UFC CEO Dana White is widely considered a pioneer in MMA and is credited for helping bring the sport into the mainstream. While the UFC made stars out of numerous male MMA fighters, there are also many female contenders who grabbed the spotlight thanks to their spectacular octagon performances.
While the UFC has undoubtedly taken women’s MMA to a whole new level and continues to promote top-ranked talent, there was a time when White was strictly against females competing in his organization.
In January 2011, the UFC supremo was approached by paparazzi outside a restaurant and asked if women would ever compete in his promotion. He bluntly replied:
“Never, never.”
Watch the full clip below:
A year later, White changed his mind about women competing in the UFC and signed Ronda Rousey as the promotion’s first-ever female fighter. ‘Rowdy’ made her promotional debut in a bantamweight title match against Meisha Tate in February 2013 and went on to become one of the biggest stars in combat sports.
In 2015, Rousey penned her autobiography ‘My Fight/Your Fight’ and asked White to write the foreword for it. The UFC frontman obliged and wrote a foreword in which he explained why he was initially against female fighters in the UFC.
He stated that his reluctance came from witnessing a lopsided beatdown in a women’s MMA fight in California and wrote:
“There was this woman who fought just like a guy, and she was in the ring with someone who looked like she took five Tae Bo classes. It was one of the worst one-sided beatings I had ever seen, and I just didn’t want to see that in the UFC.” [H/T Essentiallysports.com]
Nevertheless, White’s perspective changed after meeting Rousey and grasping the full scope of women’s MMA. The two continue to share a close relationship and often speak highly of each other.
Ariel Helwani defends Dana White against UFC 300 criticism
Dana White and Ariel Helwani don’t always get along and have butted heads on several occasions. However, the veteran journalist recently backed White’s UFC 300 line-up and defended him against public disappointment.
The milestone UFC 300 event is just months away, and White sent fans into a frenzy by announcing a host of bouts set to go down on April 13. While some fight fans are excited about the momentous card, many others have expressed their disappointment about the lack of high-profile bouts.
Helwani believes such fans are being unrealistic and points out that the same card would be praised for any other pay-per-view event. He said:
“It seems like every announcement is met with like, ‘And what else? What else are you gonna do about UFC 300?’ You’re all driving yourselves insane… It’s gonna have, probably, a big name in every single fight. And there’s gonna be no sort of filler prelim. But you’re all driving yourselves insane.”
