking had had been detrimental to their life. And and uh, you know, I I think I had some pretty talented, you know, family members that could have lived a different life had they not drank.
You and your sister? Yeah, it's me and my sister. If I was a fly on the wall during that period of your life, what would I have seen? I don't know. I I don't really remember. Me and my sister, you know, now that we're getting older, we talk about this stuff a lot. Me and my sister are super close. You know, both our parents are dead and it was just us. So, yeah, my mom was an animal. My mom worked her ass off and, you know, if she wasn't working, you know, and picking up extra shifts. She was a nurse. She was going to school. And she effectively raised you on her own. Definitely. Because your dad was he he was absent.
I remember he reciting a story of you him taking you to the cinema drunk. Yeah. Yeah. And just I mean what I got from that was I guess carelessness. The story of him taking you to the cinema, telling you asking you if you wanted something, throwing $20 your way, telling you to go get it for your sister. Yeah. The himim him embarrassing. It's one of those moments and you know you have these these things that you remember from your young life. And I have I have a few with my dad, but you know the the movie was Beverly Hills Cop. It had just come out and it was like the biggest movie in the world. And we got there late. He showed up drunk to pick us up and take us to the movies, you know. So getting there was was a whole, you know, scene on its own. And then we get there, the place is packed. There's no seats. He walks in and screams, "We're going to have to start moving some people, you know, and throws money at me to go get to go get food and popcorn or whatever."
In my opinion, my dad was a very selfish guy. And uh, you know, he lived the life that he wanted to live and everybody else didn't matter. Did you ever understand him as you People always say that when they get older they understand their parents better. Well, what I understood was once I became a parent. I was like, "Holy this is the way you're supposed to feel about your kids and this is the way you're supposed to, you know." So, yeah, I I think that my parents made me a better parent.
You've got a very atypical drive in you. There's a certain relentlessness that I've seen. I mean, I've seen it all. And one of the sort of defining traits when I think of Dana White is this sort of relentless insatiable ambition. So my line of questioning isn't really to psycho analyze. It's really just to understand like how that comes to be the case. One would guess that there's some kind of chip on your shoulder in to some degree. Yeah, it's true. But I try to I try to focus on I like to win. Winning is fun and everything in life. But uh you know I also make sure that the obligations that I have you know I I I pay attention to those too. Like listen nobody's perfect but I've tried to do the best I could to be the best at everything I could at work at home with the kids you know.
And if id asked you when you were a young boy like some of these photos what you going to be when you grow up would you would you have had an answer for me? I didn't really know that until I was in my late teens. you know, literally walked out of a job that at the time and in the place a lot of people would kill for. Um, and had checked all the boxes and made cash every day, got a paycheck every week, 401k, full dental and medical and, you know, all the things that people are looking for. But I I didn't like working for other people. I I always felt like working in the hotel industry was incredibly disrespectful, the way that they would treat you and talk to you and and uh I never liked it. it was never for me. So, I walked out one day and I said, "I'm going to get into the fight business." At the time, I didn't know exactly what that meant or, you know, at what level, but that was my goal.
Have you always had a problem with well, an issue with, dare I say, authority? You have? Yes. Very, very much so. Yeah. It was never for me. Where does that come from? Do you know? I don't know. I honestly don't know the answer to that. But I never liked it. I never liked working for other people. I never liked being told what to do and and I don't treat my employees like that.
Did you think you were going to be successful in your life when you were I don't know 14? I did when I was younger. I I believe that I would be. Yeah. Based on I sort of had these you know these ideas in my head which at the you know at that time you don't know exactly what it means or at what extent but let me tell you what. So when we worked when when I lived with my mom me and my sister were just talking about this the other day. So my mom worked all the time or was at school and me and my sister were home alone all the time, but we had chores that we had to do. I mean, we were mow the lawn, you know, cleaning the pool and trimming the bushes and all that. And I was like, let me tell you what, the day I make a dollar, I'm never doing this ever again.
So that's probably an important lesson she taught you. No doubt about it. And I I you know, I try to do this with my kids, too. My kids have been great and done everything the right way. And I've told this story before, but my son Aiden, my youngest son, flies home from college one weekend and says, "I I don't want to stay in school. I have an idea for this business that I want to do." And whatever. I said, he lays it all out for me. And I'm like, "This is a pretty good idea. I get it. I like it. But you're not going to quit school and just try to do this. This doesn't this won't chew up 8 to 10 hours of your day. M you're going to go out and you're going to get a job and you're going to put out you're going to go put in applications and you're going to try to get a job because if I die tomorrow, that's what you're qualified to do." And he did it and he went and he worked at U-Haul and you know, you got to have those kind of jobs. My son right now, my oldest is getting his master's degree in Boston right now. And when I lived in Boston, I used to work for EJ Paving Company. They pave roads. I actually want my son to go do some days at at this paving company.
What is it you're trying to teach him? Well, what hard work really is. So, people like I run around, I don't sleep much, and everybody's like, "Oh, you work so hard. You work so hard." No, no, no. I'll show you what hard work is. Hard work is construction. Hard work is concrete. Right up the street here, I don't know how many days this summer were 115 degrees out. 115 degrees out. These construction guys are out there working in 115 degree week. Like hard work, real work. And then in the winter, people don't realize this in Vegas, but it gets down into the 30s. These guys will be outside working when it's 30° out. So, and hard physical labor every day, and then you go home, you you eat and you go to bed, you start get up the next day, and you go do it again. In your life, to figure out what you want to do, you have to figure out what it is you don't want to do.
I have um a bunch of quotes here that you've said if you just wanted to look at the first one. There's no such thing as a day off when there's no such thing as a day off when you run your own business. You know, there's no birthdays, there's no Christmas, there's no Thanksgivings. Bad will happen every single day that you need to deal with. But when you like what you do, it's fun.
A lot of people, especially young people these days, want to be entrepreneurs. You know, I'd really like to work for myself and own my own business because I'd love to plan my schedule. How much Oh, you're you're you're going the wrong way. What you need to do is find a 9-to-five job where you have weekends and holidays off and you know that's that's your move. If you're looking to start your own business because you want more time to yourself, you are picking the wrong thing to do. I promise you that.
The key to becoming a good uh entrepreneur is you have to find solutions to problems every day. The universe was trying to with me the other day. I got out of bed. I had to be at a board meeting at 9:00, right? I go in, I got a shave. Both my razors died. I use electric razors. They both died. Get through that. I get in the car and I'm driving and and the sensor says, "Your back right tire is low. Stop the vehicle immediately." I said, 'Yeah, no, we're not stopping. We're going. That's just life, right? When you get up and it's life standing there to kick you in the face and and you got to get through all this Then you get to work and there's a laundry list of problems and things you got to deal with. And this younger generation that think you can work from home and build a successful business. It's impossible. You can't do it. I'm in the office from 8:30 in the morning and I don't leave the office till 7 8 9 10 sometimes. still to this day. There are times when I go to work and my schedule's planned out for the day. But people will pop in my office and we start talking about things and you know when when you have people a good group of people like I have at the UFC and we get in a room and you start talking things pop up that you would never expect and things happen and a lot of good ideas come from everybody being at work.
Has being kicked in the face by business over the last couple of decades changed you? Definitely. I don't freak out the way that I used to. I've been through it all and I'm way more calm now. I see this with a lot of guys. You become uh I don't want to say you get weaker, but you do get weaker as you get older. There's there's a softer side to you than you had when you were in the early days of building your business. And I don't ever want to be that guy. You know what I mean? I try not to be that guy. But you do relax and chill out. And you don't. The things that you used to flip out about when you were younger, you don't when you're older. I mean, I went through a phase where I ripped through like 10 secretaries in two years. Like I need people around me that can keep up. You got to have people that can keep up and can handle handle the load of work. You know, it's probably the busiest year for me this year because I have Zufa Boxing, Power Slap, and the UFC that I'm I'm running these three companies. And then there's a ton of other things that that I do, too. So, we'll be on the road, you know, I think we just got off the last two months. We were home for like 4 days in the last two months. Then I get home and I don't stop. I just I go out and I do things and you know, these guys that are with me, they have to they're with me and it's tough.
Nobody owes you anything. So, you know, we talked a little bit about my parents and whatever. I had this kid that I grew up with and you know this we we were 12, 13, 14 years old. And I remember his dad had done really well and you know, they had a beautiful house, they had cars, you know, he had all the that you you would want growing up. And I remember him telling me one time his dad ran into hard times and his dad had put a million dollars away for him in an account. And then his father ran into hard times and his father took the money. He's like, "My father stole a million dollars from me." And I remember thinking, "Are you out of your mind? The fact that your dad even thought of you that way, that he would put that money away from for you is incredible. But that was never your money. You didn't earn that money. that wasn't yours. I remember thinking that way when I was 12, 13, 14, right? I'm like, that is definitely the wrong type of mentality. Entitlement. Brutal. And that guy grew up exactly the way you would expect that guy to grow up. He's just, you know, nobody owes you anything. Nobody. listen to to to have to be set up in a position where somebody can make some phone calls for you and do some things, but then once they do that, you have to go in and deliver.
There's going to be a ton of people listening that want to be entrepreneurs. Do you do you think most people are cut out for it? No. No. To be an entrepreneur is very a very unique thing. I mean, you have it's hard enough for a lot of people to get up every day and depend on themselves to take care of themselves. When when you're an entrepreneur, lots of people depend on you. Lots of people feed their families and and I take that that role very serious. I mean, when I got into this business, not a lot of people believed in it. That's why we bought the UFC for $2 million, right? Let's be honest here. The UFC was purchased for $2 million. And if the Lakers sold for 12 a.5 billion, then the UFC is worth 50 billion. Okay? So the people who did believe in this and and did, you know, when I was trying to hire production people, production people don't want to live in Las Vegas, Nevada, especially 25 years ago. They want New York or LA, right? Um I was trying to hire sponsorship people, New York and LA. they don't want to live here. And then I had a group of people Craig Borsari who is my uh you know my head of production who is an absolute rock star, the best in the business. He was a rising star at Fox. He left Fox and came here because he believed in the vision and and what was happening here.
When you think back from on that journey of buying it for $2 million and then let's say it's worth $50 billion now if it was valued, you know, relevant to the Lakers. If there were principles, if there were like a couple of principles that you would most attribute to the success of the UFC when at the time nobody wanted to put on the fights anywhere. Everybody thought it was like too barbaric. Matchmaking. Matchmaking. Yeah. Is number one, the live event production. Okay. And the television production. And then on the business side that you think, you know, if we'd gotten that wrong, we definitely wouldn't be here. The big problem, if you look at how 25 years ago when we bought this, you're never going to compete with boxing. Boxing is too established. It's been around too long. It's this and that. Boxing became a going out of business sale. Every time these guys would put on a fight, they try to grab as much money as they can and run. I am now involved in boxing. I have the only global television deal right on Paramount. All these other guys are on a streaming service called literally every promoter. What they've done is they've chased everybody out of the business. Television networks don't want to deal with it anymore. Sponsors don't want to be a part of it anymore. What we have done over the last 25 years is built a brand that not only the consumer trusts, but sponsors, television networks, the list goes on and on. So, I make sure that when people show up to my live event, which is super important. The people who pay to come to the live event spend way more money than the people on TV. And they got to buy flights and rooms and pay for their dinners. Every time we put on a live event, I want the people walking out of there going, "God damn, that was a good time. I'm I'm glad we did this tonight and I would love to do this again."
And how do you make sure that's the case? I heard somebody saying one time, Dana acts like there's a formula to this. If you look if you went back, I don't know the actual number, but it's a it's a long list and a big number of guys with a lot of money who are really smart and have done good things in life that have tried to get into this business and couldn't do it. Couldn't make it work. There is a formula. And guess who has it?
One of the things I've learned as I've gone through my business career that I didn't know at the start of my business career was how much of success is actually determined by the the people you're able to assemble. I think at the start of my career, you think if I work weekends and I work really hard and have good ideas myself, then I'll be successful. And somewhere along the way, I realized that it's really about like assembling people and binding them with the right like philosophy or culture, whatever they call it. And the question I have for you is, have you noticed the same? Have you have you noticed that one of the like obvious but seemingly unobvious things about business building is the quality of people you hire? There's no doubt about it. No one guy does everything. When we first bought the company, I was the everything guy. There was like two employees, me and somebody else. And you know, you wear all the hats when you start. Then you start going out and you start building a team. And there are people who fit and people who work and people who don't. And you have to be really good at figuring out who fits and who works and who doesn't. And over the last 25 years, if there's a superpower that I have, it has been picking the right people to surround myself with. And I knew when there wasn't. We had a we made a big decision when we sold on people that we brought in and I knew right away the people that didn't fit and I fired them.
What are you looking for in great people? First of all, you have to have talented people. You have to have talented people that are not only really good at what they do, but are hard workers, too, and have the drive. But everybody has to be on board with the vision and and has to be, you know, on the same page. I am at a place right now with my production team when we do spots and we do vignettes and we do they'll bring them into me and there are very few changes.
What is your talent there? Like if if I ask the people that work closest with you, and I know this is a little bit of a weird question to answer, what is Dana's three skills that are rare relative to other people? I am a fight fan to the core. 25 years later of doing this, I am still a hardcore fight fan. And when we put something together and we nail it, I I know we got it. And now what I do is I push my team whether it's production, matchmaking, sponsorship side, whatever it is. I push all these guys every day to get us to where I know I want to be. You are the customer. Yeah, I am the customer. Yeah. And you have been since I saw in your your sort of early um sort of mid20s, you you were captivated with boxing at the time, I believe. Yep. Every time when we go to an event, there's a red phone on the on the table where I sit and it goes directly to the to the truck and there's that our producer's name is Zack. The truck where the producers are. Yeah. Zach runs all the shows. He has the freedom to do what he wants and he tries. So I'll pick up the phone and go, "What was that?" And he's like, "I thought we tried that." I say, "Yeah, let's never do that again." Okay, bye. And there's no hurt feelings. there's no whatever or we'll do something. I'm like that was incredible. Yeah, congrats. That's incredible. And you know, once you get to that level with your team, there's a woman sitting out here. Her name is Len. She's the head of PR. I don't really make a move without talking to her anymore. I trust her so much and she's so smart and she's so talented that she's involved in a lot of different aspects of my life. Craig Borsari who I talked about who is the head of production, my head of sponsorship. Once you build this like rockstar team, it's all just like it becomes a welloiled machine where everything just starts to work the right way. Like when we were going through co these people that I'm talking about, you know, when you go through something like this, who the hell knows how long this is going to last? And as crazy as the world was during that time, here here's one thing that wasn't going to happen. I don't give a We were not going to lay off our employees. These people that have been here with me and and that I'm super close to saw this quote from I I don't know who the CEO was, but says, "Anybody that's trying to sell you that we're a family and is is full of This is transactional and it's the I don't know who wants to run through a wall for that guy." But he's full of Okay, my team. That is the way I feel about my team. And I do care.
Dana White states he will never pick money over people. During the COVID pandemic, he refused to lay off employees despite looking at the numbers and pressure to cut staff. He emphasizes that a CEO's job is to figure out how to keep the business running and take care of all people, rather than laying off loyal employees who missed their kids' first steps, games, and family events to build the company.
White clarifies that the "my team are my family" philosophy applies to those who have been loyal. He states that if you work in a place where the rug could be pulled out at any minute for no reason other than numbers, it creates insecurity. He describes every day as going to war, with people trying to take what you have and screw you over, and this intensifies with greater success.
White views the UFC and his other businesses as a battleship where he and his team go to war together, either going down together or not going down at all. He describes needing "soldiers" - loyal team members who will stand together.
When everything started to shut down, White gathered all employees in a room and offered that anyone who felt unsafe or had loved ones at risk could go home. Nobody walked out. He promised they would figure it out and get through it together. He held weekly FaceTime calls with all employees, offering to help with groceries, toilet paper, or if a loved one got sick. After a couple weeks, they decided to return to work and everyone said "We're with you. Let's roll."
The interviewer notes that another CEO who expressed similar views had a turbulent childhood without family and built their own community family as an adult. White responds that the link for him comes from working for companies that treated employees like they didn't matter, with the attitude that there are ten others behind you who would love the job.
White rejects the idea that at 57 years old and highly successful, he should be delegating and out of the weeds. He cites the saying "It's easier to get to the top than it is to stay on top." At the top, everybody is gunning for you, studying your blueprint, trying to steal your people. He compares it to being a world champion where everyone studies your methods to beat you.
White states there are three things he focuses on every day that he won't reveal because "it's part of the formula." He warns against getting distracted by ancillary things around the UFC brand like movie offers or life stories. He emphasizes staying focused on core business elements rather than letting ego drive decisions into areas that could create vulnerabilities.
White states the UFC has reached a level where competitors are no longer other promoters but the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NHL, and the NBA. They completed an $8 billion deal with Paramount. He notes that immediately after the deal was announced, NFL executives met to discuss the $8 billion they didn't get and how to compete by adding more games.
White describes sitting in his arena with the Performance Institute and headquarters next door, having everything the major leagues have. He positions the UFC as one of the four major sports organizations in the United States.
After the $7.7 billion Paramount deal, White notes people said "you made it," but he states you never make it. Paramount did the deal because they believe the UFC can impact their business, and his job over the next five years is to deliver on that promise so they can negotiate a $10 billion deal afterward.
White states he is addicted to chaos and creates it if there isn't any. At 57, he doesn't find constantly being in the weeds tiring. He says he wouldn't know what else to do.
White loves haters because they lay out what they think is wrong with the business. He distinguishes between haters and media covering the sport. He blocks all media covering the sport from his feed because he believes they know nothing about the business after 25 years. However, he values input from hardcore fans and people with genuine opinions.
White discusses filtering what to pay attention to versus what to ignore. He references Kevin Olir's concept of signal and noise. Anyone with a phone can consider themselves an expert, but he finds most of this content wrong and a waste of time. He wants to hear what real fans think, not people trying to start podcasts, websites, or Instagram accounts about the business.
White states you can't judge a fight card until it's over because all fighters are talented. Some may be younger and unproven, but judgment must wait until completion. He promises to be the first to admit if a card sucked.
Gary Brecka transformed White's life when he hit 50. White had two doctors who couldn't resolve his issues and kept switching medications. Sleep apnea was particularly bad - he was waking up almost every night throwing up. After meeting Brecka through Carrie Kasem at his son's 21st birthday in Miami, Brecka offered 12 weeks to change his life. White saw results in 6 weeks with improved energy, clarity, and elimination of sleep apnea. Brecka had predicted White had 10 years to live based on blood work, though White and his wife believed it might have been less given his condition.
White references the quote "You either have the killer instinct or you don't." He describes Ian Garry's fifth round against Islam Makhachev where Garry had the opportunity to shock the world against possibly the greatest fighter of all time but instead shook hands and hugged rather than pressing the attack. White notes Garry didn't show killer instinct in that moment, though he doesn't definitively state Garry lacks it entirely.
White states he is not a "logo slap guy" who just places sponsor logos and hopes it works. He wants mutually beneficial deals where sponsors win and think "thank God I spent my money on the UFC."
White states you have to kick ass every single day not just for yourself and employees, but for sponsors and the network. He acknowledges having killer instinct and shows up every day to win, though he lets others judge whether he is a "savage."
White states he doesn't know if he's ever seen someone without killer instinct develop it. He believes entering business requires a certain mindset and being a killer. He notes most successful people have a chip on their shoulder because it's you versus the world every day, with scumbag lawyers, regular people, and good people all coming after you.
White respects Michael Jordan and Carl Icahn. Among athletes he's worked with, he mentions Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Chuck Liddell, and Ronda Rousey as being in a class of their own.
White initially didn't want women in the UFC because networks and sponsors said it was too whatever for women. Ronda Rousey grabbed him at an event and asked for 15 minutes. Minutes into the conversation, he realized she was the one to bring women's MMA to the UFC. He describes her as having a massive chip on her shoulder and calls her a unicorn.
When signing Conor McGregor, White called Lorenzo Fertitta after dinner and said even if McGregor could throw a punch, he would be a massive superstar. The number one factor is fighting ability. The second is the mentality of manifesting - telling what you're going to do, how it's going to happen, and how it will play out. White has only had a handful of such meetings in 25 years.
White believes manifestation is real. When you decide who you are, what you want to do, what you're going to accomplish, and work toward it every day, it is impossible to fail. He notes that some people only do the vision board part without taking action - like programming a GPS but never stepping on the gas.
Success is impossible to fail at if you lay out your plan, know who you are, and know what you want to do. Failure should be defined by whether you are happy. Getting up every day and loving what you do is the key to success. Many billionaires are miserable human beings.
Being happy is a choice. The question is whether you love what you do and want to get up and be happy every day.
Don't be the person lying in a hospital bed dying saying "I wonder what would happen if I tried." No regrets are the goal. There is no regret about anything in life. The rearview mirror doesn't matter - whatever happened yesterday means nothing today.
The past should never affect the future. People often say "you don't understand what my dad did to my mom," but everyone went through that stuff. The past doesn't matter anymore. Reflection doesn't happen - the focus is always on what's next, how to build, how to get bigger and better.
At age 57, the goal is to be better tomorrow than today in every way possible. Yesterday never mattered. Lessons are learned from experiences, good and bad, but the past is never dwelled upon.
Role models existed even if people claim they didn't have any. Being hurt by things never happens. Crying doesn't help in any way, shape, or form. The last time crying occurred is unknown. Being a crier isn't the nature of the person.
Feelings are hard to hurt due to upbringing. A tough crew of family members - parents, uncles, aunts - built this resilience. Family members who were supposed to love would say harsh things, creating toughness. This built the person for the life they're living now. No desire to change anything from childhood, parents, family, or upbringing.
The only opinions that matter come from a small group of people in life. Relationships with these people mean a lot. Everyone else - three guys on the internet, some guy who writes for something, the New York Times - their opinions don't matter. The New York Times was on the case like crazy, but their opinion is irrelevant.
An unauthorized biography published by the mother exists. Wedding pictures were included without permission. The book has never been read. The last page contains critical things. The book hurt other people with things that aren't true, and private pictures were thrown out there without right.
The falling out occurred during a two-week trip to London with Lorenzo Fertitta. Upon return, emails from the mother threatened financial demands - either pay all upfront or payments over time to buy a bar. Emails became nastier without responses. This was the beginning of the end.
Family can be the worst when things like this happen. Things said in newspapers pale in comparison to what family members can say. Failure as a parent is the ultimate failure in life.
Forgiveness exists. Speaking negatively about the mother doesn't happen on shows. Parents aren't blamed. No ill feelings exist. The mother was a single mom who raised two kids, moved across country from Boston to Vegas with two kids, a dog, and a car. Tornadoes were encountered going through the Midwest. She raised two kids by herself and did it.
Credit and respect exist for what she did despite everything. The book and all that happened, but she raised two kids.
The fiance tries to talk about feelings and asks "How do you feel about this?" This is similar to being psychoanalyzed by Piers Morgan. The fiance knows about the childhood and relationship with parents, so she assumes there must be trauma and searches for evidence of it. The response is always that it's not impossible to not be traumatized, and she's wrong.
Being a victim is the furthest thing from the truth. Growing up in the 70s and 80s meant a lot of bad things happened in different ways - it was a different time and place. Parents and grandparents grew up in a different world. No blame is placed. The mother was a single mom who worked her ass off.
Trust your gut, not focus groups. Everything done has been based off gut feeling about what would work. Power Slap faced criticism that it would destroy the legacy, just like the UFC faced similar criticism. Anything new that people don't understand gets attacked.
Sometimes the gut is wrong, but not on the big things in business. If the gut is wrong, the worst case scenario is going back to work. The worst case scenario is always better than never trying.
At 19 years old, walking out of the hotel as a bellman meant making great money with a good life. Other bellmen at 45 years old made the same money, had the same benefits, same schedule. The worst case scenario was ending up like them - not bad. The real worst case scenario is never trying.
If only in it for the paycheck, the game is already lost. Nothing was ever based on money. The hotel lobby with 401k, dental, medical, cash, checks would still be the location if money was the deciding factor.
Adam Corgan was a rich kid in high school who picked up for school every day, waking up 45 minutes to an hour earlier. A blanket policy existed in the 20s about not going to anyone's wedding. But Adam Corgan's wedding had to be attended due to loyalty from high school.
Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta were run into at the wedding after not seeing them for 10 years or more. Lorenzo wanted to train at the boxing gym. The UFC was bought together for $2 million sometime thereafter. Everything in life is about timing.
Karma is believed in because it's been seen play out good and bad. Religious beliefs don't exist - no God, devil, ghosts, goblins - but karma is observed.
Do not be afraid to take risk. Nothing will be accomplished or achieved without willingness to take risks. It's always easier when younger, before marriage and kids, but don't be afraid later either.
The worst case scenario is always laying on the deathbed going "I wish I would have." When building a house in Las Vegas, going way over budget happened, but waking up every day loving it occurs with no regrets about going over budget.
The movie Vision Quest impacted life as a kid. It's a wrestling movie about a high school kid who wants to leave his mark by dropping weight classes to beat the greatest wrestler in the country. The theme involves realizing mortality and the importance of trying.
The head chef character was always negative about the wrestling pursuit, telling him to eat food and quit. When seeking someone to talk him out of wrestling the big match, the chef wasn't at work. Going to the apartment found the chef dressed up, and the response was asking if the wrestling match was happening that night.
Dana White describes watching the movie Rocky alone in his apartment one night and becoming emotionally overwhelmed. He explains how the scene where Apollo Creed flips upside down and kicks the ball into the net, rips his shirt off and runs around while the crowd goes crazy resonated with him. He got goosebumps recounting the story, noting that a human being - a species he is part of - accomplished something extraordinary. The movie spoke to him like nothing before, and he realized that time is limited despite the feeling that we'll live forever.
White emphasizes to younger people that 30 years old seems old when you're 18, but time passes quickly. He warns against being the person sitting alone in an apartment at whatever age thinking "I could have done more than this. I could have been bigger than this. I could have been better than this." He identifies this regret as the worst thing that can happen to anyone.
White acknowledges that not everyone is built for entrepreneurship. Some people want city jobs with 401k benefits, weekends off, and holidays off, and there's nothing wrong with that preference. He states that the world needs all types of people. However, if someone believes they are an entrepreneur and wants to build something, they should not be afraid to take the risk, though it will cost them.
White discusses his own experience with his large house in Vegas, noting that he was only there for 4 days in the last 2 months. He acknowledges this behavior is what got him the big house, and he wouldn't change a second of it. He states he still gets up every day fired up to get to the office.
White describes becoming obsessed with new projects and bringing together talented, creative people like Tucker and Maramman at his office. He explains how he shares his vision with the team and they start building together. He emphasizes the incredible results that come from getting in a room with his team and discussing ideas.
White mentions Ari Emanuel, describing him as the ultimate all-time super agent who did the UFC deal and got WWE among many other things. He explains that when he comes up with something creative and needs $30 million, Ari says he'll get the money. White notes he has reached a point where he has all these people as part of his team who make things happen when he comes up with ideas.
When asked if there's a destination in mind, White responds "No" and repeats "bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger." He states that after bigger comes death, and questions who cares about retirement. He explains he couldn't picture himself making money and then retiring to do what - he would take four great vacations a year but can't wait to get back to work after vacations.
White describes how when he goes on vacation, it takes him a couple days to shake off work thoughts. By day three he's enjoying himself and hanging out with his kids, but by the end he's back on the phone saying he's coming home and telling everyone to get ready.
White emphasizes self-awareness as key advice. He notes that many people wouldn't like his life and would find it miserable, while he finds it exciting. He clarifies he's not saying everyone should have his life, but rather to be aware of who you are and give everything to what you are.
White describes his hiring approach at UFC, mentioning employees like Len Breenidge who is "an animal and brilliant," Craig Borsari, and Hunter Campbell - all "killers." He states he doesn't need 650 killers but requires those working close to him to be killers. He notes you can't be within a mile of him if you're not a killer, though he acknowledges it takes all types of people.
White warns that some kids who think they want to be entrepreneurs don't know what it really takes. He notes there are plenty of entrepreneurs who made "the bag" and then quit to do other things. He emphasizes he's not saying his life is for everybody.
White describes being a big motorcycle guy and how he used to say when he reached a certain point he'd gather buddies and cousins for incredible rides around the United States. Now in his 40s, he carves out time every year to go to a destination and ride motorcycles. He notes that men start to get softer when they get older and feel they can't handle bikes anymore.
White shares his plan that if he reaches a point where he can't ride motorcycles anymore, he'll ship his 30 motorcycles to Italy. He'll have a truck with all his bikes, ride them all the way down to the Amalfi Coast, then leave the keys in them on the side of the road in Italy as his last ride.
Dana White receives the closing tradition question: "If you could only complete one more major goal, what would it be and why?"
White states he's already built the biggest fight brand to ever exist. Now getting into boxing and Power Slap, his goal is a seven-year goal because he has seven years in his Paramount deal. He wants to build the biggest combat sports brand to a level that can't be replicated again - something impossible to beat by the time his life is up.
White addresses people saying he can't succeed in boxing because it's different and 150 years old. He mentions Power Slap as something people think doesn't work and isn't possible. He states he loves hearing people tell him what can't be done, noting that everybody watching will deal with people saying what can't be done and what's impossible.
White explains that at UFC headquarters, the only thing you can't say is "no." He doesn't accept "no" or people telling him things can't happen. He mentions dropping Tom Brady a text about the Sphere and how they went to see it, then called to cancel plans for the following weekend to attend a YouTube concert there. The president leaned over and suggested doing a fight at the White House, which White agreed with.
White states boxing was his first love and he knew the sport was broken. He knows how to fix it. He mentions being already two years ahead of where he thought he'd be because the current people running boxing are "so bad at doing it." He gives everybody the benefit of the doubt and takes everyone serious, loving to compete.
White assesses the boxing industry, calling Eddie Hearn "weak" and noting his dad Barry Hearn built the business and is "the real guy." He mentions Frank Warren as "the real guy" who recently said "All this talking and all this - let's fight. Let's start." White notes Frank Warren is silent through most things but when he speaks, it's meaningful. He states Eddie's dad's work rate is impressive and that nobody's done more to try to hurt the AJ Fury fight than Eddie Hearn.
White is thanked for his generosity with time and the inspiration provided. He responds by saying to "wait to see what we do in the next seven years."
The transcript ends with a mention of YouTube's algorithm that recommends videos based on viewing behavior.
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