Best of the Bus: Dana White On The UFC's Sponsorship With Bud Light + Is He The GOAT At Blackjack?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bussin' With The Boys – "Best of the Bus: Dana White On The UFC's Sponsorship With Bud Light + Is He The GOAT At Blackjack?"

Episode Overview

In this standout episode of Bussin' With The Boys, NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan reconnect with Dana White, the President of the UFC. Released on July 26, 2025, this "Best of the Bus" installment delves deep into Dana White's multifaceted life, exploring his unparalleled blackjack skills, the UFC's strategic sponsorships, the meteoric rise of Power Slap, his personal health journey, and his candid perspectives on media and business. The episode is rich with candid conversations, insightful anecdotes, and memorable quotes that offer listeners a comprehensive look into Dana White's mindset and leadership philosophy.

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I. Dana White's Mastery of Blackjack and Gambling Philosophy

A. Memorable Gambling Night At approximately [03:01], the conversation shifts to Dana White's prowess in blackjack. White recounts a particularly memorable night in Las Vegas where his strategic play led to significant gains despite initial setbacks.

Dana White [03:20]: "I've been doing it for a long time, and I've had many nights like last night and even deeper."

B. Strategic Approach and Discipline White elaborates on his disciplined approach to gambling, emphasizing the importance of setting limits and knowing when to exit a game.

Guest Speaker [04:06]: "Dana's rule is you play, you max out the hands, you win two hands, and you get the fuck out of there."

White shares an anecdote where he surpassed his own rules, leading to an intense battle at the blackjack table.

Dana White [04:31]: "I didn't really have a number last night... So I'm breaking all the rules tonight."

C. Card Counting and Intuition The discussion touches on White's ability to predict card outcomes, showcasing his almost uncanny intuition at the table.

Dana White [06:24]: "You can literally say exactly what they're going to do. When the cards turn this way, you know what's going to happen."

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II. The Meteoric Rise of Power Slap

A. Unexpected Success Around [07:59], White discusses Power Slap, a sport he was involved in before acquiring it. He expresses surprise at its exponential growth.

Dana White [07:59]: "It's just an absolute monster."

B. Leveraging Social Media White highlights the critical role of social media in Power Slap's success, noting impressive view counts and follower growth.

Dana White [10:49]: "Power Slap does 15 or 16 million views. So right now, this year, year to date, on TikTok, we're number one through seven."

C. Business Expansion and Future Plans The conversation reveals plans to integrate Power Slap further into the UFC's ecosystem, anticipating continued growth and impact.

Dana White [17:23]: "We own throw one... building offices over here in Vegas. It’s going to be a really fun project over the next couple of years."

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III. UFC's Sponsorship with Bud Light and Business Strategies

A. Strategic Partnerships White sheds light on the lucrative sponsorship deals, particularly with Bud Light, and how these partnerships have fortified the UFC's financial standing.

Dana White [09:18]: "We make money off our television rights, we make money off sponsorship, we make money off video games, licensing..."

B. Direct-to-Consumer Focus Emphasizing a shift away from traditional media channels, White advocates for direct engagement with consumers to build a loyal fanbase.

Dana White [18:50]: "I love the Internet. I'm all about, I love that we can talk directly to our fans with no middlemen."

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IV. Personal Health Journey and Influences

A. Transformation Through Gary Breca At [26:42], White delves into his personal health transformation, crediting Gary Breca for guiding him through holistic health practices.

Dana White [31:11]: "I did a 72-hour water fast... it's about the inside is what you're doing it for."

B. Health Regimens and Longevity Discussing practices like intermittent fasting, cold plunges, and oxygen therapy, White shares his commitment to maintaining peak physical and mental health.

Dana White [35:07]: "I do the cold plunge, I do the steam, I do the oxygen therapy, I do the red light, and then I do my workout."

C. Inspirational Quotes and Philosophy White cites Bruce Lee to emphasize his daily commitment to self-improvement.

Dana White [23:16]: "Every day when you get out of bed, your stride and your game plan should be to be better than you were yesterday."

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V. Perspectives on Media and Business Philosophy

A. Critique of Mainstream Media White offers a scathing critique of mainstream media, expressing disdain for its perceived ineffectiveness and lack of tangible achievements.

Dana White [10:26]: "The media are the dumbest, know nothing, do nothing, never built nothing motherfuckers on planet earth."

B. Business as a Collective Battle Using the metaphor of a battleship, White describes the UFC as a united front where every employee is integral to navigating challenges.

Dana White [56:15]: "The UFC is this fucking battleship... We're cruising and we're fighting the fight every day."

C. Prioritizing People Over Profits White emphasizes the importance of valuing employees and team members over mere financial gains, especially during tough times like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dana White [57:55]: "I don't ever forget. I don't ever forget. I always remember who was here and who did what."

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VI. Personal Reflections and Relationships

A. Building Strong Partnerships Discussion around White's relationship with his lawyer, Hunter, and how their complementary skills bolster the UFC's operations.

Dana White [46:17]: "He was an intern... then he became my lawyer... he's awesome."

B. Balancing Competitive Nature with Caution White contrasts his thrill-seeking demeanor with Hunter's analytical and calculated approach, highlighting the balance they bring to the business.

Guest Speaker [47:32]: "Dana's a thrill seeker... Hunter's a lot that way too, but he's more cautious."

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VII. Closing Thoughts

A. Commitment to Excellence and Resilience White reinforces his unwavering commitment to personal and professional growth, resilience in the face of adversity, and the continuous pursuit of excellence.

Dana White [25:01]: "May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't."

B. Legacy and Longevity Reflecting on figures like Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman, White discusses the importance of longevity and maintaining a high quality of life.

Dana White [41:29]: "I want a quality of life. Yeah. I want a good quality of life."

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Conclusion

This episode of Bussin' With The Boys offers an unfiltered glimpse into Dana White's life, showcasing his strategic mind both in business and at the blackjack table. From spearheading the UFC's sponsorships to nurturing emerging sports like Power Slap, White's insights underscore his commitment to innovation and resilience. Additionally, his personal health journey and candid opinions on media provide a holistic view of the man behind the UFC empire. Listeners are left with a deeper appreciation of White's leadership philosophy, his dedication to his team, and his relentless pursuit of excellence.

Transcript

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[Podcast Host]

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[Skyrizi Voice]

Don't use if allergic to Skyrizi. Serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.

[Gatorade Voice]

Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin and that means everything.

[Dana White]

Nothing is everything.

[Gatorade Voice]

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[Podcast Host]

Fellas, welcome to another Best of the Bus episode. This series is where we drop a Best of episode every Saturday where we throw it back to some of our favorite episodes. And as you guys have seen, if you follow us and you're subscribed to us on YouTube, there's a lot of vlogs that we do where Taylor goes out to the ufc, gambles with Dana White. We've been out to several UFC UFC events and we are massive fans of what goes on out there. And this is throwing it back to the first time that Dana White, the UFC president and friend of the show, came on the bus while the boys were in Vegas back in 2023. We talked Dana's blackjack skills. The Rise of Power Slap Power Slap was just about to start. We were at the first one with him he also talks about his health journey with Gary Breca and his thoughts on building the UFC into what it is today. And, of course, we wrap it up talking McGregor vers Chandler, which we are hopeful. Hopeful that it happens next 4th of July. Celebrating 250 years of independence. This one's awesome. Tap in. Love you. Big hugs, tiny kisses.

[Dana White]

I gotta be at a meeting at Red Rock. Not our kind of meeting, a different kind of meeting.

[Podcast Host]

Hey, yeah, speaking of. You guys have been on a terror with the gambling.

[Dana White]

He's on a tear. Yeah, my mic's there. Gonna pick it up.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah, absolutely. We're gonna roll. We're gonna go. Yeah.

[Dana White]

He's on a terror.

[Guest Speaker]

I don't know, man. After last night, that was the biggest comeback I've seen in gambling history. That was unbelievable. What was?

[Podcast Host]

You're the. You're the sensei of blackjack. You're the sensei.

[Dana White]

I've been doing it for a long time, and I've had many nights like last night and even deeper. I've had some wars, man. And, yeah, last night was fun. And thanks for. Thanks for riding it out with me.

[Guest Speaker]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Because I knew essentially, you're like, you're coming just to gamble with me. And then, like, 8 o' clock hits and you call me, hey, my tooth is broken. I'm thinking, hey, you don't have to come. It's all good.

[Dana White]

I'm doing it Friday, yesterday. And I break my tooth in the back, and I got this. This great dentist in town here, Steve Wilson. If you ever need a dentist there in town, shout out to Steve. So I fly to his place, he fucking opens his place for me, gets in there and whips my tooth back together. And then I come and meet you, and we start going at it.

[Guest Speaker]

That was wild. Do you want to. Do you want to talk about numbers and what your situation was?

[Dana White]

You tell me whatever you want.

[Guest Speaker]

So this is. This is what I saw. And I know we talked about it a little bit, but Dana's rule, and you can correct me at any point, is you play, you max out the hands, you win two hands, and you get the fuck out of there.

[Dana White]

Yep.

[Guest Speaker]

No if, ands, or buts about it. That is the rule. That's what you do, 100%. So we come in knowing your number, knowing your number, your number, fighting till you get to that number and then leaving. We get my number, you go quickly, you get your number, and then we're sitting there kind of just chatting, hanging out.

[Dana White]

I didn't really have a number last Night. I. So I. I've been gone. I went out of town for a little while and I haven't played in a minute. So I was excited to get together with him and play. We're fucking around, we get into a battle with his. He didn't know that I was playing for him when I was playing, which is why. So I'm in this big battle. 280 down. 280. Come all the way back, and I win his 30. And I hand it to him. He's like, oh, what? No. I said, no, I was playing for you. That's you, buddy. You got it. So pumped. So I had. I started goof around a little bit. I win. I'm up like 80, 90, 100 in that ballpark. And I said, I'm going in again. He's like. He looks at me, he goes, you're breaking your rule. I go, I'm breaking all the rules tonight.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Did it happen fast at the 9,000? Happened like, fast. And you're just kind of like, all right, I need a little bit of fast.

[Dana White]

Nothing was really fast. Last night was kind of. It was battle ish. I should have read all the fucking signs that said, the gambling gods are telling you to get the fuck out of here right now. I didn't listen. I had my conscience over here on my left side saying, hey, you're breaking the rules. Go in. And it just fucking, you know, we would go, we'd get a little deep, and I'd get right there and almost be out. I mean, at one point, we're like one hand away and we were out. And it was like, I couldn't win a double down last night to save my fucking life. And if I got a 20, it meant I was going to lose. I lost every fucking 20 I got last night. Think about that. Losing 20. When you get a 20, you're supposed to be excited. When I got 20, I got to the point, huh, where I said, I'm going to lose this hand, right?

[Guest Speaker]

And then they'd be showing like a four. And then like six cards later, 21.

[Podcast Host]

The first time, doing it around. Dana, too, like, watching it happen, that was kind of the theme of the night as well. He's like, oh, you're going to fucking beat me anyway, Even though I got 19 or 20. That's just how it works. Watch, boys. And then he ends up losing. He gets all pissed off. He's like, let's go.

[Guest Speaker]

Because the funny thing is, too Mr. Positive, when he walks in, keep the high energy. Keep Good. And then get down a couple hundred thousand like this right here. Go ahead and flip it over.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Guest Speaker]

There was one guy, the dealer last night.

[Dana White]

You can. You can literally say exactly what they're going to do. When the cards turn this way, you know what's going to happen. Literally everything that I would say would happen. If I had a 14, I get the 10. If I had an 11, I'd get the 4 for a double down. You know what I mean? Just. Yeah, clockwork.

[Guest Speaker]

It was. It was a wild deal to the point to where were pushing seven figures at one point and down, down. And a buffet comes in. Like, they literally, like, rolled in. All the little butlers roll in with all the food, and he takes a nice little. He takes a break, eats his food. He's like, I got to get out of here. Pretty soon. I can't do the late night, because.

[Dana White]

I think one reason.

[Guest Speaker]

Refuel. Refuel day. Because when I was back here in August for Power Slap, I was on. I mean, I think I won seven, eight times in a row. And to the point where it's getting numb, that I was like, I don't think if you're with me, I don't think I can lose. And then. Then there was guys there that night, different circumstances, and I end up losing a whole bunch of money. And the fact that you've taken it personal, where you're like, we're sitting there, he's down. You know, we'll say 500. I have no idea what the number is. He looks at me, goes, how much you down? We kind of talk about a little bit. He goes, we're going to make back all that money, no problem. You're in the middle of a war right now. You're talking about the next war that we got to go through. It's wild. But the way this all started was us meeting at the Super Bowl. And then you're like, hey, you guys should come out to Power Slap. And the explosion that has happened with Power Slap. Like, how does. Did you expect that to go the way it has? You knew it was obviously going to be successful, but it's gotten to a crazy degree at this point.

[Dana White]

I looked at it, you know, and I was like, holy, this whole thing doesn't make sense. How is this pulling these kind of numbers? And then you start to think, well, what if I did it because I know I'm going to do it better than anybody else can do it? What would that mean? And then. And then here we are ten months later, and this thing is A fucking monster, man. It's just an absolute monster. And we sit here every day and we look at the numbers when we, when we, when we do an event, whether it was 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. And the stuff that goes gets posted socially. It's just, we watch it every day. So it was two days ago, aj, you know, our little social media queen that runs all the social media for us, she's hitting me up and she says, yeah, the, the Sheena post is at 105 million right now. And this was how many weeks ago, huh? Three weeks ago. It's at 105 million in three weeks. The Sheena slap, right? And we're talking, she goes, it just went to 106 while we're on the phone. So then that night we had a power slap meeting. It was at 110 when we had the meeting that night about power slap. So every fucking day the thing goes up. Millions, millions of views.

[Podcast Host]

Is that where a lot of the money and stuff is made is through more social. So what happened than the viewing live on Rumble and stuff like that? Because I think a lot of people have like a idea that it's like, oh, how can it be successful? It's like, this isn't that great of a this and that. But obviously through social media, because you.

[Dana White]

Have no idea what you're doing and you have no idea what you're fucking talking about. All these fucking. All you people that are fucking talking shit, and especially the media, I love the media. The media tells you you've got something that, that's going to fail. It's definitely going to win. The media are the dumbest, know nothing, do nothing, never built nothing motherfuckers on planet earth. So when they say it isn't going to work, you got a home run, man. You know what I mean? Jump in and grind. The, the, the media. These guys think about who these people are. When you really think about the media, who are they? Where did they come from? Why does their opinion matter? What have they ever done? What have they ever created? What have they ever built? Who's ever depended on a paycheck from the media? Nobody. They are a bunch of fucking zeros that sit around and write stories about people who are actually doing shit. It's fucking fascinating when you really think about it.

[Podcast Host]

I know, right now, tell me that's.

[Dana White]

Not a fascinating concept. People who have never done a fucking thing in their life ever sit around and write about people who are.

[Guest Speaker]

What got you to that conclusion?

[Dana White]

Who gives a flying fuck what any of Those zeros have to say about anything.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, right. Yeah, Absolutely.

[Dana White]

Fascinating. So anyway, so no, we, we. We make money off just like any other sports property. We make money off our television rights, we make money off sponsorship, we make money off video games, licensing, all that stuff. I am leaving here when we're done, and I'm striving straight to Fertitta Enterprises and we're doing a huge fucking story about Power Slap with sbj. It is the biggest, baddest sports fucking story of the year that nobody fucking knows.

[Podcast Host]

I know. That'll be awesome to read about too. It's like, from the business standpoint, what's been like, I guess the most exciting thing on making, on making that business work with Powerslide, because UFC and, you know, all these other entertainment businesses, you can kind of just see this success based on what the public opinion is on it. Right. Like, you got great, like, pay per view fights and everything else. Like, what's been challenging or what's been fun about building the business of Power Slap since you've acquired it.

[Dana White]

All the things that. I love, the negativity.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Dana White]

You know, when people come out and say, this thing sucks. This can't be done. You can't do it. That is the shit that gets me out of bed every day. And I love every minute of it. And then the end result in shoving it right up everybody's ass. I love every minute of it, man. It's the best and the only people I'm really talking to about this thing. There's some guys out there that are. That we consider friendlies and we do whatever, but the Sports Business Journal, it's like in the sports world, they are the, you know, it's what everybody in the industry reads. It's what all the sponsors read and everybody else monster. The other thing that's incredible about this product is when we, like, even the ads, you know, our sponsors, when we post something that's sponsor driven, something, you know, UFC stuff, does like 1.7 million views. Power Slap does 15 or 16 million views. It's like there. So right now, this year, year to date, on TikTok, we're number one through seven. Yeah, one through seven. With Power Slap on Instagram, we're number one. NBA's two and three. Power Slap is number four, five and six. NBA is like seven and eight. And put to put it into perspective, The NBA has 80 million followers. NFL has 30 million followers. We just hit 2 million. We just hit 2 million followers. So we've done all this under 2 million followers.

[Podcast Host]

And Yeah, I don't think people understand like how big of a player just the social media platforms are, right? Because you're talking about all the views and everything else and you get, you know, the money that's being paid and the platform that you're given on like tick tock and everything else. It's like that is where money is, is where everybody's attention is. And that's where you've done a great job, like capitalizing with the business.

[Dana White]

That's not even getting into the fact that we're doing 450 million views in India, 90 million in Russia.

[Podcast Host]

Yo, that is.

[Dana White]

And the list just goes on and on as I break it into all the different countries. So it's like when you talk about, you know, people like, well, how do you monetize how? That's what we do. That's what we do. That's, that's, that's my specialty is you take these. You know how many times I've been offered, people will call me up and say, hey, would you like to invest in this baseball team? Hey, would you like to invest in, you know, this. We were kicked. We were looking at an NBA team one time, me and the Fertitta brothers. And the answer is no. I don't want anything to do with that shit. You know what I like? I like taking fringe sports that people think can't be built and think camping and monetizing those and building them up into, you know, the ufc. It's easy for everybody to look back now and go, oh, the ufc. Yeah. Fucking yeah. If you got into the ufc. When we got into the ufc, it was power slap. It was looked at, right, like fucking power slap. It was actually worse because it was actually illegal in some fucking states, right? It was actually illegal to do Gatorade Zero. The number one proven electrolyte blend made.

[Skyrizi Voice]

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[Dana White]

Sweat and push more limits.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Gatorade Zero.

[Dana White]

Is it in you?

[Gatorade Voice]

My perfect day has sand, salt water and friends. But my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can take me out of the moment. Now I'm all in with clearer skin thanks to Skyrizi. Risankizumab RZA, a prescription only 150mg injection for adults who are candidates for systemic or phototherapy with Skyrizi. Most people saw 90% clearer skin and many were even 100% plaque free at four months. Skyrizi is just four doses a year. After two starter doses.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Don't use if allergic To Skyrizi, serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.

[Gatorade Voice]

Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin and that means everything.

[Dana White]

Nothing is everything.

[Gatorade Voice]

Ask your doctor about Skyrizi, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic in psoriasis. Visit skyrizi.com or call 1-866-Skyrizi to learn more.

[Skyrizi Voice]

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[Dana White]

This is how bad it was with the UFC at that time. You as a grown adult didn't have the option to buy it on pay per view. Porn was on pay per view. The UFC was not allowed on pay per view. That's how bad it was. So to look at the UFC now and go, oh yeah, of course, $2 million for the UFC. Shut the up. You guys have no idea what you're talking about.

[Podcast Host]

This thing was just hoping. Yeah, at some point you fail. And then when they got a little moment to try and grab it and capitalize on it right about it and everything else, it's like, that's the shot everybody tries to take.

[Dana White]

Well, it gets to a point with me where it's just like, how many more times are you going to doubt me and what, what, what I'm capable of doing, you know, we're doing the same thing right now with throw one. We own throw one, which I've told you guys a million times, you heard this. We own ridiculousness, Nitro, circus sls Skate League, Travis Pastrana's Nitro Cross. And we, we bought that company like a little over a year ago and they're based in California. I'm building offices over here right now. We're building them out. These guys will be here in the next couple of months and I'll be involved in that. I'm already involved in the daily, but I'll be really involved in that in the daily. When we, when we get it over here, get it out of California and get it here in Vegas. And our, literally my office connects to their offices. So we're going to, that's going to be a, a really fun project over the next couple of years.

[Podcast Host]

That's like, that's like up your alley.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah, I mean, I've shown that, yeah, I've shown them a bunch of interest. I grew up on Nitro Circus, Supercross, all that stuff. That was like the first love of mine before I got into organized sports and all that. But you talk about the mindset and how your essential hate for mainstream media. When did you learn about the ins and outs? Because obviously like this has been, you've been in the business forever of these, these fringe sports and making them what they are today. How did you kind of adapt to the world with Internet and all that? Like, how did, how did your mindset change as you, as you kept going?

[Dana White]

Well, I love the Internet. I'm all about, I love that we can talk directly to our fans with no middlemen. Nothing worse than, than trying to, you know, do what you do and going through a middleman. And, you know, everything that I really do right now is direct to consumer. I go directly to our consumers and talk to the people that, that, that want to listen. And realistically, when you look at it right now, the two most hated people on the planet right now are the media and politicians. Right? Yeah. Nobody trusts them, nobody likes them. They know that most of them are lying. And there's never been a better time for social media than now. And like I said, in every way, shape and form, in every business that we own, I talk directly to our consumers. That's it.

[Guest Speaker]

When you, you brought up politicians and you're on the, you're on this past weekend recently with Theo Vaughan and he brought up like an RFK interview, I believe it was. And then peloton reached out and said, hey, you can't have him on there. And you, you essentially went on a rant like you did with us, about hating the mainstream media, how you can't tell people what to do. You were telling me about that process last night with the pelotons and all these other bike companies. Like, when did you learn that you had the power to essentially take away from people saying what you can and can't do in your business, Covid. Yeah.

[Dana White]

I mean, I knew it before then, but where? Really, you know, never? Well, you know, we went through the whole UFC thing first. Yeah. I mean, people, you know, the mainstream media all over the UFC and how it should be banned and this shouldn't exist and blah, blah, blah, blah. Then. Then here comes Covid. You got the, you know, goofy New York Times and all these other clowns, you know, coming out, talking shit, blasting me every day. They don't matter. They don't matter, and they don't have the influence or the power that they think they do, you know, and you can come out and say whatever you want about me and go do whatever you want about me. You. You determine your future. Not. Not people like this. It's like that whole fucking cancel culture and all this stuff that goes on. You just gotta say, you know, it.

[Guest Speaker]

Seems like you get a thrill out of it, Honestly, like people trying to come at you is. Is your feeling.

[Dana White]

Well, I don't know if I get a thrill out of it, but it's. What if you want to pick a fight with me? Let's go. Yeah, let's go.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah. Taking everything head on seems like your way about doing everything that does seem.

[Dana White]

Like guys that come out and. And do these things that. That do these stories on you, right? Who are you? What have you done? And. And are you perfect? You never up, never made any mistakes? Got any skeletons in your closet? Yeah, of course they do. You know? Of course they do. Every. We're all human. We've all done. My New Year's Eve incident, did it happen? No excuses? No. You know, I. I could have tried to make up 10x. There's no excuse. I did it. I. I admit it. I accept it. Now what I got to do is I got to get up every day and I gotta. At the end of the day, you have to live with you. Everybody else and what their opinion is of you. You have to know who you are, and you have to be able to live with yourself. I got three fucking kids that I love more than anything, you know what I mean? And I embarrassed them last New Year's Eve. I embarrassed myself. I embarrassed my kids. You know what I mean? So you got to get up, and you got to look in the fucking mirror, say, I fucked up, and how do I make sure this never happens again, ever. And that's it. I mean, you're only. You're only fucking. You know, the only one that you have to answer to is yourself and the people that care about you and love you and your, you know, family, everybody else.

[Podcast Host]

No, and I think it's. I think it's cool that you're talking about it, because my question is, when you are going through that, like, how difficult was that moment? Because you're somebody, you'll stand up, you'll stand in the batter's box, you'll swing with the best of them. You kind of seem like you. You can't chip the armor. But when you're. You have these philosophies you go by because everybody's human. Like you said, like, talk about those times where it is, like, it is super difficult things that you lean on. Maybe it's people, maybe it's a. You have a mentor. Maybe it's a circle. Maybe it's just your family. Like, talk about the low part of it.

[Dana White]

There's nobody but you. You find out who's who and what's what when hits the fan. I say it all the time. You know, you'll see the people that will reach out to you, see if you're good, and the people who won't. It's all good. It. I'm. Whatever. But the only one that you have to worry about is you, you, yourself, because it's about you. You up. Are you. Are you willing to accept the fact that you messed up and. And you have to fix this. You are the one that has to get up every day and look in the mirror and say, did I. Did I do right? Did I do wrong? How do I. How do I make myself Every day? I have this Bruce Lee quote everywhere. In my house, in the gym, in here, and everything about how, man, every day when you get out, basically what this quote says is every day when you get out of bed, your stride and your game plan should be to be better than you were yesterday, right? And you will hit plateaus, but you must break through them and you must succeed to the next level. And I fucking love that shit. That is exactly how I live every day of my life. Whether it's my workout now, my health, my business, my relationships, my family. How do you make sure that you're better than you were yesterday? And when you get into these situations, like I was in on New Year's Eve, it's like, so you can do two things. You can run and fucking hide, curl up in a ball and let the world just fucking beat you to death. Or you can dig your fucking heels in, you figure out how to. You know, you have to figure out yourself, and then you fucking. You dig in and you fight. I literally. The day we got back from Mexico, I had a quote installed on my wall. It says, may God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't. So let's go.

[Podcast Host]

It's a gambling creed, too, for bet the bus. Yeah. May God have mercy on the sports book, because I won't.

[Dana White]

But you've seen these guys, you know, who. Who make mistakes and up and do whatever, and the world comes after them, and they just disappear and they roll over and they. They bow down to whatever the fucking. The crowd mentality wants from you. You know what I mean? Where at the end of the day, we all make mistakes and we're all human. But if you know who you really are and you. You know, you don't have to explain yourself to the rest of the world. You have to explain yourself and make things right with the people that are in your inner circle and that are your family. But at the end of the day, do you have to fucking stick up for yourself if you believe in. You know what I mean? I see guys that take just a little bit of heat and the fucking wheels come off the bus, and they. You know, they run and hide, building the ufc, going through Covid, building Slap. I am not the run and hide fucking guy. Yeah. That's just not who I am.

[Guest Speaker]

And I will never be moving, moving forward. Like, it seems like that's all you're focused on is all that, and you've really taken your health, like, the next level, and you've seen it. Like, when we first met you at the super bowl this past year, you were showing us photos of you, and Sloppy Guy just kind of seemed like you're eating whatever, doing whatever, and you. You've been singing. I mean, right? Those photos. I mean, he always kind of a built cat, but you. You know, there were some backtracks.

[Dana White]

Just call me Sloppy. Come on, man.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah, there's some sloppiness going on in those photos. But you talk about Gary Bre.

[Dana White]

I'm never doing this podcast.

[Guest Speaker]

You talk about Gary Breckavan and how he's essentially changed your life. How did you get on bored with a guy like that? How did that whole process happen for you?

[Dana White]

There a girl named Carrie Kasem. I don't know if you guys are probably too young, but Casey Kasem used to have A radio show called Casey Kasem's top 40. Every week, he broke down the top 40 songs in the country. He was also the voice for Scooby Doo. Or, no, Shaggy. Shaggy on Scooby Doo. And, you know, his daughter and I have been friends for many years. And she's. She's hardcore, but she's kind of a hippie, you know what I mean? She's into all the holistic shit. I didn't believe in that stuff two years ago. I thought it was all a crock of shit. Now it's all I believe in. I. I'm one of these guys. Show me. Prove it to me. You're telling me that it's this way, but you have to prove it to me. So I finally decide to hook up with this guy because he was doing IVs. My son, we went down to Miami for his 21st birthday. So we needed IV people because we're down there doing whatever. And he comes in with his team and he does my blood work. When he walked me through my blood work, guy had no medical history on me or my family or anything. He told me everything that was wrong with me, and he told me what was wrong with my parents. And he was dead on, right? And it was a really trippy experience. And he basically said, if you listen to me for the next 12 weeks, I'll change your whole life. And I was like, I can do anything for 12 weeks. So I went in. It didn't even take 12 weeks. In four weeks, I started to feel different and started to feel better. And some of the things that were wrong with me started to go away and all this other shit. And then I'm so in on this right now. If this guy called me right now, said, squirt hot sauce in your eyes, and you know, I would fucking do it, right? Yeah. This guy is a genius. And I've seen him help not just me, but so many other people, including people that are close to me. So he is the real deal. And again, you go out on the Internet and you hear other people, you know, whatever, talk about, this guy's a scam artist. He's a scammer. Okay, then don't do it.

[Podcast Host]

Right?

[Dana White]

Nobody's telling you to do this. Go see your doctor. See how it works out for you. Good luck to you.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Gatorade.

[Dana White]

Zero. The number one proven electrolyte blend made.

[Skyrizi Voice]

With zero sugar, designed to hydrate better than water so you can lose more.

[Dana White]

Sweat and push more. More limits.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Gatorade.

[Dana White]

Zero. Is it in you?

[Gatorade Voice]

My Perfect Day has sand, salt water and friends. But my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can take me out of the moment. Now I'm all in with clearer skin thanks to skyrizi risen Kizumab RZA, a prescription only 150mg injection for adults who are candidates for systemic or phototherapy. With Skyrizi, Most people saw 90% clearer skin and many were even 100% plaque free at four months. Skyrizi is just four doses a year. After two starter doses.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Don't use if allergic to Skyrizi. Serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.

[Gatorade Voice]

Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin and that means everything.

[Dana White]

Nothing is everything.

[Gatorade Voice]

Ask your doctor about skyrim, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic in psoriasis. Visit skyrizi.com or call 1-866-Skyrizi to learn more.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Say hello to making everyday routines a bit more magical. Say hello to sunshine and goodbye to boring. Say hello to hello hello makes oral and personal care products that are just friendly products that add a little everyday yay to your day. Like a toothpaste that makes brushing fun for kids. Doesn't exist, you say it's just a myth, a legend. A unicorn. Yeah, it's a unicorn hello's Unicorn Sparkle Toothpaste. It tastes like rainbows and sunshine and it makes brushing fun. Also prevents cavities, strengthens enamel, helps brush away plaque and all that important toothpastey stuff. And they didn't forget adults. That's where hello Anti Plaque and whitening toothpaste comes in. It takes care of plaque, tartar and bad breath for a friendly mouth. And it's made with farm grown peppermint for a friendly flavor. Speaking of friendly, hello is vegan, cruelty free and not tested on animals. So take your day to the next level, a happier 1. Visit helloproducts.com and let hello add some everyday yay into your life.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. Yeah. Cause you had a, you had a video recently too. Hey listen, not a doctor. I'm not telling you guys, do this, do that, whatever, but you did this water fast and now I'm fascinated from this water fast. What was it? 86?

[Dana White]

86. I did 86 hours but it's a 72 hour fast and basically it's all water. So this is actually, this was done by doctors. They've got studies that are done on this out of Boston where if you water fast for seven days. It gives you an over 70% chance of not getting cancer. Alzheimer's disease and many, many other nasty. They've done a study on animals and humans. So I talked to Gary about it and Gary's like, it's absolutely legit, but you don't have to do seven days. You can do 72 hours. And he walked me through how to do it. And what's crazy about it is when you do it, you get absolutely fucking shredded. You get so ripped.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, I saw the before and after.

[Dana White]

But that's not even what it's about.

[Podcast Host]

Hitting it right before Thanksgiving.

[Dana White]

It's about the inside is what you're doing it for. So, you know, there's all these philosophies and listen, again, I'm no doctor and whatever, I just regurgitate what I'm told. And this was from the doctors from, from Boston. So it's like cold plunging. When you go in and you cold plunge and you put your body through adversity, right? You're in 50 degree water for three minutes, your body starts to think it's dying and your body fights back. So your liver secretes this shock protein that's incredible for your body. Inflammation, anti aging, all kinds of shit, right? You do that every day. You become absolutely addicted to it. So when you do the water fast, basically what happens is when you stop eating, your body starts trying to defend itself. Are we starving? Are we this, are we that? So it starts shedding all the bad dead cells in your body and it starts generating new cells and starts to fight. Are we going to starve? Are we going to this, that? And that's how it fights cancer and all these other nasty illnesses, how does that not make sense? And then when you talk about fasting and you talk about where we come from and how we've evolved, right? Back in the day, they would go out and hunt and kill something, right? There was no refrigeration, there was no freezer. You went back and you ate the food and you didn't eat again until you hunted again. Yeah, right? So these people would essentially fast until they hunted again and ate. How does that not make sense either? And when you're sitting on the couch on a podcast and you're fucking talking about this, you're like, jesus Christ, I don't know if I could not eat for 72 hours. I mean, two years, Dana, two years ago would have said, that's fucking ridiculous. Why would I not eat for three fucking days unless I was on a deserted island or something. You Know, and then once you do it, the level of clarity that you get, it's fucking. And I hate even saying this in front of people, let alone on a fucking podcast, because I sound like a hippie, but you get into this, like, Zen state euphoric, like, I don't know, man. I don't know how to explain it. You have to do it to believe it. But fucking Erica did it too. A lot of the people here now at UFC are doing that, are doing the job.

[Podcast Host]

Do you like it?

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah, no, it's totally worth it.

[Dana White]

First 24 hours, she just got off it too. I mean. Yeah. So I don't want to throw her personal shit out there, but her weight. Her whole life she's been at a certain weight. When she did this thing, she broke the weight. The lowest weight she's ever been as a woman.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dana White]

You know what I mean?

[Podcast Host]

Broke through the barrier. How's the first 24 hours?

[Dana White]

The first 20, it was. It was good for me because I. I do the intermittent fasting anyway.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Dana White]

So I've gone like, I. When I fly, I do the whole Gary Breaker system when I fly now, too. So when you fly, like, I went to Australia, I went to Abu Dhabi, I just did it to New York. You don't eat. You fast on the plane. And there's these hydrogen bottled water things that. That turn your water, you know, your. Your bottled water into hydrogen water, and you just drink that the whole way. And then when you land, you adjust to the time zone. It's incredible. I've done it three times now on crazy flights, and it.

[Podcast Host]

Absolutely. You're not getting the.

[Dana White]

The jet lag, so you don't get jet lag. Yeah.

[Guest Speaker]

Is it like a machine that.

[Dana White]

I've been doing it.

[Guest Speaker]

You put it in there.

[Dana White]

I just. Now I just bought one that's a leader. These ones were small ones. Now I got the leader. Yeah. This is how crazy into this I am.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah. It seems like you were telling me about your routine that you go through on a daily basis. You do it like, religiously.

[Dana White]

Religiously.

[Guest Speaker]

Religiously.

[Dana White]

And I feel like I'm in my 20s again, man. Swear to God.

[Podcast Host]

But you got the Jew. You definitely got the energy. We started this podcast off.

[Guest Speaker]

With an.

[Dana White]

Absolute banger, and you were with me half the night last night playing cards. And I was back in here this morning, and. And I'll be back in here tomorrow.

[Guest Speaker]

What time did you get up this morning?

[Dana White]

Well, I took this. I slept in late today. I got up at 7:30, so I.

[Guest Speaker]

Slept late Today he walked out of the red rock 33 o', clock. And it's like non negotiables. Like, what are your non negotiables in the morning? For somebody who's listening, being like, I love the energy, I love where he's at.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Guest Speaker]

What are the little things I can do now? Just for me to kind of be.

[Dana White]

Better, I have the, the, the. The pad in my bed that alkalines your body. I come straight here. I do the cold plunge, I do the steam, I do the oxygen therapy, I do the red light, and then I do my workout. And on the days, because I work out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then I don't work out again till Saturday, and then every day is recovery. So I do recovery every single day. So on days that I work out and do recovery, it's two hours of my morning, and then on days that I just recover, it's one hour of my morning.

[Guest Speaker]

So when you. If you're somebody listening to this podcast, Ballin on a budget, what are. What's like the number one thing to you that you're like, if you want to just change one thing and do it consistently, what would that be?

[Dana White]

And that is the hard part, and it's the thing that kills me is because I talk about this so much, because I want to share this with other people, and I want people that are listening to know when you're seeing that doctor and the shit that you're telling them is wrong with you and they can't fix it, and it never gets better, but they just keep adding more and more pills to your fucking pile that you're taking, and it makes you feel even shittier. There is hope. You don't have to feel this way. There are. And there's other guys out there, like Gary Breca, right? There's a guy. Will you go grab that book that's on my counter? You know the one I'm talking about, right? The books that I have, Nicole has one. Bring it in here. Because I. People that can't afford Gary Breca. I always tell people to watch Gary's podcast. He's @GaryBreca on. On Instagram. And there's another guy that Joe's had on that everybody tells me this book is incredible. And I buy this book and I give it to people and I do this because I want to share this with. With people. But like, like the pad that I put in my bed, Gary says you take your shoes off and you walk in the grass. And the electricity. Exactly. From. From the earth and and then, and then if you don't have a cold plunge, jump in your pool when it's cold out, or, or put some ice in a bucket, you know, in a barrel, cold shower and cold plunge, cold shower. All these type of things that you can do. The red light therapy, get out in the sun even when it's cold out. Gary always talks about first, sun in the morning is the best. And, you know, so there's alternatives like this, and then there's this book. This book is called Outlive. I'm going to give Everybody in here one, too. I just bought 10 more. I never met this guy, don't know this guy. I make no money off this. I make no money off any of this shit. And in fact, I pay Gary Breca full boat. Okay, I'm telling you this, and I'm saying this to you because you can tell that I'm super passionate about it and it's real and it works. But this is called Outlive. The Science of Art and the Art of Longevity. Peter Attia. Sorry if I'm butchering your name, buddy. Peter Attia, M.D. everybody tells me that this book is incredible. And even Gary, that's the other thing that I love about Gary Breca. Gary Brucker doesn't shit on other people and go, no, no, no. Only my stuff will do this. Gary's like, this guy is brilliant. This guy's good. And this guy knows exactly what he's talking about. Gary is that type of guy. So there you go, Outlive. If you can't afford to do a lot of this stuff, check out Gary's podcast and his stuff and, and read Outlive by Peter Attia.

[Guest Speaker]

I think this is a lot about Breca, the way he doesn't. The way you say he doesn't talk about other people. I've worked with some people, like doing the blood work and all that, trying to stay ahead of the chains with football. And it seemed like most of the people I worked with, if I brought up somebody else, they're like, no, that guy. Because everyone at the end of the day is trying to make money as well. But I hear Breck on, you know, the Rogan podcast, and you think about the rivalries within the game that people are living. And he talks about Andrew Huberman. He's like, guy's awesome. Guy understands his. Like, he knows what he's doing. So that says. That probably says a lot about him.

[Dana White]

The first thing, honestly, other than when this guy started walking through the blood work, first thing I noticed about him, other doctors. And he says, listen, it's. It's not. Listen. When doctors go, they don't study human biology the way that they used to and everything else. He works with doctors to work everybody who has other opinions. He's like, no, that's. He doesn't on anybody ever. Like, no, no, no, not that guy. My ways. Gary is the exact opposite. It's one of the things that I extremely respect about the guy. Yeah, so he speaks very highly of this guy.

[Guest Speaker]

When you, when you talk about Brecken he gave you like, when you're essentially gonna die. He said you had like 10, 11 years to live.

[Dana White]

10.4.

[Guest Speaker]

What was like your first thought when you heard that? Was it still in your mind? This is guy's load of like, you have to show me. Or was that like the wake up thing?

[Dana White]

No, it wasn't a wake up because I. I wasn't a believer yet. Make me believe. Then I'll say, oh, I got 10 years left. So then after I started doing his stuff, you know what I believe? I believe I didn't have that long. I think Gary was being nice. I don't think I had 10.4 years. I was fucking bad. And I think that, you know, there might be a lot of people out there listening right now that, you know, when you're a man and you got shit going on with you, you fucking deal with it. Boo hoo. My fucking legs are fucked up. My this. That. Try to talk to a doctor. They don't fix you. It's just like there's two things. Number one, I'm a man. I gotta do what I gotta do. I gotta get up every day and deal with life. Yeah, number one. And number two, maybe this is how fucking 50 feels. I'm 50 now. Is this how 50 feels? Must be. You know, that's what you start to think. It is the furthest thing from the truth. And now I tell Gary all the time, I'm like, I feel fucking incredible. I feel 20. And he's like, no, you don't. You don't feel incredible. This is what normal feels like. This isn't incredible. This is normal. This is what you're supposed to feel like. And it's all fascinating. He's a fascinating dude. I hope that this dude lives to be a fucking hundred, because a lot of people need him.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah, there's a book called Lifespan where a guy talks about that. Like, if you can do fasting and do basic things, like. And you can start to feel that normally you're Talking about like 100, 110 is like the, essentially the new 70 and like so on and so forth. 70 is the new 40 and all that.

[Dana White]

Well, if you look at the generation before us, right, you got Clint Eastwood right now, that's 93 years old, still doing it.

[Guest Speaker]

He's a mayor of a town, still doing it.

[Dana White]

Well, he was, he's not now.

[Guest Speaker]

He's not anymore.

[Dana White]

Still doing, still making movies, still doing his thing. You got Gene Hackman still alive. I don't know the state of Gene Hackman. I haven't seen him in a while. But he's in his fucking 90s. He's still alive. Bob Arum, I hate this motherfucker, right? Let me tell you about Bob Arum. You go back and research anything about Bob Arum and me talking about him, I can't stand him. Whatever. I have to give him the respect. I'm at the Aces playoffs. So the WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces. I'm at the, I'm at the playoff game. It's 8:30 at night now. You got to pull up to the, to the stadium in the back and you got to walk quite a ways. I look over across the thing, it's 8:30. Bob fucking Arum is sitting at the fucking 91, 92 years old at the Aces game. I'm like, you got to be shitting me, right? A week later, he's in fucking Saudi Arabia watching the fucking fights in Saudi Arabia. He's 90 fucking 2 years old.

[Guest Speaker]

He's ripping, he's moving around.

[Dana White]

You gotta, you gotta respect it.

[Podcast Host]

You gotta respect it, right? Yeah.

[Gatorade Voice]

Gatorade is the number one proven electrolyte blend designed to hydrate better than water so you can lose more sweat and raise your game.

[Podcast Host]

Gatorade, is it in you?

[Gatorade Voice]

My perfect day has sand, salt water and friends. But my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can take me out of the moment. Now I'm all in with clearer skin thanks to skyrizi risen Kizumab, RZA, a prescription only 150mg injection for adults who are candidates for systemic or phototherapy with Skyrizi. Most people saw 90% clearer skin and many were even 100% plaque free at four months. Skyrizi is just four doses a year after two starter doses.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Don't use if allergic to Skyrizi. Serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.

[Gatorade Voice]

Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin. And that means everything.

[Dana White]

Nothing is everything.

[Gatorade Voice]

Ask your doctor about Skyrizi, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic in psoriasis. Visit skyrizi.com or call 1-866-Skyrizi to learn more.

[Skyrizi Voice]

Say hello to making everyday routines a bit more magical. Say hello to sunshine and goodbye to boring. Say hello to hello hello makes oral and personal care products that are just friendly products that add a little everyday yay to your day. Like a toothpaste that makes brushing fun for kids. Doesn't exist. You say it's just a myth, a legend. A unicorn. Yeah, it's a unicorn hello's Unicorn Sparkle toothpaste. It tastes like rainbows and sunshine and it makes brushing fun. Also prevents cavities, strengthens enamel, helps brush away plaque and all that important toothpastey stuff. And they didn't forget adults. That's where hello Anti plaque and whitening toothpaste comes in. It takes care of plaque, tartar and bad breath for a friendly mouth. And it's made with farm grown peppermint for a friendly flavor. Speaking of friendly hello is vegan, cruelty free and not tested on animals. So take your day to the next level, a happier 1. Visit hello Products.com and let hello add some everyday yay into your life.

[Dana White]

Saying these guys from this generation now are already living into their 90s and flying to fucking Saudi Arabia to watch fights.

[Podcast Host]

How long are you trying to live?

[Dana White]

I don't give a fuck how long I live. I want a quality of life. Yeah. I want a good quality of. You know, I don't want to. Dana is 86. He's still alive. Fucking sitting in a wheelchair, drooling on myself.

[Guest Speaker]

Right.

[Dana White]

Living room, you know what I mean?

[Podcast Host]

86 at the high rollers.

[Dana White]

Working on his $8.3 million that we've won over the last 20 years.

[Guest Speaker]

Let's go with that. I can get on board with that.

[Podcast Host]

What's the lowest you've ever been down?

[Dana White]

The most.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Guest Speaker]

Hey, that's a quick turn. We got back on positive. You know what? What's the worst you've ever felt in your life? It's a good question though.

[Dana White]

Two million.

[Podcast Host]

Two?

[Dana White]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Did you bounce back from it or that's what you walked away? Maybe you came back from something lower.

[Dana White]

Is Hunter here? Pull him in here if he's in here.

[Guest Speaker]

I would love Hunter to be on this podcast. He's such a legend.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, just stays behind the scenes. Behind the scenes appearance every now and.

[Guest Speaker]

Then while Hunter's coming. How much of a Factor is Hunter in this business, the way he operates and everything behind.

[Dana White]

So you want to know something crazy? He was an intern here.

[Guest Speaker]

No shit.

[Podcast Host]

Hunter was an intern.

[Dana White]

He was an intern in like, what department? Like legal and. Yeah, legal. He's a lawyer. Yeah. So he interned here when he. When he was in college. Young kid. And then he became a lawyer, and then he ended up becoming my lawyer. And then when we sold the company, I had to bring. You know, I brought him in as a. Is he here? He's not here.

[Guest Speaker]

It's a bad look. It's a bad look for Hunter.

[Podcast Host]

I really wanted him to.

[Dana White]

Yeah. I'll give you the talk about how. Oh, he is here. Oh, okay. I was gonna say we're talking about. Grady is. And he's not at work today. And then he ended up becoming my lawyer. And when we sold the company, I was sort of rebuilding the executive team in a few spots, and I brought him in to be my right hand man. Yeah. And he's awesome. Not, you know, he's great at what he does, but he's. He's one of my close friends now, too. I'm very good friends.

[Guest Speaker]

He seems like. He seems like the perfect ying to your yang because you obviously.

[Dana White]

It's exactly what I was looking for.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dana White]

What. What you can't have here is two of me. You know what I mean? So Lorenzo Fertita and I balanced each other out. I needed. I needed that other side of the scale to balance out the way that I am.

[Guest Speaker]

Right. Because you're.

[Dana White]

You're.

[Guest Speaker]

You're a thrill seeker. You're competitive. You. You're fighting the good fight. Hunter's a lot that way, too, from what I've seen. But he has more of. He seems more cautious in a lot of ways. And the simplest fact is when we get to the black, maybe analytical, calculated, analytical. Because we'll sit there and table. Hey, you, man, you play. And I mean, I know he will. He's well off, and he does his thing. He's like, no. He's like, I'd rather own a casino, right, than play the game. And every time I play, he's like, you're a idiot. Like, what are you doing? And I kind of feel bad about myself for a little bit. I'm like, no, I'm gonna keep playing, though. We're gonna keep this thing rolling. But he's a. He's an awesome cat. I really.

[Dana White]

About owning a fucking casino is you got to go through a lot of fucking bullshit to try to own a casino. And you should, you should. So fuck that shit. I want nothing to do with that. That's like a running for office. So basically the government can come into your house at any point in time, go through your safe, go through your phone, go through all your personal records, you know, all this, the game. What people don't realize is the gaming industry is incredibly regulated by the government. You know what I mean? So when you go in there, like some nights when you're in there, you would feel like, I always talk about this back in the wild, wild west. You have played enough now to see that sometimes when these fucking cards flip, you're like, how is this even fucking numerically possible that this could fucking happen this way? So think back in the cowboy days when guys were really fucking stupid and had no education. Hot headed, everybody carried fucking guns. Imagine being a dealer or a casino owner back in those days. And you see these cards flipping the way that people had to die back then.

[Podcast Host]

There's no way guys losing with 20.

[Dana White]

Pull their fucking six out. If you're losing the way up a fucking dealer because they thought they were cheating. It's impossible. But the reality is when you play these games and the way these cards flip, it is the most regulated shit in this country. All these games are square and on the up and up and all the cameras and the government is paying attention to everything. It's very, very regulated. Regulated. So to get a license in gaming you got to go through hell.

[Guest Speaker]

It's not, that's not worth your time.

[Dana White]

Yeah, it's that you're, you're more build.

[Guest Speaker]

Brands, sell them, move on.

[Dana White]

I'm the guy on the other side of the table. I would rather play against you. Yeah, it's just my thing. It's what I love to do. And you know, you have people like Hunter and, and many other people. Like why the does this guy doesn't need to get weather? Because I like it, that's why. Oh, business other than I like it. Yeah, every night. Exactly. It's what I like to do.

[Guest Speaker]

When's the last time you didn't bet a max bet in blackjack?

[Dana White]

Oh, it's just, it doesn't exist.

[Podcast Host]

That's what I, that's one of his non negotiables.

[Dana White]

Oh, he counts cards, he does this, he does that. No, I bet the same fucking amount every hand. I bet the max. Every hand? Yeah.

[Guest Speaker]

You don't just bet the max every hand. You're also a psychopath. The way I was watching you because essentially when you get down the way you were Last night, you have to rely on the doubles and the splits to get you back on track 100%. And there was a couple times, you know, we're looking at a pair of twos versus a cane. You're like it. And the classic line, let's gamble, and then you're double and whatever going after. And it obviously worked in your favor. Is it just a feel thing now?

[Dana White]

Yeah, it's just. You have to mix it up. You know, when. When we're in this. We're in this loop that we were in last night, I. Was it true or is it not true that I would tell you what was going to happen? That's what we were just talking about before it happened. I told you what was going to happen. So, you know, yes, for the most part, you play by the book, but. But overall you play by your gut. And there's times when you have to do shit that doesn't make sense because nothing is making sense. When you have the amount of twenties that we had last night and we won none of them. When you have the amount of double downs that we had and we won none of them. If I had a 14, I was absolutely, positively getting the 10. If I had an 11, we're absolutely getting the 4.

[Guest Speaker]

Right?

[Dana White]

Right. I mean, all night. So when that kind of goofy shit is happening over and. Oh, at fucking one point, I don't know if you remember this, but what's his name? Orlando. Yeah, played, right. John Orlando played. He got murdered. Then we started playing. We got the same hands that Orlando got. Same card, same up against the. Everything was exactly the same.

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah.

[Dana White]

Like we were fucking caught in the Matrix. And it was a. It was a fucking glitch in the Matrix. It was fucking crazy.

[Guest Speaker]

It was wild. There was. He started playing. And sometimes you play where you just have the cards down. I don't know if you just enjoy it more, the thrill of everybody else watching and no one really know what's going on. And I was sitting right next to him so I could see the cards. And he'd have six, like a two and a four. And the dealer would be showing a four. And he would just stay. No hit, no rhyme or reason. And then the dealer would bust. And is the crazy, the goofy shit you're talking about? So because you're taking that 10 all.

[Dana White]

Of a sudden dead on, you're absolute. So when you're in this loop, when this shit's going on, I have the six he's got. He gets the crazy every time you hit that six right it's a four two, right? You hit it, it's the 10. So most of the time when shit's going goofy, I will stay on the six. I will stay on, you know, hands like that. And the dealer normally. But how many. How many times you see it? Last night, I think it was probably exactly five or six, and I think I lost one.

[Guest Speaker]

And the ones you won that on, just stay on six. It was kind of like a. Look at this fucking move. And the one he lost, you got to flip it over.

[Dana White]

But even the dealers will flip it over. Go. What?

[Guest Speaker]

Yeah. Yeah, Dana.

[Podcast Host]

So in the moment, he's doing his mannerisms at the table, too, with the card swipe and everything else.

[Dana White]

Yeah.

[Guest Speaker]

In it.

[Dana White]

The.

[Guest Speaker]

The thing that. Here's what blows me away about you is we've had conversations about people when other situations have happened, and ESPN and these other companies are calling you, saying, we want this guy out. And you're like, all right, then we're out. That type of. How did you become an individual? Or have you always been like this, where you're choosing people over business because you meet people with money and there's a level of, I don't know, narcissism or something, where they are so solely focused on their success that they don't care about other people's success? And it seems like you are the exact opposite. I've been at the table with you where you've handed me money. Just last night's perfect example, Kyle from the Nelk boys, he's down 50. You're around, you're on a hot streak. You're like, hey, give me 30. Bing, bang, boom. Here, here's 30. And you kind of do that. Like, what does that come from? Has that always been you, or is it because you're the position you're in now and you understand people?

[Dana White]

I don't ever choose money over people, ever, ever. I don't know how to explain it, but I will never choose. It's just like, you know, this business. The best example I can give you is going through Covid is no matter what goes on, we're going to go through a lot of hard times. We went through the, you know, the crash in 089. There's been other things that have happened in our business. Going up with one year, we had every main event fallout or co. Main event with injuries, and. And it was a rough pay per view year. And, you know, we've had times back in the day when we didn't know if we were going to break covenants and shit like that. We never laid our people off. I will fucking. I look at every day when I get up out of bed and I go to work, I'm going to war. There's people coming to fucking take shots at us and try to take us down, whether it's the fucking media or these people or those people. And all these people that are in this building strap up and go to battle with me every day. So the UFC is this fucking battleship, right? And we're cruising and we're fighting the fight every day. Some people have been here for 10, 15, 20 years, right? And Covid was the perfect example, because we've never found. We've never been through a time that was as scary as Covid. Are we going to die? Is the whole world going to collapse? Is this going to happen? Is that going to happen? Now, I'm the leader in this organization, right? I am the guy who is. My job description is to run the business through the good, the bad, the ugly, all this shit. But I take care of my people. My people depend on a paycheck every week for me. So the way that I am, what most businesses will do. You saw a lot through Covid. You see a lot when. When they're going through hard times. The way that you stay. That you make it a lot easier is you. You start fucking getting rid of people. So you put bullets on all these people, and, you know, then your. Your costs go down and you manage the business. You do whatever. This is a fucking battleship. And we're either all going down together or we're not going down at all. That's just the way that I'm fucking wired in the way that I look at it. And when I look at my employees, I expect a lot from them, right? This place is a fucking grindhouse. It's a hamster wheel. Every fucking Saturday, we're putting on a fight. As soon as that fight is over, we start promoting the next fight on Monday, right? So think about this, and this is the way that I look at it. How many games have they missed that their kids played? How many performances have they missed that their kids performed in at school? How many hours did they miss playing with their fucking kids and all this kind of shit? These are the things that I think about. And we hit some hard times. We hit a rocky road, and that's it. You're just a fucking number. You're. You're. You're. You're a. You're a fucking number to the bottom line. Because that's basically what These companies do, they go down and they look at the people. And if you make the most money, you're probably the, the one that's in the most risk, right? Or there's multiple people that do your job or whatever. And what goes out the window is all the that you've done for the company, right? All goes out, right? Out the window. Fuck that shit. Not with me. I don't forget. I don't ever forget. I always remember who was here and who did what. And then the people that I don't even know what they did. I know what they did, you know what I mean? Because I know what we do here. And I will never pick money over people.

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[Podcast Host]

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[Dana White]

Ah, come on. Why is this taking so long?

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