The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Hour 3: Dana White In-Studio!
Podcast: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guest: Dana White (UFC President & CEO)
Producer: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
Overview
This episode of The Herd features a lively, in-depth studio interview with Dana White, President and CEO of the UFC. White discusses the evolution and future of combat sports, UFC’s new media strategies, the upcoming Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford boxing super-fight, finding and developing talent, as well as the business and cultural forces shaping both the UFC and Las Vegas. There's also candid conversation about White's friendship with Donald Trump, his board role at Meta, and his personal approach to risk and leadership.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. UFC’s Move Away from Pay-Per-View (08:20–09:28)
- UFC's Deal with Paramount: Dana confirms UFC is moving away from the traditional pay-per-view model to a broader streaming partnership with Paramount, aiming to make live events more accessible and affordable for fans.
- Quote: “The world is changing now...streaming services, you can have tons of great programming, but live sports, you have to tune in at a certain time.” (Dana White, 08:53)
- White frames this as a reward to loyal UFC fans who have paid for costly PPVs for decades.
- Colin: “Finally, somebody rewards the fans… when you made that decision, it’s counter to what boxing and UFC has been my entire life.”
2. The Revival and Future of Boxing (10:04–12:06)
- Is Boxing Dead? Dana pushes back: “Every time you think that boxing’s dead, a big fight will pop up again… but it’s every once in a blue moon. We, at the UFC, go every Saturday ... in boxing, it’s here and there.” (Dana White, 10:04)
- Canelo vs. Crawford Fight: White is promoting this mega-fight, dubbing it, “the best fight in five to six years.” He praises both Canelo as a generational icon and Crawford’s willingness to move up in weight, calling it “the stuff” for fight fans.
- Colin: “Canelo Alvarez is the fighter of his generation... never been knocked down.”
- Dana: “I love this fight. The fact that Crawford is willing to risk moving up in weight to fight him... If you’re a fight fan, this is the stuff.” (10:34)
- White's Boxing Ambitions: Launching a new boxing league in 2026, hoping to develop up-and-coming talent, akin to UFC’s Contender Series. “Take these up and coming guys… and like the undercard of Canelo vs. Crawford, the whole card is incredible. Not just the main event.” (Dana White, 11:34)
3. Talent Identification and Business Resilience (12:06–13:18)
- White and Colin relate the thrill of discovering young talent to their own business models.
- Cowherd draws a comparison with Amazon and Meta, noting long stretches of unprofitability and adversity before mainstream success.
- The toughest moments in White’s rise: When the Fertitta brothers considered leaving the UFC after massive losses (“maybe $40 million in”), White says, “I always thought it was going to work, you know, just…was the timing right?” (Dana White, 13:18)
- Fertittas stuck with it: “He literally called me the next morning... ‘let’s keep going.’ Thank God. Here we are today.” (Dana White, 13:49)
4. Finding the Next Jon Jones & the Talent Pipeline (18:48–20:02)
- White declares Jon Jones to be the best fighter in UFC history (“pound for pound, probably the best, in my opinion” - Dana, 18:48).
- Contrasts boxing's culture of protecting undefeated records with UFC’s ethic of matching best versus best in every division.
- Is there ever a shortage of talent? Not anymore: “As the sport gets bigger, there’s more and more people that realize they can make millions fighting... There's plenty of talent out there.” (Dana White, 19:40)
5. On Friendship with Trump & Political Optics (20:08–22:15)
- Dana discusses being close with Trump for 25+ years, both as a friend and supporter of UFC, not a political move: “It’s not like I was getting political... this guy’s my friend. He’s been my friend forever... he’s a huge UFC fan.” (Dana White, 20:33)
- White comments on both his and Trump’s legendary work ethic and lack of sleep: “I literally sleep four or five hours a night, and I can tell you right now, Donald Trump sleeps less.” (Dana White, 22:15)
6. Staging a UFC Event at the White House (22:28–24:09)
- White is coordinating a UFC event on the White House lawn for next summer. Security, logistics, and scale (“under 5,000” live attendees; possibly 85,000 in a connected park) are all in play.
- “Now all the work starts... the Secret Service’s job is to protect the President, and… I don’t know how it’s going to work out... we’re going to take over Washington, D.C. that whole week.” (Dana White, 23:01)
7. The Global Expansion & Experience of UFC Events (24:44–28:38)
- UFC has yet to visit Spain but is otherwise “wide open” globally.
- Details on two huge simultaneous events: Noche UFC in San Antonio (sold out, record-breaking) and Canelo-Crawford in Vegas (third-biggest boxing gate in history).
- White critiques stadium fights for lackluster live fan experiences and is focused on perfecting every aspect of the in-person experience (“I want everything to go smooth with the live event... expensive for fans, need to make it worth it.”—Dana White, 30:31–31:14)
- He refutes the narrative that Vegas is struggling: “Vegas is always doing well, Vegas is booming this weekend. There’s going to be over 60,000 people coming in for this fight.” (Dana White, 31:23)
- Las Vegas then and now: From cheap buffets to world-class dining and shopping, with sports as a new anchor.
8. White’s Personal Style: Risk, Leadership, and Life (27:39–30:01, 32:38)
- White is newly energized by his appointment to the Meta board: “It blew me away… you go into one of these board meetings... these people are all just brilliant and badass. When Zuckerberg comes in... I am literally on the edge of the seat the whole time.” (Dana White, 27:39)
- Discusses his high-stakes gambling (baccarat, betting up to $1 million a hand), risk-taking, and always being “aggressive.” (Dana White, 29:04–29:43)
9. Vegas Culture & White’s Recommendations (32:13–33:38)
- White recommends “Carbone” as Vegas’s must-dine Italian restaurant—the city a mecca for the best global restaurants.
- “With Raiders games, Patriots fans fly in... have a blast, go to the game, then fly home. That’s the new Vegas.” (Dana White & Colin, 33:25)
10. Dana White: Lifelong Patriots Fan (33:36–34:00)
- Not torn when Patriots play in Vegas: “It’s New England. Not torn at all.” (Dana White, 33:36)
- Adds: “I’m close to Max Crosby. So if we’re going to get beat by anybody, at least it’s Max Crosby. Nobody better in the league.” (Dana White, 33:53, 33:59)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On moving away from PPV:
“Finally, somebody rewards the fans.” (Colin, 08:23)
“The world is changing now. All these streaming services… but live sports, you have to tune in at a certain time.” (Dana White, 08:53) - On Canelo-Crawford:
“If you’re a fight fan, this is the stuff.” (Dana White, 10:35)
“He’s willing to risk moving up in weight to fight him. That's what makes this fight so great.” (Dana White, 10:34) - On UFC business struggles:
“I always thought it was going to work… just was the timing right... we were probably $40 million in at that time. Maybe $30 million.” (Dana White, 13:18)
“He literally called me the next morning… ‘let’s keep going.’” (Dana White, 13:49) - On talent:
“As the sport gets bigger, there’s more and more people that realize they can make millions of dollars fighting.... There’s plenty of talent out there.” (Dana White, 19:51) - On Trump friendship:
“It wasn’t really a political move for me.” (Dana White, 20:33) - On White House UFC event security:
“The Secret Service’s job is to protect the President... I don’t know how it’s going to work out... we're going to take over Washington, D.C. that whole week.” (Dana White, 23:01) - On Meta board meetings:
“When Zuckerberg comes in... I am literally on the edge of my seat the whole time... these board meetings... he’s got every minute dialed in.” (Dana White, 27:39) - On risk and personality:
“Were you always a risk taker? Is this just who you are?” (Colin, 29:43)
“Yeah, I guess. Yeah.” (Dana White, 29:46)
Timestamps for Key Segments
| Segment Topic | Time Stamp | |--------------------------------------------------------|----------------| | UFC News Headlines and Bo Nix/Raiders/Seahawks talk | 02:32–08:20 | | Dana White joins; moving away from PPV | 08:20–09:28 | | The Health of Boxing; Canelo-Crawford Promotion | 10:04–12:06 | | Talent scouting, UFC vs. boxing model | 12:06–13:18 | | UFC business adversity and resilience | 13:18–14:02 | | On finding next Jon Jones; state of global talent | 18:48–20:02 | | White’s Trump connection, politics in sports | 20:08–22:15 | | White House fight; managing security/logistics | 22:28–24:09 | | UFC global reach; biggest events; fan experience | 24:44–31:14 | | Las Vegas business and food recommendations | 31:23–33:38 | | Patriots vs. Vegas loyalty | 33:36–34:00 |
Tone & Atmosphere
- Upbeat, candid, direct: Both Dana White and Colin Cowherd are brash, unfiltered, and willing to tackle controversial or non-standard ideas in the worlds of sports, business, and media. The tone is conversational with occasional humor, honesty about failures and risk, and excitement over the upcoming events.