Dana White flies to the White House to meet Donald Trump tomorrow and talk about the shock offer the president made him: to become White House spokesman. A request that took the fighter by surprise, and which requires a face-to-face meeting in the ‘ring’ of the Oval Office.
The number one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship would have declined the offer, according to rumors reported by CNN. But talking to Trump face to face is essential: White in fact wants to preserve his friendship with the tycoon and defend his business from possible presidential revenge. The UFC chief and the president are longtime friends, dating back to when the then-real estate mogul hosted some of the UFC’s first events at his properties. White has never lacked his support for the president: he supported him unconditionally when he entered politics and called him “the best human being I know”. «We don’t talk about politics. Let’s talk about silly boy things. We talk about the Rocky films, and the various fights that took place”, the champion said last year, describing his relationship with the tycoon who treated himself to the UFC fights at the White House for his 80th birthday.
Born in Manchester, Connecticut, White has spent part of his life between the Boston area and Las Vegas. An avid drinker for years, he now no longer touches alcohol although he remains in the industry as a partner and face of Howler Head, a Kentucky whiskey and bourbon company. Before becoming famous, in his native Boston he had worked as a bartender and in an asphalt transport company for road paving. His passion for fighting then led him to work in some gyms before opening his own in South Boston, when he was approached by the famous mobster Whitley Bulger who wanted to extort $2,500 from him to protect his property. «I didn’t know if the figure referred to a month or a year. And I didn’t even want to find out,” he confessed in recent years.
The day after the request, White moved to Las Vegas. In the gambling capital he reunited with his former classmate Lorenzo Fertitta who, together with his brother Frank, bought the UFC and appointed him president. Under his leadership, the organization has become one of the most valuable sports brands in the world, between 15 and 23 billion dollars although White speaks of 50 billion.