In an interview with James Werme, during his first show as president at UFC 30, a young Dana White said that he planned to make the Ultimate Fighting Championship the Super Bowl of mixed martial arts:
According to a report by yahoo!sports, the live attendance of the event was estimated to be 3000 and the total paid gate racked up around $110,000.
The main event on the fight card was a light heavyweight title bout between Tito Ortiz and Evan Tanner. Ortiz retained his title via first-round knockout.
How did Dana White become the president of the UFC?
As per a report by The Manual, Dana White became the president of the UFC after his friends, casino moguls Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, via Zuffa LLC, bought the UFC from Semaphore Entertainment in 2001 for $2 million.
During the Fertitta regimen, White reportedly owned 9% of the stakes in the MMA organization.
In a 2020 interview with SPORTSNET, White narrated the incidents that led to the Fertittas buying out the UFC. The 53-year-old stated that the MMA promotion was on the brink of bankruptcy when the trade happened:
Watch Dana White speak about the 2001 UFC acquisition below:
In 2016, Zuffa was bought out by a consortium of investors led by Endeavor Group (previously known as WME-IMG). Dana White was retained as the president of the promotion.
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