Kemo
11-05-2023, 10:54 PM
Dana White has a friendly relationship with Vince McMahon, despite some infractions by the WWE head.
With the merger of WWE & UFC, TKO Group Holdings was launched last month. This came months after it was first announced that Endeavor would be acquiring WWE for the sum of $9.3 billion. Endeavor's influence has already been felt in WWE, with Ari Emanuel himself pulling Vince McMahon from creative, essentially 'knighting' Triple H as the unquestionable leading figure when it comes to storyline decisions.
Dana White on Vince McMahon
Appearing on the TRIGGERED podcast, White addressed his relationship with McMahon.
“It’s been an interesting relationship with Vince McMahon. I never saw Vince as competition, but I’m thinking Vince, in his heyday, he saw everybody as competition. He was one of those guys that would fucking stick it to me, just to do it."
White also recalled a time when McMahon deliberately stuck it to White and the UFC.
"For whatever reason We were about to do a deal with NBC, and it ends up, we get to the one yard line, and Vince has the final say of who can go on USA Network and who can’t if you’re combat sport. Lorenzo [Lorenzo Fertitta] and I flew out to Connecticut, sat down with him, we were like 'hey' we do all the small talk first, [then we're like] ‘ The reason we're here, we’re doing a deal with NBC.’
"Vince sits back like Vince sits. We say ‘We’re about to do this deal, we’re gonna have fights on NBC and everything else, but you do need to sign off on it.’ He's like , ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do that.’ We’re like, ‘Why?’ ‘Eh, I’m just not interested in it. I don’t like the idea of you guys being on USA Network.’ So the whole deal blows up."
After McMahon objected to UFC on the USA Network, White found a home with his product and believes everything worked out for the best.
"At the end of the day, it all worked out better, because we ended up on FOX. We had a great relationship with Fox and Eric Shanks. It was all great. But yeah, that’s just one of ten times I can tell you where Vince did it.”
Despite this situation, and the others White alluded to, the two men are now allies, a fact that the UFC President is very happy about.
"Vince couldn’t be a better partner now. Now, Vince has been an incredible partner. Literally keeps me in the loop on everything that's going on, making sure I’m cool with decisions that might be made, that might affect the UFC.”
While White and McMahon are allies under the TKO Group Holdings umbrella, White's first loyalty will likely always be with the UFC. On the show, White spoke about his loyalty to those who work with him, admitting that it's a two-way street.
"Yeah it's a tough thing when you talk about loyalty. Loyalty, it has to be a two-way street. It's one of the things that I'm absolutely proud of myself in my life. When we went through Covid, my big thing was, I've had people who have worked here for me for 20 years. We're going through the scariest time in our lifetime. Nobody really knew whether they were gonna die or whether they were gonna live.
"I just feel like at the time that that stuff was going on, the Business 101 move was to wack 40% of your staff. You lay them off. It's just not who I am. It's just not the way I am built. there was no way I was gonna lay off my employees during the scariest time of my life. The UFC is this big massive ship, we were either all going down together, or not at all. I'm very loyal when it comes to family and friends, employees, and my fighters. Everybody that I'm involved with."
White and McMahon have shared several stars over the years, with Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, and Matt Riddle all making waves in both promotions.
With the merger of WWE & UFC, TKO Group Holdings was launched last month. This came months after it was first announced that Endeavor would be acquiring WWE for the sum of $9.3 billion. Endeavor's influence has already been felt in WWE, with Ari Emanuel himself pulling Vince McMahon from creative, essentially 'knighting' Triple H as the unquestionable leading figure when it comes to storyline decisions.
Dana White on Vince McMahon
Appearing on the TRIGGERED podcast, White addressed his relationship with McMahon.
“It’s been an interesting relationship with Vince McMahon. I never saw Vince as competition, but I’m thinking Vince, in his heyday, he saw everybody as competition. He was one of those guys that would fucking stick it to me, just to do it."
White also recalled a time when McMahon deliberately stuck it to White and the UFC.
"For whatever reason We were about to do a deal with NBC, and it ends up, we get to the one yard line, and Vince has the final say of who can go on USA Network and who can’t if you’re combat sport. Lorenzo [Lorenzo Fertitta] and I flew out to Connecticut, sat down with him, we were like 'hey' we do all the small talk first, [then we're like] ‘ The reason we're here, we’re doing a deal with NBC.’
"Vince sits back like Vince sits. We say ‘We’re about to do this deal, we’re gonna have fights on NBC and everything else, but you do need to sign off on it.’ He's like , ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do that.’ We’re like, ‘Why?’ ‘Eh, I’m just not interested in it. I don’t like the idea of you guys being on USA Network.’ So the whole deal blows up."
After McMahon objected to UFC on the USA Network, White found a home with his product and believes everything worked out for the best.
"At the end of the day, it all worked out better, because we ended up on FOX. We had a great relationship with Fox and Eric Shanks. It was all great. But yeah, that’s just one of ten times I can tell you where Vince did it.”
Despite this situation, and the others White alluded to, the two men are now allies, a fact that the UFC President is very happy about.
"Vince couldn’t be a better partner now. Now, Vince has been an incredible partner. Literally keeps me in the loop on everything that's going on, making sure I’m cool with decisions that might be made, that might affect the UFC.”
While White and McMahon are allies under the TKO Group Holdings umbrella, White's first loyalty will likely always be with the UFC. On the show, White spoke about his loyalty to those who work with him, admitting that it's a two-way street.
"Yeah it's a tough thing when you talk about loyalty. Loyalty, it has to be a two-way street. It's one of the things that I'm absolutely proud of myself in my life. When we went through Covid, my big thing was, I've had people who have worked here for me for 20 years. We're going through the scariest time in our lifetime. Nobody really knew whether they were gonna die or whether they were gonna live.
"I just feel like at the time that that stuff was going on, the Business 101 move was to wack 40% of your staff. You lay them off. It's just not who I am. It's just not the way I am built. there was no way I was gonna lay off my employees during the scariest time of my life. The UFC is this big massive ship, we were either all going down together, or not at all. I'm very loyal when it comes to family and friends, employees, and my fighters. Everybody that I'm involved with."
White and McMahon have shared several stars over the years, with Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, and Matt Riddle all making waves in both promotions.