The new year didn’t begin on a good note for Dana White. ‘Twisted Steel’, the UFC head honcho’s link to the Professional Bull Riders circuit, is no more. After ‘Stank Face’ and ‘F-Bomb’, ‘Twisted Steel’ was the one bull that carried White’s name to the bull riding circuits. Needless to say, the loss exerted a heavy toll on the UFC CEO. 

Losing ‘Twisted Steel’ while he was climbing the ladder to the top at PBR was nothing short of heart-wrenching news, especially for the UFC head honcho. What really happened to the star bull? Let’s find out.

What happened to Dana White’s PBR Bull Twisted Steel?

It was Sean Gleason, the CEO of PBR, who broke the news on social media. He announced, “Some sad news to begin the new year. After dealing with an ongoing health issue, [Dana White]’s Twisted Steel has passed away peacefully in Texas.” Just an hour later, White took to his Instagram stories and shared a picture of the majestic black and white bull and captioned, “RIP my beautiful boy [Dana White’s Twisted Steel].”

Geason also revealed how White had developed a special bond with the bull who wasn’t easy to tame at all. His popularity also rose as he got to the 53rd overall rank, with participation in 36 events. ‘Twisted Steel’ had impressed the bull riding world with 45 outs during his reign. No doubt, he was a bull that was nigh on impossible to control. With an 87% buck-off percentage and an average buck-off time of 3.04 seconds, ‘Twisted Steel’ threw his riders off pretty quickly. 

Gleason continued, “While Twisted Steel will never be replaced, Dana loves the sport and with his partner Dennis Davis continues on with Sour Diesel and White Thunder.  Don’t be surprised to see his roster of bulls grow. For now, we send our deepest condolences to Dana and all those who cared for Twisted Steel.”

After all, ‘Twisted Steel’ was Dana White’s first bull to have made it to the Velocity Tour. Donald Cerrone tore his bicep while practicing; the ex-UFC star was slated to ride the bull. But how exactly did White find his way to bull-riding competitions?

How did bullriding attract Dana White?

During a conversation with PBR back in 2023, White revealed the real reason why he got pulled toward bull riding. And it was because the sport had a close resemblance to MMA. He said, “I think the reason that I fell in love with (bull riding) is because the mentality is much like fighting. To step into a cage in front of the whole world and test yourself against somebody that’s trained and is as good as you are is crazy and scary.”

In bull riding, a fighter had to get into the rack and sit atop a strong and uncontrollable bull. The officials strap the fighter’s hand to the bull. And when signaled, the chute is opened to let the bull loose. It required immense toughness to ride a bull that keeps smashing the rider’s legs to the rails on the side and one had to hold onto the animal. White continued, “The mental toughness and the absolute craziness you have to have in you to be a bull rider is just next level.”

Even though White couldn’t give bull riding enough time, he admitted that he actually liked being in the business. And with ‘Twisted Steel’ by his side, he had just begun to climb the charts. After all, he’d previously claimed that it was going to get really exciting. But alas! All good things have to come to an end.