UFC CEO Dana White and WWE founder Vince McMahon have not always had the best of relationships.
Despite operating enterprises in two very different realms of entertainment, White and McMahon have crossed paths on multiple occasions, typically with the pro wrestling magnate calling the shots. During a recent appearance on Triggered, White told one such story where McMahon prevented the UFC from signing a lucrative deal with NBC.
“It’s been an interesting relationship with Vince McMahon,” Dana White said. “I never saw Vince as competition, but I’m thinking Vince, in his heyday, he saw everyone as competition. He was one of those guys that would f**king stick it to me, just to do it. We were about to do a deal with NBC, and it ends up, we get to the one-yard line, and Vince has the final say of who can go on USA Network and who can’t if you’re a combat sport.
“Lorenzo [Lorenzo Fertitta] and I flew out to Connecticut, sat down with him, we do all the small talk, ‘We’re doing a deal with NBC.’
“Vince sits back like Vince sits. ‘We’re about to do this deal, we’re about to have fights on NBC and everything else, but you need to sign off on it.’ Vince says, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to do that.’ We’re like, ‘Why?’ ‘Eh, I’m just not interested in it. I don’t like the idea of you guys being on USA Network.’ The whole deal blows up. At the end of the day, it all worked out better, we ended up on FOX. That’s just one of ten times where Vince did it.”
Dana White talks Vince McMahon.
Tells a story of how years ago McMahon was able to prevent the UFC from getting a deal with NBC.
Full podcast here:https://t.co/WQJoYlFH28 pic.twitter.com/OzH5BJQoOv— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 3, 2023
Dana White and Vince McMahon Are Working Together Like a Well-Oiled Machine
Today, Dana White and Vince McMahon are working together after the UFC’s parent company, Endeavor, acquired the WWE in a blockbuster deal earlier this year. Endeavor opted to merge the two organizations under a brand new publicly traded company, TKO Holdings Group.
Since the move, White had nothing, but good things to say about his relationship with Mr. McMahon.
“Now, Vince has been an incredible partner. Literally keeps me in the loop with everything going on, making sure I’m cool with decisions that could affect the UFC.”
Now, when are we going to see Israel Adesanya show up on Monday Night Raw?
