Hang tight while we fetch the video data and transcripts. This only takes a moment.
Connecting to YouTube player…
Fetching transcript data…
We’ll display the transcript, summary, and all view options as soon as everything loads.
Next steps
Loading transcript tools…
Piers Morgan vs Dana White | The Full Interview | Piers Morgan Uncensored | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Piers Morgan vs Dana White | The Full Interview
Skip watching entire videos - get the full transcript, search for keywords, and copy with one click.
Share:
Video Transcript
well I'm joined Now by Dana White Dane
I've got to say that when my three sons
who are all mad UFC fans when they heard
I was interviewing you I don't think
I've ever heard them either more excited
about a guest or prouder of their father
so for that alone thank you
well thank you and tell them thanks for
the support I took them all to the big
uh McGregor Mayweather fight down in
Vegas which presumably lined your
pockets in the process um and it wasn't
probably a perfect example of what
you're about really it was an incredible
theater it involved two supreme Champion
Fighters albeit in different disciplines
and I found it a riveting thing to watch
albeit it ended how I suspected it was
always going to end but that to me in a
nutshell was you all over Vegas high
drama High theater
specialist pugilists at their very best
yeah what we try to do is try to give
the best experience that we can for fans
either live or on television it's it's
uh it's the thing that I focus on the
most when you come to a live UFC event
or an event that we're putting on
most people don't walk out and say yeah
I don't ever want to see one of these
again no I mean my sons as I say they
got me into it and I then I quickly
became gripped I loved it
um in fact I sat next to khabib at an
Arsenal match recently and we had a long
chat and he obviously he was unbeaten in
an absolute Titan of the sport but he
was fascinating about it all and about
you may come to a bit of that later
um but I was I've certainly become a
great convert to it as a sporting
spectacle I think there's very little
stuff like it the thing that is
intriguing about you to me is where you
came from to get to where you've got to
when you look back at your journey you
know you were born in 1969 to a 19 year
old high school dropout mum uh you had a
21 year old alcoholic father who left
the home I think when you were seven or
eight years old uh you you worked your
way through some pretty tough early
years had no Silver Spoon no great
privilege and yet here you are now
sitting here talking to me to miss Jim
and you've got a multi-billion dollar
business that's made you both be rich
very successful but I'd imagine also for
you yourself that Journey must be
yeah it's it's been uh it's been amazing
actually you know as I as I look back
on my life and and you know where I
started and where I am today it's it's
it's been amazing but I I love it so
much that you know I'm 54 I just turned
54 years old and in July and uh you know
I feel like I haven't I haven't even
scratched the surface of of what's left
to do in in this business and in this
sport but it's it's definitely been an
incredible journey you're a road paver a
bouncer a hotel Bellman and an
apprentice boxing train have you done a
few things in your in your time when you
were doing those things did you have a
yeah well I think I think when you're
young those are all the type of jobs you
have to you have to do number one to
find out what hard work really is and
number two to find out what it is you
don't want to do in life so I was very
lucky that I had all those experiences
and by the age of 19 I figured out
didn't want to do any of that and I knew
exactly what I wanted to do I wanted to
be in the fight business which at the
time you know uh was 1988 or 1989
sounded like the dumbest idea ever but
um when you love
something and you're very passionate
about it you know and you know exactly
what it is you want to do you just get
up every day and start grinding until
until it happens
you come from an Irish Catholic
background as I do and you also you
would talk by nuns when you're younger
as I was I had spiritual guidance from
I don't know the you know uh
you know went to Catholic school and and
uh you know had to go to church and all
that stuff growing up I was an altar boy
when I was younger
uh I don't know how that I don't know if
that uh
affected me in in a positive way toward
religion but uh you know I'm not a very
religious person these days I would say I
I
it's weird because there's some things
that I don't believe in much but I
believe in karma for some reason uh
I never really was Guided by religion in
any way shape or form as I got into my
20s what do you think happens to you
I think that it's it's it's it's it
it's over there is I think that we think
we're more important than we really are
because some people have to believe that
to get through life I'm not one of those
people that has to believe that
um listen maybe there is maybe there
isn't I'd say the the real answer for me
is I don't know but I don't let that
guide me and I don't let it uh you know
just be a good person you you can figure
out being a good person without having
to uh believe in anything in my opinion
when you look again at your trajectory
to where you've got to you know there's
a it was a wonderful report that you
have a hundred thousand dollars a year
that you spend on sneakers a is that
true and B did you ever think you get to
a place where you could spend a hundred
thousand dollars a year on sneakers
uh no I I actually never really thought
about that ever uh and I didn't even
realize it until we did that uh complex
story and we started talking about uh
how much money I had spent on sneakers
over the last year but yeah no not
anything I ever thought of and didn't
think about it until it till it came up
in that interview your relationship with
your parents obviously complicated difficult
difficult
um I know you don't particularly like
talking about that I don't want to pry
into into that other than to just ask whether
whether
it had a material effect on you as a
person do you think a lot of the drive
that you have comes from those
difficulties and those difficult relationships
relationships
you're right I don't like talking about
it but it's a great question and and I
would say yes absolutely my relationship
with my parents has has definitely uh
you know
made me who I am today in many different
ways not just you know in life and in
business but as a father too so I
wouldn't change my upbringing
not one thing about it I wouldn't change
any of it so um
um
yeah great question and I agree with you
has it made you a better
father yourself do you think a better
parent 100
but my parents taught me a lot about
what I didn't want to be as a parent and uh
uh yeah
yeah
and I don't really talk about I don't
think I've ever talked about this but my
parents both died recently so um
um
that yeah so that's that's uh
yeah I don't like talking about it but
how did that make you feel given how
um holy this is where we're going
with this interview I I
I I
don't you know
I'm good with it I'm good with
everything you know I I focus a lot on
my kids and and uh my relationship with
them and I've sort of put my
relationship with my parents behind me
did you feel sad when you knew they died
or did you feel it was the end of it no I
I
well I did I didn't wish any ill will on
either one of my parents but you know no
I I didn't when they passed away I I had uh
uh
I had almost no no feelings about it to
be honest with you you didn't go to the
funeral funerals Oswald
yeah you listen I took care of my I took
care of my father and and uh moved him
up to Maine and and
you know put him to rest with his family
up there and then my mother I I had
nothing to do with any of hers her
family handled uh you know her when she
passed away
I mean it's obviously it's an
extraordinarily sad part of your life
and obviously I didn't know that your
parents had both died recently and I
thank you for sharing that a very
private information I appreciate it but
I am curious as to you acknowledge the
drive that you have a lot of that may
have come from this quite rough time you
had but do you do you feel a great loss
that you didn't have
the love of your parents that many other
you sound like my wife uh
no no I did not feel that way and uh but
there's no doubt about it I I I cannot
deny the fact that the way that I am
built in the way the drive and all the
things that I have uh definitely come
from the relationship that I had with my
parents there's no there's no doubt
about it
um but no I have no remorse I don't feel
bad about the way that I grew up I I
mean it when I say that I wouldn't
change one thing about the way that I
was brought up because I truly believe
uh had I not had them for parents had I
not had the upbringing that I that I did
have that I wouldn't be who I am today
what are the things uh Dana what are the
things that you that it taught you not
to do as a parent and what are the
things that it taught you to do as a parent
parent
yeah I think that uh you know the the
two Do's is I I'm I'm here for my kids
you know I've been married for almost 30
years you go through you know
a lot of things in a marriage I mean I
just went through some stuff last New
Year's Eve uh you know these things
happen what you don't do is you don't
leave you don't quit you don't give up
and and you stay you know you don't stay
together just for your children but you
stay I made a commitment
22 years ago I had my first son and
there's a commitment there to everybody
that's involved and uh you know I I've
I've stayed in there I'm always there
for my kids anything that they ever need um
um
and you know
my father taught me
you know what it feels like to not have
a father there at the house what it's
like to not have that that person around
all the time when you need them and I
would never do that to my kids
you said a great quote you talked about
my legacy to me is when I dropped dead
and my kids are at my funeral I want my
three kids to get up and say he's an
awesome dad
is that ultimately in the end the real
litmus test of success for you I've seen
other people say you know actually if in
the end you're the kids when they get
old enough to make that a decision for
themselves if they still want to be
around you and they still love you and
they still care about you and they would
speak at your funeral in positive way
about you that in the end that's the
ultimate litmus test of success far more
than any Financial benefits or gains or
well said I couldn't have said that
better myself you're absolutely right
you know everybody everybody's always
asking about Legacy your legacy what you
did for a living isn't your legacy your
legacy is your children and and their
children and and you know how they feel
about you how they feel about listen we
all make mistakes and we all fail in
life and many different things my
opinion is the one thing that you can't fail
fail
is being a parent it's it's it's the
ultimate failure it's the it's it's what
showed that you you really weren't
focused on the right things in your life
if that's what you failed at
when you reference the the incident on
New Year's Eve and obviously it went
viral everyone saw the video footage and
so on you were very contrite after that
um but what's the hardest thing of that
actually having to talk it over with
your kids
hundred percent I mean everybody was
acting like there needs to be some big
apology to the world
um no the apology was to my kids for for
me and my wife uh nobody wants to see
their dumb drunk parents slapping each
other on TMZ you know what I mean
our oldest son didn't talk to us for
like four days and um
um
you know and and the other kids had to
deal with some stuff too it's
embarrassing and uh the only apology
that needed to be made was to our
children and and the only uh
relationships that needed to be handled
immediately was between us and our kids
and and we did it we handled it and and
we got through it as a family what was
it like for you having seen so many
fighters get into scrapes and having to
deal with the Fallout of that what was
it like for you to suddenly be on the
receiving end yourself of that kind of attention
attention
yeah yeah it's definitely not fun uh but
it's it's something that you know
as a man you have to stand up and you
have to deal with it and and
uh handle your business take your lumps
and and deal with whatever whatever
comes with it and uh but but like I said
the most important part of it is to
handle it as a family first as long as
you get your family straight
I could give a what everybody else
thinks did you worry in during that
whole episode that you may lose
everything that you'd fought so hard to build
build
nah uh the people that are around me
again when you're talking about
something like this that happens and
you're talking about the what everybody
else the whole world is looking at you
and saying the people who know me know
me and and the people that the circle
that I keep I've had for you know 40
years so
um you know the people that that I cared
the most about I I knew it was going to
be whatever everybody else I I could
care less what everybody else thinks
I want to go back to the the start of UFC
UFC
um because you had a couple of investor
friends they bought the franchise off
you for two million dollars you'd come
to Vegas but how you got to Vegas it's
fascinating because you would basically
chased out of town by the mafia by Mr
Bolger who was of course a very famous
Mafia mobster
um tell me about that
yeah it wasn't him it was some of his
his guys that worked under him but uh
yeah I mean I was in Boston
and uh you know the the early 90s and
and and that stuff was real back then I
mean if you watch any of the movies or
any of the documentaries that came out
about it I lived in South Boston
Massachusetts and and that stuff was
very real and at the time you know they
had felt that I owed them some money
that I felt I didn't know and uh you
know I was either gonna pay it or I or I
wasn't going to pay it but right when I
left and came back to Vegas it was like
the summer of 95 and then right after
that is when all the stuff started to
unravel uh for him and you know he
basically went on the run after that and
now I mean you I was in we had a fight
in Boston a couple weeks ago I mean it's
not even the same city it's it's
completely different and South Boston is
is not the same place it was in the 80s
and early 90s at that moment when they
when you know Whitey bulger's people say
you know we want 25 000 I think it was
by tomorrow at one o'clock and you know
that if you don't give them that money
that's probably the last call you're
getting from it might be the last call
you ever have what does that feel like
yeah I don't know if that would have
actually and it wasn't 25 it was 20 25
000 was 2500 which might as well have
been 25 000 to me back then but
um yeah you know when I go back there
now and look at it at that place and at
that time it you know you realize what a
scary place that really was at at that
point in time but I didn't really feel
that way when I was in my early 20s you know
know um
um
yeah I don't know how that would have
played out but I can tell you this I got
the call I hung up the phone picked it
back up and called Delta and got a
one-way ticket back to Vegas and what's
funny is
everything in life is about timing you
know it was the time for me to come back
to Vegas for all of this stuff to align
and to happen so earlier you and I were
just talking about religion and what you
believe and what you don't it's it's
just crazy the way that things work out
and how things are kind of meant to be
and what will
put you on these different paths in life
it's fascinating you've turned a
business that you managed to find two
guys two investor friends to spend two
million dollars buying the UFC franchise
off you but it was a very basic
franchise at the time one octagon and a
few bits and pieces around it today that
business is worth 12 billion dollars
It's Made You incredibly rich in the
process obviously but my simple question
yeah so it's a great question yeah when
we originally bought the company for two
million dollars we had a few contracts
when I say a few maybe eight to Fifteen
contracts and an old wooden octagon and
those three letters UFC that was it the
former owner had basically stripped all
the rights and sold everything off to
try to keep the thing alive
um but what we did was we came in we
started to acquire some of these rights
back uh from from other companies that
that had bought them we uh we started to
build you know the the trademark back
and and the brand
and we had a vision for this thing we we
were big fight fans and uh we believed
that if this was done the right way this
could be the biggest sport in the world
uh you know I always had this philosophy
about fighting that it doesn't matter
what color you are what country you come
from or what language you speak we're
all human beings fighting's in our DNA
we get it and we like it it doesn't have
to be explained to anybody and when you
have the right fight and the right place
at the right time like you were just
talking about earlier with Conor
McGregor and Floyd Mayweather everybody
wants to watch it everywhere all over
the world yeah now we're getting to a
place with streaming where that's
actually starting to become possible
where we can put on a fight out here in
America and the whole world can watch it
on the same at the same time on the same
network so the ceiling on this thing is
what eight billion people are in the
world as you continue to grow the sport
this thing can actually become the
biggest sport in the world and we saw
that from day one the question was is
the timing right and thank God it was
well there were two politicians who had
interesting takes on what you were doing
in 1996 Senator John McCain it was a
huge boxing fan
but he railed against the UFC on the
floor of the U.S Senate he called it
human cockfighting and he sent letters
to the governor of every state asking
them to ban it
and then Donald Trump came along right when
when
the whole business may have been up for
grabs it may not have flown it may just
have sunk and Donald Trump turned up and
stayed late at one of your events and he
carried on supporting you uh and you
stayed friends ever since and I've been
friends on and off I had to say with
with Trump over the years we've had good
times and bad but I've seen the good in
him one of those good traits is
tremendous loyalty how important well
first of all tell me about John McCain
how did you feel when he called it
basically cockfighting
yeah that happened before we bought the
company so that was one of the uphill
battles that we had obviously Senator
John McCain
did everything for the right reasons he
he wanted this thing to be regulated by
the athletic commission rules in place
and and referees and judges and proper
medical testing and all that stuff we
agreed with Senator John McCain when we
bought the company and we ran toward
regulation and we wanted to get this
thing regulated by all the athletic
commissions uh not only in the country
but throughout the world and then uh
yeah Donald Trump
when we bought the company you know
venues didn't want this there were no
venues that wanted this thing now we
break every venue record all over the
world and and venues everywhere want us
to come but in the beginning nobody did
but Donald Trump saw this thing early
saw that he thought it could be
successful when you think about it the
Trump brand was here the UFC brand was
here and he brought us in cut us a great
deal showed up to the first fight stayed
to the last fight for both of the uh the
events that we put on in his casino and
everything that ever happened to me
throughout the rest of my career Donald
Trump was the first guy to either pick
up the phone and call and say
congratulations or write a note and send something
something
um you know he was always that guy then
Donald Trump and his son got in and
actually started to compete with the UFC
so with with another company and you
would always have these you know these
media people trying to put me against
Trump and say oh and my whole thing was
I will never say anything bad about this
guy he was extremely good to me not only
in the early days but throughout the
rest of my career and you know that
that's all that stuff is what started
the incredible relationship that I have
with Donald Trump I mean you know I've
seen the good side of trump and I've
seen the but we've all seen some of the
bad side of him
um you've remained for reasons you've
explained extremely loyal to him hard is
that sometimes to do that publicly it's
it's not hard as all because I you know
how I judge people is how my
relationship is with them you know I
could I can have a friend that 15 other
people don't like for whatever reason I
judge them off their relationship with
me and I can tell you from personal
experience Donald Trump has never been
anything but loyal and incredible and an
amazing friend to me do you think he can
become president again
I I do I mean people thought he couldn't
become president the first time and he
did I absolutely think he could do it
again listen
the forces are fighting against him
they're trying to do everything they can
to make sure that this guy uh does not
uh even have a chance to be elected
again but yes I mean a majority of the
country wants this guy to be the next
president of the United States how often
do you talk to him
I talked to him several times a month I
just talked to him last week no we we he
and I are very close we're very good
friends I consider him a very good
friend of mine and we we talk a lot what
fights he's a fight fan he's a fight
freak he loves fights
um you know mostly what we talk about is
is fights he's a fight fan and uh you
know we talk about other things family
and stuff like that too but mostly we
talk about fights well I got to know him
on Celebrity Apprentice which I ended up
winning knocking out Lennox Lewis by the
way on my way to Victory which remains
one of the all-time great uh pugilist
achievements but one of the early
contestants who I knocked out much
earlier was Tito Ortiz who turned out to
be one of the first big name Fighters
that you had yeah him and Chuck Liddell
were were two of the big stars for us
when we first bought the company
how important was it to have people like
that who could energize the sport for
you with Showman
that's what this business is all about
basically you know uh it's about you
know early on in the early days you know
when people doubted this business
doubted this sport
um they would talk about oh what are you
going to do when this guy retires what
are you going to do it's I've been
hearing that stuff for you know 15 years
you know when we first started the
company but
one of the things that that I have been
really good at is finding new Talent
building them into stars and and you
know I mean look at what Conor McGregor
was just saying it earlier too look what
he did for Europe and other parts of the
world you know when you find these guys
we've got a star that breaks in Brazil
you got to Star the breaks in Canada you
know the UK Australia right now is is on
fire for us
um that's basically what this business
is all about is Star Building
and it's extremely lucrative like I've
said several times this made you very
rich is money important to you I know
deal making is important but it's the
actual money is that a big motivator for you
um it never has been it's never been a a
a huge motivator for me if money was the
big motivation for me I probably would
have retired in 2016.
um but no it's not taking the sport to
to to the level that we're taking it to
there's still a lot of work to do here
at the UFC to get to where I Envision
this being from day one and um
um
yeah no it's it's when you when you do
what you love to do I like breaking
records that's what I like to do I like
doing things that people say can't be
done and when you do those things money
is just what happens but do you know how
not not not no not
to the penny I have I have an idea but
no no I don't I don't really focus on
that I mean if you were to fall over
tomorrow God forbid and something
terrible happened to you I mean what you
know here lies Dana White he was worth
boom what would that figure look like
yeah if I drop dead tomorrow I think my
family is going to do okay they're going
to be all right they're gonna they're
gonna make it Forbes Forbes said half a
billion are they grossly underestimating
your fortune
let me tell you this when you go online
and you type in what somebody's net
worth is every single one of them are
unless unless it's like so you
you handed in your information to Forbes
and and Forbes that a whole audit of
what you're worth
all everything you see online
about people's net worth what I really
like about you Dana and your story is
that it's it's a story of resilience of
determination of getting yourself back
on your feet when you've been knocked
down all the kind of Rocky Balboa things
that he says in that Infamous speech or
famous speech to his son who's being a
spoiled brat and he finally has it out
with him in the street I've seen you say
that you think America and probably The
Wider World actually has gone soft and I
agree I think it has gone soft I think
we've become a a world where virtue
signaling is more important than reality
uh where facts no longer matter you can
all pretend to be whatever you want and
everyone has to go along with it
um where everyone's offended by
absolutely everything
um have we got to this place and what's
what's the way out of this kind of woke
yeah no that's absolutely how I feel and
you know I can't speak for the rest of
the world because I didn't grow up in
any of these other places but I can
definitely speak on America America has
become so soft it's it's actually
you know
it's a problem and
I tell kids all the time if you even
have this much Savage in you everything
out there right now is for the taking
there was a there was a point in time in
the United States where you would look
at at different businesses and say God
it's almost impossible to break into
this business because it's been so
established and even the companies all
these companies that are so soft right
now everything out there is for the
taking if you have even this much Savage
in you if you are willing to go out
there and grind and work hard you know
you got these people that don't want to
go to work they want to stay home and
and work from home and all and and
believe me I've seen this when I've
spoke before I see it pop up in the
comments all these people saying you're
wrong no things can be done from home no
it can't you have to be in the building
with like-minded people you know how
much stuff that I have on my agenda
every day
um that needs to be done but other
things that pop up in the office and you
get a bunch of of smart hard-working
people in a room together and you go on
a completely different you know
you you have to have people in the
office working every day and these
people that don't want to stay home man
stay home and and do your thing good
luck to you I wish you all the luck in
the world there's going to be a small
group of hungry Savages out there that
are going to run every one of you over
and you can sit home and you can cry and
complain about how you didn't get yours
and it's because this person had this
opportunity that you didn't have it's
all crybaby stuff that's going
on in the whole world like you said but
more so in the United States like I've
never seen before I read a great profile
of You by the financial times and the
the rights are clearly gun in with the
kind of idea that maybe you were going
to be some kind of egotistical monster
whatever but he found the complete
opposite and he told some really
interesting stories one of which was as
you were coming out of the pandemic in
the middle of the pandemic how you got
all your team together 300 people I
think and you said there's absolutely no
way I'm going to start cutting you off
you know firing a lot of people to save
money we're going to get through this
together and apparently the reaction
from your staff was extraordinary
um how important was that moment for you
to prove yourself as a boss in the tough
yeah uh it's so true it's like you know
the the UFC has been this rocket ship of success
success
um since 2005 right and nobody does
anything by themselves you build a great
team around yourself you know you know
smart talented hard-working people who
sacrifice every day uh they didn't see
their kids football game or they didn't
go to this play because they're out
working hard to build the sport and
build the company right now you're gonna
tell me covet comes covet never really
made sense to me uh you know from the
beginning the first day when everything
started to shut down and it was getting
weird I got all my employees together
and I said listen
I don't know what's going on I I can't
explain I don't have the answers for you
but if any of you are scared or feel
like you're you know your life is in
danger or somebody at home might be in
danger you guys can go home and do
whatever you have to do my team is a
bunch of of solid uh you know they
couldn't be any more solid and I tell
these people how much I love them all
the time
so what you're going to tell me is the
first time that we ever face adversity
right we're facing real adversity here
I'm gonna start laying these people off
in the scariest time in the history of
the world good luck to you you know we
we gotta save the bottom line over here
I will never pick money over people
so I I was willing to give up my salary
my bonus whatever it was going to take
to make sure that everybody was
comfortable that we could take care of
the employees and then I started trying
to find a way to go through covet don't
this is America
we we've been doing this since the day
this country started is solving problems
you have to figure out
here's the problem how's there a
solution now in Abu Dhabi
these guys were way ahead of the curve
they were testing they were doing all
this stuff well if they can test we can
test we can figure this out so that was
always my thought process going through
it there was no way I was going to let
go of my employees during the scariest
time of our lifetime we're going to
stick together and we're going to fight
through this together or we were all
going to sink together
that's how it was going to go you talked
about Abu Dhabi there in the Middle East
um and you're a big fan of a lot of what
goes on in the Middle East particularly
in sport and other things they're
obviously getting more and more dominant
now in sports like golf with the Saudi
live League you now have the Saudi
Football League led by Cristiano Ronaldo
but loads of top stars going out there
I'm a good friend to Cristiano and I've
been following this journey with him
quite a Fascination it's taken a lot of
blow back from people who say we
shouldn't be allowing the Saudis or
other Middle Eastern countries who have
a bad human rights records to be doing
yeah my relationship has been with uh
with Abu Dhabi in the UAE for years now
and uh if you look at what that royal
family has done with that country over
the last 50 years it's incredible
um and they were the first ones really
to do it they started getting involved
in sports and and saw the whole Sports
thing coming I mean UFC has been in
business with them
for like 15 years um
um
and to be honest with you when the
hit the fan during covid these guys were
way ahead of the curve way ahead of you
know what was going on and and how to
test and how to create a true bubble and
and that was why I ended up doing what I
did uh with Abu Dhabi when this stuff
happened and I think you're going to see
more of that they obviously they have
the money you know Saudi UAE uh Qatar
the list goes on and on they have the
money and and they see where this is all
going when you look at live television
now they're streaming and you can dump a
whole season on Netflix and you can
consume whole season the only thing that
is really destination television that
you have to watch live is live sports
right and do you have any do you have do
you have any moral qualms about the
human rights records of some of these
countries or do you think it should be
just kept out of sport that actually I
mean I have a view that almost every
country if you put a real forensic Gaze
on them about reasons for not to let
them have sport on moral grounds you'd
end up having to play everything in
Iceland or Switzerland
yeah yeah I don't know that that's a
tough one I mean that that's a that's a
whole different subject and a whole
different conversation
um you know we we do business with UAE
these guys have always been great Stand
Up Guys I'm sure you can find some
issues with whatever you can find some
issues with with lots of different
companies that that that uh do business
in the United States and everywhere in
the world when it comes to Human Rights
and what you think is right and what you
think is wrong
um I I
and very comfortable sitting here today
telling you that uh my relationship with
the royal family of UAE has been amazing
they've never been anything but great to
us and our people
um you know
I respect them and I consider them
friends too there's been a little
speculation about a massive potential
fight in the Octagon between Elon Musk
and Mark Zuckerberg
you've been quite excited about this uh
do you think it's going to happen do you
think you will be the guy to put it on
and how much money could it generate
well we were talking about that earlier
on I think that has uh Fallen apart I
think I think that uh you know had it
happened and had we moved forward and
done it it was it would have done a
billion dollars in Revenue
um and uh
that I don't know I mean if I knew the
answer to that I'd be Vince McMahon but
uh you know who wins and who loses I
don't determine they do but uh I tell
you this it would have been huge it
would have been the biggest fight in the
history of the world and no fight would
have uh you'd have had to have Trump
versus Putin to to uh to beat that
record well actually I interviewed Chris
Christie one of the Republican
candidates to be president and he
offered to get in the octagon with Trump
that would be a battle of the heavyweights
heavyweights
that is true yeah that is true listen a
lot of guys say I want to you know throw
me in the octagon and then when it comes
down to actually doing it very few
people in the world will actually do it
I think that's completely right I mean I
think UFC fight scene of all the forms
of fighting that exist I think it's the
most skilled and it's the most
courageous because what they do to each
other and that octagon can often be
yeah no it takes a certain type of
person that's why there's very few
people in the world that actually make
it into the UFC and get to that level
um you have to be a very special unique
different human being in the way that
you're built made up no you know not
just forget about talent and and and the
determination and the grit that it takes
to go out and train every day to become
you know a mixed martial arts fighter
but to get to this level of the UFC
very very few people can do it and we're
going to see Conor McGregor back in a
high profile fight
he is back in the gym he's training and
uh yeah I I expect to see Connor
fighting next year
does it matter that he's lost
a few big fights recently does that
impact on his ability to put bums on
seat sell tickets
well here's what happens Pearson I I you
know this I'm sure you've seen this with
colleagues and friends and and people
that you know
um once a certain level of money
is attained
you know to to to be the person that you
were coming up to be that hungry and and
work that hard and be that dedicated to
the sport or or whatever craft it is you
do money changes everything and Conor
McGregor has made that kind of money
um and it's not a knock it's just just a
fact I mean when we sold the company in
2016 it you know this was sort of like a
a Microsoft of fighting you know there
were a lot of people that made a lot of
money and a lot of people left and they
went and they went and retired or moved
on to uh you know you have to have a certain
certain
type of drive to make that kind of money
and that you've seen guys in this sport
when they make that kind of money you
know they'll fight
a lot less like Connor has or they go on
losing streaks because it's just you are
not that same person once you get that
kind of money you lose the edge
the hunger yeah yeah the the hunger and
the drive is not the same you know
everything Conor McGregor's a perfect
example everything that Conor McGregor
ever dreamed of and stuff he couldn't
possibly dream of in his life
he has right now you know
um and and it's and it's tough to be on
a yacht
all summer and then say I got to get
back in the gym and and start grinding
again and again it's not a knock it's
just it's it's the way it's the way life
is especially in the fight business
especially in the fight business social
media has been a massive thing for you
and you actually gave one person some
great advice because Dwayne Johnson The
Rock did not want to go on to social
media you persuaded it single-handedly
he said you're mad you should be on
social media he's now the most followed
American man on Instagram so I think the
words he's looking for are thank you Dana
Dana
yeah the rock didn't want to be on
social media and I said you're crazy I
said do you know how big you'll be on
social media and I kind of explained it
uh to him
from a business perspective on why he
should do it and I actually set him up
with my social media team and they they
got him started and got them going and I
mean the guy is an absolute Juggernaut
now on social media so yeah it's social
media I mean you've got kids I've got
kids social media has a lot of good
stuff about it there's no question
has some bad stuff it can be pretty
toxic a lot of kids suffer from anxiety
from the stuff that exists on social
media what do you think on the balance
sheet is it a Force for good or not
yeah I think there's a lot of negative
things in this world that if you if you
focus on that type of stuff and if
you're not Tough Enough and if you're
not hard enough for it let me tell you
what if you if if your feelings get hurt
easily you should stay as far away from
social media as possible okay exactly
agree but
social media is one of the greatest
marketing tools of all time right and
what you have to understand is you have
to embrace the negativity too the
negative you can't just have you're
never going to be in a scenario anywhere
in life where everything is positive oh
everybody loves me and everybody's
saying great things about all the things
that I do it just it's impossible so to
if if that is even your mindset you're
way too soft for probably a lot of
things but to say that social media is
bad it's it's the same thing that that
they said about us when we were younger
that television was horrible for you my
God if you watch television and this and
that and everything listen there's a lot
of bad things out there in the world if
you are soft and if you are a total wimp
you know forget about it everything's
gonna bother you everything's gonna hurt
your feelings and everything's going to
give you anxiety what do you what do you
say yourself up in a closet somewhere
and hide from the whole world you know
one day though it's so refreshing to
hear this because so few public figures
will actually say this stuff and more
because they get terrified the won't
Brigade is going to cancel them for
saying things which are so obviously true
true
and I just it's refreshing whenever I
hear you speak I think this guy just
says what he thinks and by the way I
yeah so social media is the greatest
marketing tool in the world if you own a
business or you're you're aspiring to do
something uh you know and and get your
your image your product your whatever it
is out there you're insane not to be on
social media but don't go on social
media and thinking that it's gonna
here's the other thing that you have to
understand too about the negativity on
social media if you're out there looking
to promote something you have to embrace
the negativity because the negative
people are so loony they're so bad
nuts that these people will stay on
there all day fighting with everybody to
make it and it kicks you up into the
algorithm and actually makes your post
act more popular you know you this this
is what a lot of these big corporations
don't understand like these big
corporations want to we want to get into
social media and everything else well
you better get ready for some negativity
but most of them can't handle negativity
so that so they they try to stay away
from it we live in a hard world people
are mean and people say mean things and
people do mean things that's how that's
been that way since the beginning of
time and it's never going to change so
either toughen up or go hide somewhere
just get out of the way we're in a very
strange place at the moment in sport
where biological males are beginning to
dominate biological females in women's
sport because they identify as women
what do you think of that
I think you know exactly what I think of
that I think that you know let me put it
to you this way I have a daughter okay
and and uh
you know I I don't ever want to see a
day where somebody who is a biological
male is competing against my daughter so
yeah no I I think it's uh it's another
it's another nutty you know insane thing
that's happening in the world today you
know that we're all trying to deal with
and uh yeah I'm just glad there's no
some my daughter's a cheerleader so
she's not playing any competitive sports
but uh you know it hasn't happened in
the chair in the cheer world yet
I mean if your daughter wanted to be a
fighter what would you feel about that
because you put on some very very big
fights involving women I gotta be honest
I I never feel that comfortable watching
women smacking Seven Bells out of each
other I know it's hugely popular I know
they love doing it I know that some of
them become Superstars I make tons of
money but as the father of an 11 year
old girl myself I would never want to
see her do it how do you feel about if
your daughter wanted to
I famously got hammered uh like 10 years
ago saying women would never fight in
the UFC and then I met Ronda Rousey and
she looked dangerous from about five
rows away
did you talk to her I just said hello
but she was I mean she had an
intimidating Aura and I thought yeah I
mean she's someone that clearly Revels
in that sport Revels in fighting yeah
and why should I be a secretary he can
think that women shouldn't be able to do
what men do
yeah no you're absolutely right and and
I was I had the same thing but you have
to understand the context at the time I
was trying to get people to accept men
fighting in a cage women fighting in a
cage I was like oh my God this will be
next to Impossible but if you look at
what we did almost everything was
impossible in building this business to
what we built it to today but what I did
learn is that these were I never
expected these women to be as Technical
and and as badass as they have been and
the answer to that question is yes if my
daughter wanted to fight I would
absolutely let her fight I wouldn't stop
my daughter from doing anything or
competing in anything that you wanted to
do I would actually be very supportive
and and help in any way that I possibly
could who is the greatest fighter of any
kind that you've ever seen of any time
in any sport anytime any sport
it's so hard to put your thumb on it
because I think well let me let me make
it an easy question I'll make an easy
question if you could choose one person
in history
say modern history last hundred years to
fight literally for your life who would
oh God you know I'm a big Ali fan he was
so iconic and he changed so many things
uh in the world in culture and and uh
you know as far as racism and so many
different things go Ali was such a
massive figure in life you know not just boxing
boxing um
um
was he the greatest ever out of one of
the greatest humans ever that's a fact
but that's not the question as far as
you got me on this one I mean Jon Jones
who's in the UFC still has never been
beat this guy has beat everybody and
when you talk about real fighting you
know when you talk about who the baddest
man on the planet is when you talk about
that the real
definition of what that means you throw
two guys in a room and who comes out
yeah okay that's the baddest man on the
planet and it's it and and it is hard to
not say that Jon Jones is that guy right
now I tell you who I would say I would
take Tyson before he went into prison
Mike Tyson I thought I for those 100 but
for those three who doesn't know the
ground game Tyson can't grapple type
there's no Tyson's hanging over here his
quote is on the wall over here nobody
loves Mike Tyson more than I do believe
me but when you talk about putting two
guys in a room who comes out Jon Jones
has the tools to beat everybody
I want to come back and just uh finally
talk to you about your health because
you've had some pretty big Health scares
and a guy called Gary Brecker who's
going to join you has pretty much I
think you would say helps save your life
and we're going to talk about how that's
happened and why it had to happen so
we've been joined Now by Gary breckett I
think the easiest thing Dana explain to
to the audience who Gary is and why is
so important to you
yeah so Gary Brecker is a human
biologist and and I met him uh through
through a long time friend of mine and
basically when you go see a doctor about
your General Health they want to put you
on pills and at the time that I met him
I was on three different medications and
you know basically when you look at
these different meds each one of them
have you know
10 side effects and
I was dealing with three different
doctors at the time and they they
couldn't tell me any they couldn't fix
what was wrong with my legs they
couldn't fix they couldn't really keep
my blood pressure under control they
couldn't keep my cholesterol under
control my triglycerides were off the
charts I mean I got your show isn't long
enough for me to walk you through the
laundry list of things that were wrong
with me so I ended up finding out that
he was a mortality expert so
he could tell you when you were going to
die and he would be right within a month
or so I became obsessed with this so
that was all I cared about I didn't want
all the I didn't believe I used to call
this hippie this is all hippie
I don't believe in it and you know
I meet the guy he does my blood work and
he lives in Miami I live in Vegas so he
keeps calling me saying you know I want
to come out and walk through your blood
work I said I don't care about walking
through my blood work when am I going to
die so he finally talks me into coming
out and he starts going through my blood
work and he starts telling me everything
that's wrong with me with no medical
history whatsoever on me so this is kind
of blowing me away then he told me what
was wrong with my parents and he was
right so basically he ended up getting
me and he says to me
uh give me 10 weeks
I promise I'll change your life so I
said all right I'll commit 10 weeks to
this thing and to say that this guy has
changed my life is the understatement of
of of the century I mean I as I got to
the 10-week point I started to feel like
I was in my 30s again and now I've been
with him a year and a half and I'm not
kidding you I feel like I'm in my 20s my
level of productivity at work my
cognitive my physical I mean just
everything this guy is a genius and I
tell everybody you know you know we you
start to get the stuff we were talking
about social media this guy's a scam
artist he's scamming you this and that
numbers don't lie this guy has taken my
blood work from absolutely horrible to
the best it's ever been in my life even
my doctors agree with it and and uh he's
he's brilliant if this guy called me and
told me to squirt hot sauce on my eyes
I'd do it well before I come to Gary
just quickly how long did he say you had
to live if he hadn't changed things he
yeah he gave me 10.4 years and what's
what's crazy about that is he gave me 10
points he said if you stay on this
trajectory that you're on you're going
to live another 10.4 years and me and my
wife both disagree with him I actually
think I wouldn't have made it 10.4 years
if I hadn't met him that's how different
I feel compared to where I was and you
know when you think of these things the
other big problem for me was sleep apnea
and snoring it was horrible I couldn't
sleep through the night and you go see a
doctor and what do they tell you to do
yeah put this mask on with this machine
and you know what I mean I don't snore
and I don't have sleep apnea anymore
he's cured everything that was wrong
with me let me bring in Gary so Gary I
mean that's one of the great marketing
pictures I've heard in in a very short
it absolutely is right in a short
nutshell what have you done today to
make him so enthusiastic and to in his
eyes prolong his life
I mean so Dana had a common precursor
for cardiovascular disease called
metabolic syndrome it's actually the
leading cause of cardiovascular disease
which is the leading cause of death
worldwide and it's a combination of of
five things abdominal obesity low
healthy cholesterol low HDL cholesterol
elevated insulin and blood sugar
elevated cholesterol and hypertension
and to have any two of those five is
considered to have meta you know you're
considered to have metabolic syndrome
something you should get addressed it's
why I think everybody should get data on
their bodies he had five of five
um he had triglycerides through the roof
he had abdominal obesity he had low
healthy levels of cholesterol he was
hyperinsulinemic meaning his insulin was
very high and he was um pre-diabetic and
so as much of a disaster as that sounds
like you know all of those things meet
at a common Hub of lifestyle and diet
and supplementation and you know a lot
of people talk about the expense that
you have have to go through to fix that
it wasn't that it was expensive it would
have been expensive if he had not fixed
it but over the course of just 10 weeks
you know we lowered his triglycerides
back into the normal range and we're
talking about triglyceride levels that
were eight times the normal level
um back into the normal range he started
exercising again he went on a keto reset
diet the majority of what Dana did was
really what Dana did himself I mean
there are people listening to this show
right now that because they don't have
abdominal obesity think that they can
escape metabolic syndrome and that's
patently false everybody that's
listening to this show right now you
should go to your doctor and get that
data ask your doctor about metabolic
syndrome and if they don't know what
metabolic syndrome is get a new doctor um
um
just quickly Gary what were the key
things that Dana changed in terms of
diet which made a big difference so we
did three thing big things with Dana we
did hormone balance we did nutrient
deficiencies and we did glycemic control
it controls blood sugar so he went on a strict
strict
um keto reset diet which is a very
strict I call it a prescription keto
diet meaning you have to eat exactly
what is on this plan morning noon and night
night
um for 10 weeks or this situation could
get a whole lot worse so we went on a
strict heat of diet he had a strict um
exercise and workout routine we also
started to use modalities that you can
access for free in nature but he
actually bought equipment he bought a
pemf mat he bought an oxygen it's called
hypermax where he breathes oxygen for 10
to 12 minutes a day while he mildly
exercises and he bought a red light bed
and before everybody jumps on me for
saying that you have to buy all this
expensive equipment you can get the same
effect by taking your shoes off and
grounding on the surface of the Earth
learning to do breath work and exposing
your skin to sunlight so he did
magnetism oxygen and light with a pmf
matte oxygen and a red light bed and he
went on a strict 10-week keto reset diet
it's fascinating I've got a I've got to
unfortunately wrap it up but it's
fascinating I don't know whether to see
you or not Gary because when I don't
want to hear is you look at me and go
appears unfortunately uh you're leaving
I can fix that and you know we'll push
it out a couple of thousand Tuesdays
it's been brilliant uh honestly I've
I've had such a fascinating time uh
going over your life your extraordinary
career your amazing achievement with UFC
my son's I started with isn't going to
end it they're all massive UFC fans
they're all very excited about this
interview the first question they're
going to ask is Dad how did you do did
Dana think you're any good that's all
they'll care about so what's the verdict
incredible great interview it was a
pleasure and uh tell your boys thank you
I really appreciate the support
I see what they really want to hear Dana
is can they have tickets to you next fight
fight
as well yeah they're invited to any
fights they ever want to come to
anywhere in the world you just let me
know and uh I got them well it's very
kind you're gonna wish you'd never said
those words but they will be jumping off
the sofa listening to that uh Dana White
you're a phenomenon uh the Ft piece I
referenced earlier the financial times
they summed up your great talent like
this they said he can transfer his
immense excitement to others with almost
no loss of energy it's the greatest
thing to watch in the world
uh to him he's not manipulating you he's
just an enthusiast
you're one of life's enthusiasts which
given where you came from and the
hardship you overcame and the lack of
love from your parents is a pretty
amazing achievement so I congratulate you
you
thank you I appreciate it how would you
like to be remembered you could write
that I said it many times we talked
about it here today the only thing I
care about is that my kids remember me
and uh what they think when I'm gone all
this other stuff means nothing to me
it's uh I I'm very fortunate that I get
to do what I love to do every day and I
still am very passionate about it
um but at the end of the day it's it's
all about how I how I was as a father
and what my kids think
I couldn't agree more Dana White what a
pleasure thank you very much indeed
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
Chrome Extension