A lot has changed in the nine years since Endeavor bought UFC from the Fertittas, but one thing remains the same: Dana White continues to sit atop the promotion making most of the big decisions — or at least the ones he feels like making these days.
With the promotion running like a well-oiled machine, White hasn’t been the omnipresent force he once was. He’s been skipping more fight weeks and events to deal with other business matters, be that a new energy drink he’s launched, his Power Slap promotion, or the Canelo vs. Crawford superfight. Since the UFC has now ‘made it,’ it’s a real question as to what ambition drives White.
That question — what aspirations or goals does Dana White have for UFC — was asked by 15-year-old interviewer / influencer Jazlyn “Jazzy” Guerra.
“I would say the goal that I still have is to continue to take the UFC to places where it’s never been, bring the live events there,” White said. “You know, we still haven’t been to Spain. It’s crazy that we haven’t been to Spain yet. Gotta get to Spain and many other places. I will have achieved my goal when the UFC has literally had a live event in every country all over the world.”
Spain is a big one, considering that’s where their biggest up-and-coming superstar Ilia Topuria is from. The UFC has been paying lip service to the idea of going there since Topuria won the featherweight title in February 2024, but a lack of arenas (and lack of government handouts?) has kept them from following through.
“It’s happening,” White said. “We’re getting there. It will happen.”
“We’re still continuing to build a sport,” White insisted. “I was just in another room over here with the sports minister of Georgia. And not Atlanta, Georgia. I’m talking about Georgia the country, and we’ve never been there before. I’m going on a big tour of China in August. The government is gonna take me around. We’re making moves over there.”
Considering how popular the UFC is worldwide, their international slate isn’t exactly as robust as it could be. When they hold events in England at 3am in the morning, it tells you which market is a priority for the company.
If there’s one thing that comes out of this new media rights deal the UFC is brokering, hopefully it would be a new package for international events at international times. Thich would go a long way towards allowing them to build new markets instead of just splashing down once in a while and then disappearing.
