"First death in MMA" - Dana White says one-off fight with Tito Ortiz amid bitter rivalry would've ended in "murder"

Podcasts and Dana White no longer go hand-in-hand, but the UFC CEO made a recent appearance on The Rush with Maxx Crosby, where he discussed various subject matters ranging from his health to his personal feud with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.

Specifically, White was asked about the infamous would-be boxing match between the pair that never transpired. Ortiz withdrew from the bout, which White, who has boxing experience, had trained for and was confident of winning. However, when it came to an MMA fight, White changed his tune.

"It was supposed to be a boxing match. It ends badly for Tito in a boxing match. If it was MMA, it would be the first death in MMA. Tit Ortiz would have killed me, murdered me."

Check out Dana White talking about his feud with Tito Ortiz (29:57):

The bitter rivalry between White and Ortiz is well-documented. Once former friends, with the UFC CEO even once managing Ortiz's career at one point, a conflict of interest ensued that fractured their relationship. From then onward, it only worsened, with both men taking jabs at each other.

It all came to a head when a boxing match between them was in the works. However, at the very last instance, Ortiz pulled out of the bout, which White claims was due to fear. White himself regrets that part of their feud, given the poor optics of a company president fist-fighting one of its most visible workers.

Granted, UFC fighters are not technically employees, instead, they are independent contractors. Regardless, the feud between both of them seems to still carry on in some respects.

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Has Dana White been a professional boxer?

While Dana White doesn't have any professional fighting experience, he does know his way around the squared circle. In fact, his boxing skills served him greatly during his time as a boxing trainer and boxercise instructor at a gym back in Boston. For those unfamiliar, boxercise doesn't fully entail boxing.

Instead, it is an anaerobic, high-intensity cardio exercise that incorporates boxing mechanics in terms of its movements, but lacks any traditional training like sparring. Furthermore, it is often done in groups and only for the purpose of cardiovascular fitness, as opposed to fight readiness.