Former UFC referee lavishes praise on Dana White's work ethic during early years of Zuffa era: "He was a hard worker"

A former UFC referee recently lavished praise on Dana White's work ethic when he became president of the promotion. He noted that the promoter went to great lengths to bring awareness to the promotion and ensure that the general public was familiar with them.

Despite the promotion being the MMA leader and a very profitable company, that wasn't always the case as they were millions in debt when Zuffa initially assumed control. White was in a position where he needed to find creative ways to make the UFC profitable, so he could implement their vision for the sport, which included 'The Ultimate Fighter'.

During his latest appearance on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's JAXXON PODCAST, former referee 'Big' John McCarthy praised the UFC CEO for his tireless work ethic and going above and beyond to change the perception of the promotion. McCarthy mentioned that White took a massive gamble with 'The Ultimate Fighter' that ultimately paid off:

"Back then, people don't remember what Dana [White] was like, but he was a hard worker. Dana was going to Blockbusters...putting UFC things in there. And he would fly to this thing to do something. He was doing just basic small work at times because they were losing a ton of money to the point where when they did the first 'Ultimate Fighter', they were $44 million in the hole. I knew that because Lorenzo [Fertitta] had told me."

Check out John McCarthy's comments regarding Dana White below:

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John McCarthy discloses 'The Ultimate Fighter' deal between Spike TV and Dana White's UFC

In addition to heaping praise on Dana White's work ethic, John McCarthy also disclosed that the UFC took a massive gamble when producing 'The Ultimate Fighter'.

The series, which resulted in many fighters becoming household names, could have very well resulted in the promotion's demise. During the aforementioned appearance, McCarthy mentioned that it added an additional $10 million in debt to the promotion and they paid their broadcast partner Spike TV to air it rather than the network funding them:

"[White] decided that they were gonna do 'The Ultimate Fighter', and it was gonna cost him $10 million to produce the show and to buy the air time to put it on Spike. Spike didn't give them sh*t, they fu**ing got paid to put that thing on...They paid Spike."

Check out Dana White's famous "Do you want to be a fighter?" speech from 'The Ultimate Fighter' season 1 below: