"That unknown fighter was called Khabib Nurmagomedov" - UFC veteran names Dana White's greatest accomplishment that often goes unrecognized

While praising Dana White's achievements, a UFC veteran mentioned one that is frequently overlooked. The individual went on to praise White as a promoter and elaborated on how the UFC CEO transformed an unknown fighter into one of the greatest MMA fighters in history.

The person in question is former UFC fighter and Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen, who recently talked about White's accomplishments in a video posted on his YouTube channel. Sonnen highlighted that the UFC frequently offers an unknown fighter or even a fighter recovering from a defeat a chance at fame, something that boxing does not do.

The 47-year-old pointed out that White made it possible:

''The greatest thing Dana White has ever done that nobody’s recognized is [that he] made losing acceptable. In boxing, if you lose, don’t talk about a title shot.''

Sonnen then acknowledged Mike Soccio's compliments on White's ability as a promoter and his knack for providing fans with thrilling bouts.

The former middleweight title challenger claimed that White set up the matchup between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor because the Dagestani icon, although relatively unknown at the time, had climbed the ranks to face McGregor, arguably the most well-known figure in the entire MMA community.

Sonnen said:

''There was an unpopular fighter. There was a guy that was pretty tough. His style wasn't perfectly what they were looking for and he wasn't all that famous, and Dana let him have Conor just because he worked his way up to that level. And that unknown fighter was called Khabib Nurmagomedov.''

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (43:10):

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When Dana White disclosed that UFC 229 required the highest level of security the promotion has ever needed

The bad blood between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor led to what was regarded as the most fierce rivalry in MMA history. Their fight headlined UFC 229, the organization's highest-selling pay-per-view event, with 2.4 million PPV sales.

Given the animosity between Nurmagomedov and McGregor, Dana White revealed in a past interview with Robbie Fox that UFC 229 had the highest level of security.

''Yeah 100% [Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor], We were ready for it. We were expecting it. We were ready for it... I mean, even as, you know, as bad as it got, it never really got that out of hand. We got it under control fast enough, and if you watch the tape on that, there's a couple of guys that didn't move fast enough and you know they could have grabbed [Nurmagomedov] before he jumped over that fence."

Check out Dana White's comments below (3:49):