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Dana White

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Dana White
Born (1969-07-28) July 28, 1969 (age 55)
Manchester, CT, U.S.
NationalityUnited States American
OccupationPresident
Known forManaging The Ultimate Fighting Championship
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)

Dana White (born July 28, 1969) is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.

Biography

Born in Charleston, South Carolina on July 22, 1969,[2] White grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and Levant, Maine. White is a passionate Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Boston and Maine. He attended the University of Massachusetts Boston but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city youth.[3]

White has a background as an aerobics instructor. In 1992, White established Dana White Enterprises in Las Vegas. He conducted aerobics classes at three gyms[4] in the Las Vegas area and began managing MMA fighters Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

While working as a manager, White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of the UFC, was looking for a buyer for the UFC. White contacted childhood friend Lorenzo Fertitta, an executive at Station Casinos, and a former commissioner of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Within a month, Lorenzo and his older brother Frank bought the UFC, with White installed as its president.[5] White currently owns 9% of Zuffa, LLC, the entity the Fertitta brothers created to own and manage the UFC.[3]

Controversy

Loretta Hunt

On April 1, 2009, White was videotaped in a verbal tirade against Loretta Hunt, a sportswriter for Sherdog, in response to an article she wrote. In the video posted on his YouTube account, White used derogatory language in an obscenity-laced rant. The video was pulled from his official UFC YouTube page but has been widely republished across the internet and come under fire, including by GLAAD for his use of anti-gay slurs.[6][7][8] White would later apologize for his slurs. He specifically did not include Hunt in the apology.[9] Hunt responded by saying "I stand by the story. It's accurate."

M-1 Global

After negotiations between the UFC and M-1 Global to sign MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko fell through in 2009,[10] White referred to Emelianenko, who went undefeated in MMA for over a decade, as a "a fake, a phony and a farce" on more than one occasion.[11]

On June 26th, 2010 following Emelianenko's first submission defeat of his career to Fabricio Werdum, White shared a simple ":)" on the social networking site Twitter.[12] The same symbol was published by White following Emelianenko's 2nd round doctor stoppage loss to Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the opening round of the 2011 Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.[13] White caused further outrage with many of the comments made to fans about M-1 owners and Fedor.[14]

Charity

In December 2010 White donated $50,000 for a life-saving surgery for the 7-month-old daughter of a popular Thai MMA trainer at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand.[15] In a similar act of charity in 2010, White donated £5,000 (Approximately $8,000 US) to help pay for the brain tumor treatment of two year old British girl, Ruby Owen. The young girl's family had described themselves as being "shocked and over the moon". Ruby Owen's uncle, being a UFC fan had contacted White via email and asked if he could help by donating to the Ruby Owen fund raising website. White and Owen have never officially met.[16] White is never one to disappoint fans and in a great act of compassion towards a fan, he gave $300 dollars to one man without hesitation who said that he "just received a speeding ticket while racing across town to meet him".[17] Shortly after being named 2009 Nevada Sportsman of The Year, White added $100,000 from his pocket to the $250,000 total raised for the fund raising marathon sponsored by ESPN Radio 1100 for Las Vegas. [18]

Personal life

White and his wife have two sons and a daughter.[19] White is a devout Christian, and pledges that all of his future UFC proceeds be donated to the St. Jude Childrens Foundation in Knoxville, Tennessee.[20]

Accomplishments

References

  1. ^ http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/ceos/dana-white-net-worth/
  2. ^ "Dana White Biography, Pictures, Videos, Relationships". FamousWhy.com.
  3. ^ a b McCarthy, Michael (2005-04-10). "Battles yield winning 'Fighter'". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  4. ^ Willert, Tim (1997-04-16). "Box aerobics class packs serious punch". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 1997-04-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ Wickert, Marc (2004). "Dana White and the future of UFC". Knucklepit.com. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Mirror
  6. ^ Marvez, Alex (2009-04-02). "White's rant sends UFC down dangerous path". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  7. ^ "White uses slurs in video blog". ESPN. 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  8. ^ "UFC boss curses out female reporter in tirade". Fox Sports. 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  9. ^ "White sorry for anti-gay slur". ESPN.com. April 3, 2009.
  10. ^ http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2009/08/03/fedor-emelianenko-signs-with-strikeforce/
  11. ^ http://www.5thround.com/42475/dana-white-fedor-emelianenko-is-a-fake-a-phony-and-a-farce/
  12. ^ http://www.tekkenphilippines.com/dana-white-twitter-on-fedor-vs-werdum-fight-a-very-big-smiley.html/1008/
  13. ^ http://sportifi.com/news/Dana-White-Twitter-account-bashes-MDone-Vadummy-and-butthurt-Fedor-fans-727261.html
  14. ^ http://www.5thround.com/68044/dana-white-issues-lengthy-response-to-fedor-emelianenko-loss/
  15. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=yhoo-ept_sports_mma_experts-298359
  16. ^ http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Fighter-donates-163-5-000-Ruby/article-1873267-detail/article.html
  17. ^ http://www.fightofthenight.com/news/dana-white-pays-for-fans-300-speeding-ticket/
  18. ^ http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/111544
  19. ^ "UFC boss fights clock Gung-ho White wishes there were more hours in day". ReviewJournal.com. 2009-07-07. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
  20. ^ "Dana White Tells Playboy About His Atheism, Steroid Use and Love for Donald Trump". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  21. ^ "Dana White honored as "Sportsman of the Year" while $2K awarded to The Caring Place. Dana White has been quoted as saying "June 26, 2010 is the happiest day of my life". MMAjunkie. 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2009-08-08. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  22. ^ Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2011). "Biggest issue of the year: The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, CA: 1–40. ISSN 1083-9593.
  23. ^ http://www.mmamania.com/2009/03/19/ufcs-dana-white-accepts-patriot-award-for-humanitarian-efforts-to-raise-money-for-injured-soldiers/
  24. ^ http://mmapayout.com/2010/11/white-honored-at-2010-sports-media-marketing-awards/


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