Dana White compares the UFC's success to George Steinbrenner's New York Yankees and Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys

Dana White has pushed the UFC to great heights since he acquired it in 2001. He recently likened the promotion's progress to that of some of the biggest franchises in the United States, the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys.

While in conversation with Teddy Atlas and Ken Rideout on THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas, Dana White offered some insight into how impressive the UFC has come to be under his leadership.

"I mean, Steinbrenner bought the Yankees for $8.7M and you know, God knows what that team would go for today, anywhere between $3-5 billion. Jerry Jones, same thing, I think he bought it for like $6.92M. They're the most expensive NFL franchise on the planet right now. So yeah, I mean, we're up there with some of those great, you know, sports business stories and it's obviously awesome."

The New York Yankees were bought by George Steinbrenner back in 1973 for $8.8 million, but is now valued at $5.25 billion. The Dallas Cowboys, meanwhile, were purchased by Jerry Jones back in 1989. It is currently valued at a whopping $6.92 billion.

The UFC was bought by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta in 2001 for $2 million. However, as far as Dana White is concerned, the promotion is now worth a huge $9-$10 billion.

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When Teddy Atlas offered the Fertitta brothers advice on how to run the UFC

In the same episode, Teddy Atlas harked back to the time he offered Lorenzo Fertitta some advice on how to make the sport of MMA more appealing to the fans.

"[Lorenzo Fertitta] said, 'Can you put a list together of some of your suggestions?' So I did and I faxed it over to him. I remember one of them. I don't remember the others. One was to have a shot clock, that was my brilliant idea, like the NBA to have a shot clock where the fighters would be forced within that time zone of the shot clock to stand, not go to the floor, stand and strike control punches."

Catch the entire episode of THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas below:

Atlas admitted that at the time he believed a lack of appreciation for the art of grappling and wrestling made the sport of MMA and the UFC slightly boring. With that in mind, he felt that reducing that aspect could breathe new life into the sport amongst the fans.

The UFC evidently didn't follow Atlas' advice and it seems like that was the right choice.