5 times that UFC President Dana White absolutely owned media personnel

#2. Dana White roasts Ariel Helwani after banning him from covering the UFC

Dana White and Ariel Helwani had a major falling out in 2016

The UFC’s feud with reporter Ariel Helwani is a storied one that largely dates back to 2016. Prior to that time, Helwani appeared to be Dana White’s most trusted reporter. In fact, it was in a 2011 interview with Helwani that White famously broke the news that the UFC had bought out its rival promotion Strikeforce.

But in 2016, Helwani made a major error in judgment. He decided to break the news that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was set to return at UFC 200 – shortly before the promotion announced it.

The fallout saw Helwani and some of his colleagues thrown out of a UFC event and hit with a lifetime ban from the UFC. Dana White then stated that if Helwani wanted to attend UFC 200, he’d need to buy a ticket.

However, once cooler heads had prevailed, the reporter’s ban was lifted and his credentials reinstated. Unfortunately, in the period inbetween, Helwani had detailed the issues between him and the UFC on his YouTube show The MMA Hour.

Unsurprisingly, that left Dana White absolutely livid. The UFC president – clearly not willing to bury the hatchet – lashed out at Helwani in an interview. White stated that he’d “thrown a pity party for himself”, labelling him “dirty” and describing his actions as a “weasel move”.

While Helwani is no longer persona non grata with the UFC, it’s probably safe to say White won’t be offering him any exclusives in the near future.

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#1. Dana White snaps at Josh Gross after TUF spoilers are leaked

Dana White was livid when Josh Gross leaked TUF spoilers back in 2006

Back in 2006, the UFC wasn’t quite the juggernaut that it is today, so its relationship with the old-school MMA media was a little closer. After all, before ESPN and Yahoo Sports covered the UFC, websites like Sherdog and MMAWeekly were the promotion’s only real media outlets.

However, Sherdog’s Josh Gross found himself in seriously hot water with Dana White in the latter stages of that year. Gross decided to announce spoilers for the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter on his radio show.

Gross’s argument was that because the winners were set to fight for a UFC title in the near future, it was only fair that fans knew their identities in advance. But in all honesty, it felt petty – and understandably drew the ire of White.

In this instance, a furious UFC president hit out at Gross in an unexpected place – on MMA.tv’s ‘Underground Forum’.

He labeled Gross “the biggest idiot he’d ever met in the industry” and then, in comical fashion, hit out at his lack of sporting prowess. White said:

“I don't know if anyone has ever seen Josh Gross but the guy has never done anything athletic in his entire life”.

White has used more profanity-laced tirades in his time and been more seriously angry with other members of the media. However, this definitely stands out as his funniest attack on a reporter.