UFC CEO Dana White isn’t holding back on critics who claim the UFC has trouble building new stars.
The UFC promotion has secured some of the largest business deals in the sports industry, showing its dominance in the fight game. After striking a $1.5 billion deal with ESPN, the UFC just levelled up with a seven-year $7.7 billion deal with Paramount.
Still, some people fans question if UFC will be successful in making that shift, but Dana White shut that down with these assumptions during his appearance on the *IMPAULSIVE* podcast and made it clear he’s not buying into the talk.
“That narrative has been around since f*cking, I was hearing this sh*t about Chuck Liddell leaving and Georges St-Pierre. ‘What are you going to do?’ People nonstop talk sh*t,” White said. “You just started this interview talking to me about a $7.7 billion dollar TV deal. I could go through the metrics of this business from top to bottom, and I just told you that (Power) Slap guys have made $10 million over the last two years, and the list goes on and on.
“The problem is that literally nobody knows anything about this f*cking business. They all have an opinion, but they don’t know jack sh*t. … The UFC just signed this deal. We’ve got Power Slap. We’ve got boxing. You’ve got three of the biggest fights in boxing history. I was a part of two of them, and I’ve only done two. There’s a formula to the stuff. So when I listen to sh*t like ‘we have a superstar problem’ or we have a this problem or a that problem, my response to that is: ‘Believe me when I f*cking tell you, we have no problems.’”
The UFC is back with its next pay-per-view in October, and by 2026, all numbered UFC events will air exclusively on Paramount+, bringing the deal to life.
White has also been busy expanding the UFC beyond MMA. Power Slap was the first step, then came UFC BJJ
“If you look at what we’re doing right now, next year, with the Paramount deal, we’re going to do 44 events, between Fight Nights and numbered Pay-Per-View events,” White said. “I’m going to do 12 Power Slap events next year. We’re going to do 14 [UFC] BJJ events.
“And then the new boxing deal I’m working on for 2026, think about this, boxing isn’t on TV right now. Nobody has a TV deal. They’re doing some DAZN fights. I’ll end up nailing down a television deal for boxing, and we’ll do 16 or 18 boxing events next year.”
With the Paramount deal locked in, Power Slap growing, UFC BJJ finding its place, and boxing lined up for a major comeback, Dana White has once again shown why the UFC continues to lead the fight game.
