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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 02: UFC President Dana White holds the UFC Legacy championship belt during the UFC 235 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 2, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 02: UFC President Dana White holds the UFC Legacy championship belt during the UFC 235 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 2, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Dana White is a pivotal figure in the world of mixed martial arts and combat sports. He has been behind the rise of MMA in the world through the UFC. But this wasn’t the case earlier. Boxing led the combat sports game during the nascent stages of UFC. However, Dana White saw the downfall of boxing and wanted to utilize it for a subsequent rise in mixed martial arts. In an interview with Grant Cardone, White explained his reasoning for boxing’s downfall.
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Dana White has been involved with the UFC since 2001 and he currently serves as the UFC President. It is almost impossible to imagine the UFC without its maestro, however; he was almost close to leaving the UFC.
Dana White saw the downfall of boxing
Talking about the scenario in 1989, White said, “Boxing was huge. Boxing was as big as it ever been in the late 80s early 90s. And then you know [it] really started falling apart as it started getting in the late 90s and early 2000s.”
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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 04: UFC President Dana White speaks to the media during the UFC 217 post fight press conference event inside Madison Square Garden on November 4, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Furthermore, the UFC President explained to Grant Cardone, “I saw it started to fall apart at the amateur level… All the big amateur box-offs were on NBC. NBC had just gotten rid of them… The last guy to fight on NBC was Floyd Mayweather.”
Read More: Dana White Reveals Who He Thinks Is the “Closest” Star to Raul Rosas Jr. Following Impressive Win
White further explained his stance, “When you really look at it, it was Floyd and Oscar and a couple of other Big Stuff Manny Pacquiao were the last of the real big starts of boxing.”
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White, on how he fell in love with MMA
In the same interview, Dana White revealed that he fell in love with MMA even before he joined the UFC. He shared a story with Cardone stating that he and Lorenzo Fertitta wanted to learn jiu-jitsu and through that journey met a lot of fighters.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 04: Dana White looks on as Conor McGregor of Ireland speaks during the UFC 229 Press Conference inside The Park Theater at Park MGM on October 4, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Furthermore, White said that each boxer has the same story, “I came from the mean streets of such-and-such… and if weren’t for boxing, I’d be in jail...” However, he said that is not the case in MMA by citing the example of Chuck Liddell looking like an “axe-murderer” but having a degree in accounting from Cal Poly.
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WATCH THIS STORY–Tyson Fury, Kamaru Usman, Dana White And Others React To Mike Tyson Battering A Drunk Fan On A Flight.
What do you think about the analysis of Dana White about boxing? Is he too biased or spitting straight facts?
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