5 most insane Dana White moments from 2024

Dana White has had a long and storied career as an MMA promoter, spearheading the UFC since 2001 and helping turn it into a multi-billion-dollar organization. The American is known for his high-risk, high-reward approach to business. He's also considered as someone who doesn't mince his words.

As such, the 55-year-old has given fight fans many memorable moments over the years. This year was no different -- as he was involved in some spur-of-the-moment decisions and hilarious encounters inside and outside the UFC realm. Today, we look at some of White's most insane moments from the 2024 calendar year.

---

#5 Dana White walks off podcast sans explanation

Back in February 2024, UFC CEO and president Dana White appeared on Canadian comedian and actor Howie Mandel's podcast, Howie Mandel Does Stuff. Mandel, who's a veteran of the American entertainment industry (Hollywood), showered praise on White while introducing him on the podcast.

Also present were social media influencer Ginger Billy and Mandel's co-host and daughter, Jackelyn Shultz. White responded to Mandel's laudation with a concise response and suggested he was done with podcast appearances:

"Thank you for all the kind words. I appreciate it. I am so f**king tired of doing podcasts. I'm literally done with it. I'm not doing any more podcasts."

White then pushed the microphone away, took off his headphones, and walked off the set. Mandel and the others were seemingly surprised and looked on. Needless to say, the uncanny walk-off sparked widespread speculation ranging from rumors about a potential rift between him and Mandel to questions about whether the incident was scripted as a publicity stunt.

Later in the year, White appeared on American comedian Andrew Schulz's Flagrant podcast and addressed his walk-off. He explained that Mandel had come up with the idea of him walking off. Apparently, he'd asked the UFC boss to do him the favor. The latter agreed, as he himself was exhausted with his myriad of podcast appearances.

White implied that he was to keep the deal a secret, but some fans had subsequently been hurling epithets at and criticizing Mandel. To stave away unnecessary criticism against Mandel -- whom the UFC head deemed "the greatest f**king dude ever" -- he ultimately cleared the air about the infamous walk-off.

Watch the walk-off in the podcast episode below (0:22):

---

#4 Dana White's electrifying RNC speech for Donald Trump

Dana White made waves in July 2024 for his passionate Republican National Convention speech for longtime friend and UFC supporter, ex-POTUS (President of the United States) and current President-elect Donald Trump. White particularly underscored how considerate Trump was of his friends and supporters.

White recalled that the Republican politician requested him to ceremonially introduce him at the RNC but mentioned that he was worried about not wanting to disturb the UFC boss during his family trip. Highlighting that it's simply how caring Trump is, White emphasized that the billionaire businessperson has been fighting tooth and nail to save and improve America.

Another notable White-Trump moment came after the latter won the 2024 POTUS elections by defeating the Democratic Party's Kamala Harris in November. White took to the dais during Trump's victory speech ceremony and hailed the President-elect, who's expected to ascend to the POTUS seat in January 2025.

Also, White notably gave shoutouts to UFC color commentator and podcast mogul Joe Rogan, Adin Ross, Theo Von, the Nelk Boys podcast hosts, and the Bussin' With The Boys podcast hosts for contributing toward the promotion of the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign.

Nevertheless, in regard to sheer electricity and intensity, White's RNC speech from July stood head and shoulders above most other political speeches, including his own aforementioned speech from November.

Watch White's thunderous RNC speech below:

---

#3 Veteran media personality confuses Dana White with Joe Rogan

Sage Steele has long served as a media personality in America, including a notable stint with ESPN. On The Sage Steele Show in March 2024, she hosted Dana White and ended up confusing him with UFC commentator Joe Rogan twice.

The first time was around the show's 2:00-minute mark and the second around its 1:19:12-minute mark. The second time around White picked up on the gaffe and laughingly highlighted it:

"Did you just think I was Joe Rogan? She just called me f**king Joe Rogan. You thought I was f**king Joe Rogan. I was bald before Joe was ever bald."

White proceeded to assert that sometimes people see him walking down the street and ask for pictures with him, thinking he's Rogan. Well, Steele apologized for her error, and the duo continued with the conversation smilingly and seemingly in good spirits.

Moreover, during a subsequent conversation with Greg Gutfeld, Steele clarified that White mentioned something along the lines of "Joe Rogan's drink" earlier during their meeting. She added that since both men worked for the UFC, it added to her confusion.

Watch White's reaction below (1:19:12):

---

#2 Dana White gives UFC aspirant a golden opportunity in the middle of a major press conference

The UFC 308 event that went down in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., in October 2024, was a major card, headlined by UFC featherweight kingpin Ilia Topuria's terrifying KO win over the legendary Max Holloway. During the pre-fight press conference heading into the star-studded event, a Tajik fighter named Dorobshokh Nabotov partook in a Q&A segment and asked White for a chance to compete in the UFC.

Generally, such demands usually don't result in much, as some view them as rather intrusive and ill-timed. However, White seemed impressed by the young fighter rolling the metaphorical dice and taking his shot. He called him onstage and guided him toward someone else, which many believed was to complete some formalities.

It was later reported that White had offered Nabotov a deal, whereby if the latter would win his fight on ex-UFC star Chan Sung Jung's ZFN 02 on December 14, he'd win a UFC contract. Unfortunately, Nabotov ended up losing to Matheus Camilo via unanimous decision, and Camilo was instead signed to the UFC.

White later indicated that Nabotov gave Jung's promotion a tough time backstage and was also one-dimensional, whereas his opponent was more well-rounded and deserving of a UFC spot.

Watch the much-discussed press conference segment featuring Dana White and Nabotov below:

---

#1 Dana White agreed to massive one-time raise in UFC bonuses for special event

The UFC's tricentennial numbered pay-per-view (PPV) event, the landmark UFC 300, transpired in Vegas in April 2024. During the pre-fight press conference, a reporter questioned whether the UFC would consider hiking the post-fight bonuses from the usual $50k to a greater number.

Fighters like Justin Gaethje, present onstage alongside Dana White, ultimately pitched $300k as the fitting number for bonuses for the fighters with the most impressive performances at UFC 300. White ended up granting the fighters' wish and officially set the bonus as $300k for the event.

Well, multiple fighters at UFC 300, including Gaethje did receive the mammoth bonus alongside their guaranteed purse. In the ensuing events, there have been demands for the UFC to permanently set the bonus figure as $300k, but that hasn't come to fruition yet.

Watch Dana White agree to the massive UFC 300 bonus hike below: