On a Monday night broadcast, a long friendship between a television host, a combat sports executive, and a former president came briefly into public view. Dana White, who has steered the UFC through two decades of growth from a stigmatized fringe to a market leader, spoke warmly of a bond that began with a 2001 event in Atlantic City and deepened through an invitation to a national convention stage. The conversation sits within a broader moment when public loyalties and private relationships are increasingly read against one another, and where a man's personal history can become a political si
Fox's Tucker Carlson Relays Trump's Praise of Dana White as 'Only Essential Person' in American Sports
The only essential person in all American sports
Mark
Why does a Fox interview with a UFC boss matter beyond sports?
Mimi
Because it pairs two things: Trump's praise of White, relayed by Carlson, and White's account of a friendship that runs from the early 2000s to a convention stage.
Mark
What's the core of that friendship, in White's telling?
Mimi
Trump hosted UFC events at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City when venues shunned the sport, gave a fair deal, and stayed for every fight. Later he asked White to speak at the Republican National Convention.
Luke
Worth noting that nearly all of that is White's own recollection, on air, with a friendly host. Nothing in the piece independently confirms the details.
Mark
And the 'only essential person' line?
Luke
That's Carlson quoting a private call with Trump. We have no recording and no statement from Trump himself in this piece. It's attributed, not verified.
Mimi
Fair, though White didn't dispute it, and he answered by talking about succession.
Mark
What about the Mar-a-Lago comments?
Mimi
In August White called the raid madness. The reporting adds that a DOJ filing described more than 100 classified documents found.
Luke
Be careful there: White's reaction isn't evidence about the documents. And it's unclear whether he ever spoke to Trump afterward, as he said he might.
Mark
So what should a reader watch?
Mimi
How closely the UFC's brand and White's politics stay tied, given the $1 million to America First Action in 2019.
Der Puls
- A Fox News host opens the segment by relaying praise from Donald Trump, declaring Dana White indispensable to the UFC and American sports.
- White faces questions about his eventual exit, insisting the business will outlast him and that the right successors are already in place.
- Recollections of the UFC's early years, when venues refused to book it, reveal how a Trump-era favor helped the promotion reach New Jersey.
- The warm tributes arrive just as White's August remarks calling the FBI's Mar-a-Lago search 'madness' draw renewed attention.
- Pressure builds as fighters and public figures sharpen partisan lines, and White's political ties and $1 million donation may invite further scrutiny.
On a Monday night broadcast, a long friendship between a television host, a combat sports executive, and a former president came briefly into public view. Dana White, who has steered the UFC through two decades of growth from a stigmatized fringe to a market leader, spoke warmly of a bond that began with a 2001 event in Atlantic City and deepened through an invitation to a national convention stage. The conversation sits within a broader moment when public loyalties and private relationships are increasingly read against one another, and where a man's personal history can become a political signal. What he said of his own future, and of the friend who once helped open doors for him, is a reminder that institutions are often remembered through the people who believed in them early.
On Monday night, Fox News aired a segment on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' in which Tucker Carlson sat down with UFC president Dana White. Carlson opened by sharing a conversation he had with Donald Trump, who reportedly called White the only essential person in American sports. Trump, according to Carlson, said other figures could leave a sport and it would carry on, but without White there would be no UFC.
White, who has led the company for 22 years, said he hoped the business would endure regardless of who came and went. He insisted his departure was not imminent, that the UFC runs on a formula others have failed to copy, and that the right people are already in place.
White spoke of Trump as a very good friend whose bond began the day they met. He recalled the UFC's struggling early years, when venues would not book the sport, and credited Trump with helping bring events to New Jersey, including a 2001 card at Trump's Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. He also described Trump's cheering as the company grew, and how an invitation to speak at the Republican National Convention deepened their friendship.
The interview came against the backdrop of White's August comments calling the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago 'madness,' remarks made amid criticism from fighters who echoed right-wing talking points. Given White's $1 million donation to a pro-Trump super PAC and his public closeness to the former president, those ties are likely to keep drawing attention.
On Monday night, Fox News aired a segment on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' in which host Tucker Carlson interviewed UFC president Dana White. Carlson opened by relaying a conversation he said he'd had with Donald Trump the day before, in which the former president described White as the only essential person in all American sports.
Carlson quoted Trump as saying you could remove people from any sport and the sport would carry on, but that if White left the UFC, there could be no UFC. Carlson then asked White how long he planned to stay in combat sports as the head of the market-leading MMA company.
White said he hoped that after 22 years the business would last and keep growing no matter who comes and goes. He said that when he does leave, the right person must be in place, because the business runs on a formula. He said others are trying to copy what the UFC does but are not succeeding. He added that his departure is not coming any time soon and that he already has the right people in place.
The conversation then turned to Trump. White called him a very good friend and said the relationship goes back to the day they met. He described the UFC's early years after his group bought the company: it carried such a stigma in sport that venues would not book it.
Trump, White said, helped bring the UFC to New Jersey. White pointed to events in the early 2000s, including UFC 31 on May 4, 2001, which featured separate bouts with Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and B.J. Penn. According to White, Trump saw that the promotion could become big, and as a sports fan offered to host the event at his Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. White said Trump gave the UFC a very fair deal, that the two events there went well, and that Trump showed up for the first fight and stayed to the last.
White said Trump kept cheering him on as his career grew. When the UFC landed on the cover of the New York Times, White recalled, Trump told him he had always known White would do it and sent him the paper. White said Trump was genuinely happy for his success.
White also described how he came to speak at the Republican National Convention. He said Trump, then running for president, called him and said he would understand and hold no hard feelings if White declined, but would be honored if he spoke. White said he agreed, and that after he spoke, their friendship went to another level.
The segment sits against recent context. At an August press conference, White told Insider and other reporters that the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago property was madness and that the whole world was crazy right now. He said then that he had not spoken to Trump about it but would probably call within a couple of days; it is unclear whether he has since. Insider later reported, citing a Department of Justice court filing, that agents found more than 100 classified documents, three of them in Trump's desks rather than in boxes.
White's remarks followed criticism of the raid from fighters Jorge Masvidal and Jake Shields, who echoed right-wing talking points. Trump has long had support among many fighters and fans, and White gave $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action in 2019. Given those ties, his public closeness to Trump may continue to draw attention.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
If Dana White left UFC, there couldn't be UFC.— Donald Trump, as relayed by Tucker Carlson
Hopefully I've built a business over the last 22 years that, no matter who comes and goes, we last and continue to grow.— Dana White
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