by Michael DiSanto

We sat down with UFC President, Dana White earlier today and discussed an array of topics. Dana was very candid and easy going. He cannot wait to watch Chuck Liddell in the Pride FC Grand Prix on Sunday. Here's Dana White in his own words.

InsideFighting: Tell me a little bit about your professional background and what led to you being chosen to run the Ultimate Fighting Championship?
Dana White: My background is boxing. I was an amateur fighter. Ive loved boxing since I was a little kid. I started boxing when I was 15 or 16, but I didnt start competing in the amateurs until I was 17. I had some fights in Boston I moved to Boston my senior year. I started boxing back there and eventually Ill give you the short story of this whole thing I eventually then ended up running a gym in South Boston, Massachusetts with a buddy of mine named Peter Welsch, who is a very, very good amateur boxer who eventually turned pro. He was kind of like a local legend back there. We ran a boxing program for inner city kids. I ended up leaving there to come back to Vegas to work for Top Rank Boxing to work for Bob Arum. I got out here and decided that I didnt want to work for Bob Arum anymore [we both laugh] so I started doing my own thing. I opened up a gym out here, then opened up another and then I finally had three of them. One of the gyms was for boxers and Don King brought a lot of his fighters to workout there. [Felix] Trinidad worked out over there, as did lots of other guys. The other two gyms were mainly for people in town who wanted to learn how to box. Then I started a sports management company. I was working with some guys, mainly boxers, and then I started working with Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell. That was really my introduction to MMA. I got into it and really started to like it. Frank Fertitta, one of the owners of the UFC, wanted to learn submission fighting. He was the one who originally wanted to learn it, so Lorenzo, Frank and I hooked up with John Lewis and started learning submissions. And then we were really hooked. Now, I had Chuck and Tito and got into this huge negotiation with Bob Meyer, the former owner, which lasted almost a year. I think through that we sort of built a mutual respect for each other. Through that I heard that they were possibly thinking of selling the UFC. Lorenzo and I were thinking of starting a boxing promotion together. I heard the UFC was for sale, and Lorenzo was in Miami at the time so I called him and told him the UFC was for sale and he said, that is interesting. One month later we owned the company. So thats kind of the story in a nutshell.

IF: How involved are Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta in the day-to-day activities of the UFC?
Dana: Not really at all. Lorenzo is more involved than Frank, but they have their own job. Theyre really not that involved at all. I update them on whats going on and theyre in a couple meetings here and there, and thats about it.

IF: Whats a typical day at the office like?
Dana: We get here by 8 oclock in the morning. Theres never a dull moment. Theres always something crazy going on around here that were trying to fix. Its like were trying to put out fires every day

IF: (interrupting) I know all about that!
Dana: were fighting the fight to get more media attention and to put together the best fights that we possibly can in the best places. You know, were like any other business in that were trying to grow our business.

IF: What are the demographics for the UFC and what is the estimated size of that audience?
Dana: Males 18-40. Any guy whos a fan of combat sports like boxingyou know, real fighting. Its funny, when we first bought this company we kinda thought you know what, I bet theres going to be sometheres a lot of old fans out there definitelythese guys were doing 300,000 [ppv] buys at one time and we know there are a lot of boxing fans out there that would like this, but Im sure theres going to be a big cross over in wrestling you know, WWE-type fans. What we ended up finding in all the research we did was thats not the case at all. Really the people that are WWE fans are more into soap opera stuff. Our hardcore fan base is boxing fans because they like to see real fights. That was very surprising to us.

IF: Have there been any studies as to the breakdown by socio-economic background or ethnic background of your fan base?
Dana: You know what, it really depends on the fight. Weve really been hitting the Hispanic market very hard with Tito Ortiz, and theyve taken to him. I dont know if youve ever been to an [Erik] Morales-type fight?

IF: Certainly, Fernando Vargas too
Dana: The crowd really reacts to Tito!

IF: As we approach 2004, what are your goals for the UFC in the coming year?
Dana: This January will be the third year that weve been in business and weve accomplished a lot. Theres a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes that the fans dont really know. When we first bought this company, we only bought the name the Ultimate Fighting Championship and thats it. Weve redone everything the Octagon. They didnt own anything. They didnt even own the rights to the merchandise, video distribution or a lot of the old masters. He [Meyers] had stripped down the company to nothing but the name. Actually, just three days ago we just got the company back together where we own the rights to everything now. We got all the rights back to the merchandise, et cetera, et cetera. Just that deal alone is huge! [Our goals have been] getting stuff like that done let alone putting on fights, trying to secure a TV deal, trying to get sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and all the other commissions around the country, and going out getting venues. When we first started out trying to get big venues for fights, no big venues wanted us. They were like no we dont want you here. And now were finally starting to break down the barriers and the walls. The fans could not imagine in a million years what it is like trying to bring this thing back to life.

IF: You certainly faced some major uphill battles when you took over the UFC.
Dana: Im very happy with the progress weve made in just under three years. Im really happy. Any good business plan is a five-year plan, so Im very happy after three years.

IF: What does mean for the UFC if Chuck Liddell happens to win the Pride FC Grand Prix next Sunday?
Dana: Riiighthappens to win? (We both laugh)

IF: Fair enough, when he wins.
Dana: Ill tell you right now, Im obsessed with it. (Laughter) Theres nothing that I want more than for Chuck to win the Grand Prix. I want to bring that belt back here so badly, you have no idea! I cant think of anything else but him winning. You know? Thats all Im focused on him winning the Grand Prix. If he loses, Im going to be a basket case. (laughter) Im that involved in it. Im that mentally and emotionally involved in it thatyeah, I cant think of anything else but him winning. But it would be huge for us. This whole thing started as a little smack talking between Mr. Sakakibara, their president and me. But this is what its all about. When you think about some of the greatest fights or the greatest fighters in history, its all about fighting the best guys in the world. And thats what I love about Chuck Liddell. Chuck took, in my eyes, his only real loss in his whole career to Randy Couture. The Jeremy Horn fight was, you know, I dont know if you saw the Jeremy Horn fight

IF: Yes, certainly.
Dana: He lost, but it was nothing like the way he lost to Randy Couture.

IF: Right, he didnt take a beating in the Horn fight.
Dana: His first real loss in my mind was to Randy Couture. Three weeks later this guy is in a press conference in Japan saying, yeah, Ill take on three of the best middleweights in the world. Thats the kind of fighter Chuck is. You know, I love the fight game. I love fighters. I love guys who say, I want to be the best, I want to be known as the best and all I want to do is challenge myself against the best guys in the world. When you get to the UFC, the UFC is the pinnacle, its the top of the heap, and thats what youre there to do. It would be like this: if the Marlins they were the wild card team and they werent supposed to win - but they get to the World Series and they say I dont want to play the Yankeesthe Yankees might beat me. Its the World Series and you go for it! Thats what creates legends, legendary moments, and legendary fights. Thats the kind of stuff that I love. Thats what Im in this stuff for! Thats the fun part of this whole thing. Plus, going to Pride and fighting Japanits not my show, Ive got my guy fighting and I just havent felt this way in a long time. I get to go there and be with my guy. I want my guy to win. You know, with the UFC we have all the guys under contract and I like all of them so may the best man win. Whoever wins; wins. You cant control it and it is what it is. But with [the Grand Prix], you can get very excited and Lorenzo and I are both very excited about this.

IF: Lets flip the coin for a moment. DSE is sending Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuyuki Fujita to the UFC. Did you request those guys or did DSE offer them up and do you have opponents in mind for them yet?
Dana: The weird part is that Ive been trying to get Sakuraba for a long time. Im a huge Sakuraba fan and Ive been trying to get him for a long time. I wanted to do Phil Baroni versus Sakuraba at our next show that Im doing on November 21st, but [DSE] told me no, we really dont want him to fight a wrestler because he doesnt match up too well, and theyve got him fighting Kevin Randleman [at Pride FC FINAL CONFLICT] and hes three times bigger than Sakuraba and is a serious, serious wrestler.

IF: It almost seems to me like theyre setting up Sakuraba to get beaten again before he comes over to the UFC.
Dana: I dont understand it. Sakuraba is their biggest star. I dont know whos Wheaties he pissed in, but its like theyre trying to get the guy killed!

IF: Along those lines, Sakuraba has lost 5 of his last 7 fights. If he wins his fight in the UFC, how does that impact the UFCs image in the MMA community?
Dana: You know, I dont worry about that. I dont really think like that. Its like I explained earlier. If you take great fightersSakuraba is still a great fighter. The only thing wrong with Sakuraba is that theyve got him fighting guys that are too big for him, but theyre outside of his weight class. If you take all the beatings Sakurabas taken in the last however many fights you said hes lost and take them away and put him in the 185 pound class, I think he tools everybody.

IF: I dont disagree with you except for [Murilo] Bustamante.
Dana: But again take away all the beatings and wars hes been in and put him and Bustamante in there when theyre both at the top of their game and Id love to see that fight. Id love to see that fight!

IF: UFC 40 with Ken Shamrock versus Tito Ortiz was the highest grossing pay per view bout in the Zuffa era, is there any single fight out there in the UFC that can top 130,000 pay-per-view buys?
Dana: I think our light heavyweight division is awesome! Its the best division in the entire sport. Weve got a lot of great fights there. Youve got Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and still Ken Shamrock. Now you add a new, young and up-and-coming guy in fighter Rich Franklin and youve got some great stuff. I think that division is so exciting right now that when those guys start fighting and things start happening that we can have another Ken-Tito type fight.

IF: Dana, in that regard, what are your thoughts on the Randys next defense of his LHW title? When we spoke to Randy Couture a few weeks ago, he suggested that he preferred that Tito fight Chuck and Vitor fight Franklin and then the winners fight in order to determine his next opponent. What are your thoughts on that?
Dana: What we were going to do was put together Tito and Chuck. That was the next fight. We were going to make that the next fight and then Titos management called up and said Titos hand is hurt.

IF: Titos hand is hurt right now?
Dana: Yeah, his hand is bothering him right now.

IF: That fight was going to be for UFC 46?
Dana: Yep.

IF: That sucks!
Dana: Yep.

IF: Would you please explain to the fans your plans regarding the vacant heavyweight title in terms of deciding the next champion when Sylvia comes back or interim champion as the case may be?
Dana: We wont have an interim champion. Hopefully, well never have one of those again. Look, Tim Sylvia made a mistake. He made a huge mistake. I think he handled himself as a man, as a true champion and as a classy guy. When he comes back from his suspension, hell fight somebody whoever the top contender is at that time, and you know how the landscape can change in three months for the heavyweight title.

IF: Truthfully, its nice to see you support him like that because I thought that his stepping up and admitting to wrongdoing and being genuinely remorseful was huge.
Dana: No, its true. When I asked him straight out, Tim did you do it? He said, yeah, I did, Im sorry, but I didnt do it to cheat. I did it right after the Ricco fight to make my body look better. You know, hes the nicest guy youll ever meet. Hes a class act. Hes worked very hard to get where hes at. And I support all my fighters all of my fighters. I admire all these guys because they come out and fight hard. Theyre all good people. As long as you treat me that way, Ill treat you good and youll be happy fighting for me.

IF: Why should boxing fans buy UFC 45? What can they expect to see?
Dana: Like I said earlier, the crossover between boxing and MMA is natural. Im a boxing guy. I was as hardcore boxing to the bone as you could ever find, so was Lorenzo Fertitta, hes a huge boxing fan. This is a natural fit. Its real fighting. Right off the bat, boxing fans wont necessarily understand the ground game. I think thats our biggest hurdle getting people to understand the ground game and its a tough thing if youve never done it. Its hard to understand. But I definitely think the boxing fans should check it out and try it. These are some of the greatest athletes youll ever see in your life, and these are some of the best fights. These guys fight with heart! Again, Im not bashing boxing, but these guys arent making $10 million to come out and run around and squeak out a decision. These guys come to fight. They fight from bell to bell. Theyre great competitors and want to win. If youre a sports fan, youre a fan of the UFC!

IF: Is there any message that you want to send to the MMA world or to the Boxing community that visits InsideFighting each day?
Dana: I love our fans. They are very supportive. Whether its giving us constructive criticism or just saying, hey thanks! Weve got the greatest fans in the world. I appreciate all of them, and Ill see you November 21st. And watch Chuck knock out Rampage!

IF: I know youre a busy man, so Ill let you get back to running the UFC. Thank you for your time, Dana.
Dana: Thank you. I really appreciate what you guys are doing.

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