How did Dana White become the UFC president?

In the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, neither the promotion nor Dana White himself had much influence in the world of combat sports. In fact, White only became the helmsman of the MMA promotion in 2001.

According to a report by The Manual, Dana White was instated as the president of UFC after his friends Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta bought out the company from Semaphore Entertainment Group in 2001 for a little over $2 million.

During that time, the Fertitta brothers were already established businessmen thanks to their successful chain of casinos.

In a 2020 interview with SPORTSNET, the 53-year-old explained the scenario which led to the Fartittas buying out the UFC. White explained that it was when he was working as a manager for Tito Ortiz that he realized that the UFC was up for grabs:

"I was negotiating a deal at the time for Tito [Ortiz] and [Bob] Meyrowitz snapped in the middle of the negotiation and basically said, 'Listen, there’s no more money left. There is no money, there is no pay-per-view. I don't even know if there is going to be another show'... So I called Lorenzo and Frank... and I said the UFC is in trouble, I think we can buy them and I think we should. So that started the negotiations and couple months later we ended up owning the company."

Watch Dana White talk about how the Fartittas bought the UFC below:

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How much of the UFC does Dana White own?

Back in 2001, when the Farttita brothers bought the UFC for $2 million via Zuffa LLC, Dana White was given 10% ownership of UFC, while the bothers held 80% of the spoils.

However, in 2016, Zuffa was sold out to a group of investors led by WME-IMG for around $4 billion. Though White was retained as the president of the MMA promotion, he did sell the 9% stake he held at the time, during the trade.

In a 2016 interview with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, the UFC president spilled details about the lucrative deal:

"I had 10 [percent stake]... then I sold a point to Abu Dhabi when they bought a few years ago and then I sold what's left. When this deal closed, it bugged me a out little bit... My partners, I've been with them for twenty years. So that's all going to change, Ive got new partners now. And I kind of howrad and Huges myself up into a hotel for a couple of days."

Watch White talk about the Zuffa sale below:

It is now clear what percentage of the stake the 53-year-old still holds in the company post the 2016 deal. White reportedly received around $360 million during the Zuffa sell off.

Read here: How much is UFC President Dana White's Net Worth?