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Dana White Reveals Exact Moment He Gave Up Dream of Being a Fighter
Home>MMA>UFC
Updated 13:08 7 Nov 2025 GMTPublished 13:04 7 Nov 2025 GMT

Dana White Reveals Exact Moment He Gave Up Dream of Being a Fighter

Dana White dreamt of being a professional fighter when he entered the fight game.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

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Dana White has revealed the moment he knew his dreams of being a professional fighter were over.

White has become the face of the UFC since acquiring the MMA promotion with brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta in 2001.

The UFC has been in safe hands with White, having transformed it into a billion-dollar company, with their latest media rights deal costing a staggering $7.7 billion.

Before he joined as the president then the CEO of the UFC, White used to work as a boxercise instructor in Boston and dreamt of being a professional fighter, with world champion aspirations.

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But the 56-year-old acknowledged his limitations, revealing the moment he knew his dreams of being a professional fighter were over.

Speaking to former UFC champions Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman on Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry, White said: "At one point in my life, I believe that I wanted to be a f**king professional fighter and a world champion. And someday you have to wake up and realise and you look in the mirror and you're like, 'Yeah, you ain't it. You don't have it'.

"And I've had the incredible experience over the years to interact with so many different levels of fighters. From guys just starting out to people who I believe are the best Olympic world champions and all this sh*t and and you guys are different."

Dana White with Donald Trump at UFC 314. Image: Getty
Dana White with Donald Trump at UFC 314. Image: Getty

White continued by comparing fighters to other athletes, claiming they are built differently from anyone on earth that attract interest from world leaders, including US president Donald Trump, who is often seen at UFC events.

"There's no other people on earth like you and you can be a world championship football player, world championship basketball player. It's not the same," he added.

"It's about who you are and how you're built. When you think about all other sports, right? Movies, sports, world leaders. World leaders.They're all watching you."

White never fulfilled his dreams of becoming a professional fighter but he has promoted an array of UFC superstars, including Cejudo, who won the UFC flyweight and UFC bantamweight titles, and Usman, who reigned as the UFC welterweight champion at the peak of his powers.

Featured Image Credit: Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry

Topics: Dana White, UFC

Nasir Jabbar
Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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@NasJabbar

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