Few institutions are as quietly shaped by the people who lead them as a sporting league is by its founders' loyalties. Dana White, who rescued the Ultimate Fighting Championship from near-collapse in 2001 and built it into a global spectacle, now asks its fans to set aside their political differences and keep watching, even as his own closeness to the president draws the sport toward the seat of American power. Whether a crowd can hold together across such divides, when its spectacle is entangled with politics, is a question the sport is only beginning to answer.
UFC's Dana White Says Politics Shouldn't Drive Fans Away: 'We Can All Still Just Get Along'
The UFC didn't even own its own website domain.
Mark
Dana White is telling fans not to let politics push them away. Why does that land differently coming from him?
Mimi
Because he's not a neutral voice. He's a longtime friend of President Trump, spoke at Republican conventions, and had a prominent seat at the second inauguration.
Luke
But he also says he respects whoever holds the office. That's his claim, and the piece reports it as his statement rather than something verified.
Mark
And there's a concrete project tying the UFC to the White House.
Mimi
A card on the South Lawn on June 14, tied to America's 250th birthday. White says he discussed it with the president and worked with Ivanka Trump on details.
Luke
Worth noting that the fighters walking out of the Oval Office is White's description from a September interview. We have his word on the plan, not a finished production.
Mark
The money side seems enormous too.
Mimi
Paramount becomes the exclusive U.S. broadcaster in 2026, a seven-year deal worth $7.7 billion. And Paramount is CBS News's parent company.
Luke
That's a relevant disclosure. The source doesn't say whether it shaped the interview, and I wouldn't assume either way.
Mark
And the origin story is almost the opposite of that.
Mimi
A $2 million purchase in 2001, no ownership of UFC.com, merchandise, video games, or the library. He called negotiating back those rights a months-long process.
Luke
The bankruptcy worry is his recollection. The piece doesn't independently document the company's finances at the time.
Le Pouls
- White urges fans not to abandon the UFC over politics, yet his close ties to President Trump make that plea hard to separate from the politics themselves.
- A planned June 14 card on the White House South Lawn, timed to America's 250th birthday, pulls the sport into the center of national ceremony.
- The company that bought a nearly bankrupt UFC for $2 million in 2001 now stands on the edge of a $7.7 billion, seven-year broadcast deal with Paramount.
- Paramount's exclusive hold on UFC broadcasts begins in 2026, and the audience reaction to the sport's political entanglements will be the first real test.
- White insists the fans can remain united, but the coming months will show whether that unity survives the White House spectacle.
Few institutions are as quietly shaped by the people who lead them as a sporting league is by its founders' loyalties. Dana White, who rescued the Ultimate Fighting Championship from near-collapse in 2001 and built it into a global spectacle, now asks its fans to set aside their political differences and keep watching, even as his own closeness to the president draws the sport toward the seat of American power. Whether a crowd can hold together across such divides, when its spectacle is entangled with politics, is a question the sport is only beginning to answer.
Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has a simple request for the sport's fans: keep watching, whatever your politics. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, he said people should be themselves, and that disagreement over politics is no reason to walk away. "You don't have to agree with me, and you don't have to like it," he said. "But we can all still just get along."
The message comes from a man whose allegiances are well known. White is a longtime friend and supporter of President Trump, and he says he respects whoever holds the nation's highest office. That friendship has already produced a concrete result: a planned UFC card on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14, part of the run-up to America's 250th birthday celebration.
The business has come a long way from its low point. In 2001, White and the Fertitta brothers bought the UFC for $2 million, when the company was nearly bankrupt. It did not even own its own website domain, and it lacked rights to its merchandise, games, and fight library. "And they were probably laughing at us when we left," White said.
Now the sport is entering a new era, with Paramount set to broadcast every UFC event starting in 2026 under a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal. The White House card is the next marker to watch, along with how fans respond to a sport that White insists can stay united despite its divisions.
Dana White, the chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has a simple request for the sport's fans: keep watching, whatever your politics. In an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning" set to air this weekend, White said he wants people to be authentic and to be themselves, and that a difference over politics is no reason to walk away from the sport.
"You don't have to agree with me, and you don't have to like it, and I don't have to agree with you, but we can all still just get along," he said. "That's how this is supposed to work."
The message comes from a man whose political alignments are well known. White is a longtime friend and supporter of President Trump. He has spoken from the stage at Republican National Conventions and held a prominent seat at Mr. Trump's second inauguration. Even so, he said he respects whoever holds the nation's highest office.
That friendship now has a concrete consequence. The UFC is planning a card on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14, part of the run-up to the celebration of America's 250th birthday. White confirmed he discussed the event with the president and worked on the details with Ivanka Trump. Speaking to "60 Minutes" in September, he described the plan this way: the fighters will walk out of the Oval Office to reach the Octagon.
Mr. Trump's connection to the promotion is old. It goes back to 2001, when the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City hosted the mixed martial arts organization.
The business behind the sport has also grown considerably. In August, TKO Group announced that starting in 2026, Paramount would become the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for all UFC events, under a seven-year deal worth $7.7 billion. Paramount, a Skydance Corporation, is also the parent company of CBS News.
White, though, says it was not always like this. In 2001, he and two close friends, the brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who were Las Vegas casino heirs, bought the UFC for $2 million. His pitch to them was blunt. As he recalled it, he told them the UFC seemed to be going bankrupt, that it was in trouble, and that they should buy it.
The state of the company was worse than that suggests. The UFC did not even own its website domain, UFC.com. White joked that he spent months negotiating with the owner, a party called "userfriendlycomputer," to get control of it. Nor did the company own the rights to its merchandise, its video games, or its fight library, so each of those required a separate negotiation. "And they were probably laughing at us when we left," he said.
The fight at the White House is the next marker to watch, followed by how the Paramount deal plays out for an audience that White insists can stay united despite its political differences.
Citations marquantes
You don't have to agree with me, and you don't have to like it, and I don't have to agree with you, but we can all still just get along.— Dana White, CBS Sunday Morning
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Politics & Governance