Dana White claims the UFC "battled hard" to make sure wrestling remained an Olympic sport

Dana White presides over the world's biggest promotion for professional mixed martial arts. A lot of the competitive talent have their roots in wrestling, something UFC president Dana White commends, acknowledges, and apparently highly respects.

He recently appeared in an interview with TMZSports, wherein he was asked about his views on Olympic wrestler Gable Stevenson's possible move to the UFC. While on the topic, Dana White expressed his respect for wrestling and revealed that his organization does not shy away from extending support to the wrestling world. Dana White said:

"Well, obviously, wrestling is a massive base in the UFC, and a lot of great wrestlers, including Olympics, have come and done great things here... You now, a few years ago, they were looking to get rid of wrestling as an Olympic sport. Me and UFC here, we battled hard to make sure that that didn't happen, so we're very supportive of olympic wrestling."

The UFC has certainly seen many great wrestlers become legends of the sport. A perfect example of an Olympic medallist making his mark in the history books of the UFC is 'Triple C' Henry Cejudo.

“Triple C’s out. You guys don’t have to hear my ass no more.”Henry Cejudo announces he’s retiring after defending the belt. #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/I2aCWgjlEY

— ESPN (@espn) May 10, 2020

The Olympic freestyle wrestler won the gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Men's 55-kg freestyle wrestling.

Cejudo began competing in MMA in 2013, and seven years later, in 2020, he retired at the top, having held the UFC bantamweight and flyweight titles. He is one of four fighters in the promotion's history to have held two titles simultaneously.

Welcome to Olympic Champion Mountain 🏔Since the first time I saw you wrestle at the trials I knew you were special. The impossible is nothing for what ever you decide to do after wrestling. Whether it’s Wrestling, NFL, WWE, or UFC. @GableSteveson pic.twitter.com/CzcYuvN9fC

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) August 6, 2021

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Dana White open to the idea of having Gable Stevenson compete under the UFC banner

21-year-old Gable Stevenson bagged a gold medal at the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics in the 125-kg men's freestyle wrestling event. The victory resulted in resounding cheers from the USA, especially the combat sports community.

The young phenomenon has a lot of doors open for him, one of them being the UFC. Other options include the WWE, NFL, and any other field Stevenson may find interesting.

👋🏽 @danawhite

— Gable Steveson (@GableSteveson) August 10, 2021

Gable Stevenson took to Twitter to wave at Dana White, possibly about pairing up with the UFC. Although he has no background in MMA, his young age and exceptional wrestling will surely make a move to MMA an interesting and worthwhile challenge. Dana White, too, is interested to see what Gable Stevenson will bring to the table. The UFC boss said:

"He [Gable Stevenson] will be in town this weekend. So, you know, I think we're gonna hook up and talk. You know obviously, there is a lot of work for him to do before he can make it to the UFC, but you know, we'll see what happens."

Watch the entire interview below: