The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett - Dana White: This Generation Thinks You Can Build A Business From Home, It's Impossible!

Episode Date: October 5, 2026

Are you letting the past or fear of failure hold you back from achieving ultimate business success? Dana White, the relentless CEO behind the UFC, reveals the exact psychological frameworks and savage business tactics required to dominate your industry and build an empire. Dana White is the President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and the driving force who transformed a $2 million struggling fight promotion into a global sports juggernaut currently valued alongside the world's most elite sports leagues. Now expanding his empire into Power Slap and Zuffa Boxing, White has mastered the brutal mechanics of scaling businesses in highly competitive, chaotic environments.  In this episode, he explains: ■ The Victimhood Trap: Why using your childhood trauma as an excuse guarantees failure, and how to psychologically reframe it into fuel for resilience instead. ■ The Loyalty Mandate: How treating business like a literal war requires building a tight-knit team of absolute "killers". ■ Biohacking as an Asset: The radical 12 week protocol of cold plunging, fasting, and targeted supplementation reversed his debilitating sleep apnea and fundamentally rewired his baseline energy for peak performance. ■ The Myth of "Making It": Why true entrepreneurs must become addicted to solving daily chaos to stay ahead of competitors and reach the top of your industry. ■ Weaponizing Your Gut: The exact mindset shift required to take massive risks when everyone else claims your vision is entirely impossible. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:17 What Made Dana White a Fighter 00:04:37 What His Childhood Really Looked Like 00:06:07 How His Relationship With His Dad Changed 00:08:05 Why Dana White Has Always Challenged Authority 00:10:18 What He’s Trying to Teach His Son 00:11:11 Why There’s No Such Thing as a Day Off 00:13:25 How Getting Kicked in the Face by Business Changed Him 00:14:46 Why Nobody Owes You Anything 00:16:06 Why Most People Aren’t Cut Out to Be Entrepreneurs 00:17:45 The Principles That Made the UFC Successful 00:19:55 Why Who You Hire Can Make or Break a Business 00:21:51 The Rare Skills Behind Dana White’s Success 00:27:41 Why He Built a Family Through Business 00:32:09 Why Great Leaders Stay in the Weeds 00:33:22 I Love the Haters 00:35:17 How Extreme Focus Fueled His Success 00:37:29 What Transformed His Energy and Health 00:39:54 Ads 00:39:55 Why You Either Have the Killer Instinct or You Don’t 00:42:01 Why You Have to Be a Savage in Business 00:44:43 Can You Learn the Killer Instinct? 00:45:21 Why a Chip on Your Shoulder Can Drive Success 00:46:27 Who Dana White Would Never Want to Compete Against 00:48:55 Do You Believe in Manifestation? 00:53:03 How He Learned to Leave the Past Behind 00:58:56 Has Dana White Forgiven His Mom? 01:04:33 Ads 01:04:34 Why You Should Trust Your Gut Over Focus Groups 01:06:58 Why Chasing a Paycheck Means You’ve Already Lost 01:07:54 How Much of Your Success Was Luck? 01:11:14 Why You Can’t Be Afraid to Take Risks 01:18:11 What Are You Still Chasing? 01:22:13 The One Last Goal He Has to Accomplish 01:24:40 Why Dana Believes He’ll Win at Boxing Follow Dana White: YouTube - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/Fgajy25 Instagram - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/6pRqwZs Facebook - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/GmEyz0C Twitter/X - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/Ddv4Kda UFC - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/F71pA3 The Diary Of A CEO: ◼ Join DOAC circle here - https://doaccircle.com/ ◼ Buy The Diary Of A CEO book here - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/BWjLTZK ◼ Shop The Diary Of A CEO collection: https://thediary.com/collections/shop ◼ Get email updates - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/5IB1H6E ◼ Follow Steven - https://link.thediaryofaceo.com/AGU9QP4 Sponsors: Cometeer - https://cometeer.com/DOAC use code DOAC for $20 off Function Health - https://functionhealth.com/DOAC

I've already built the biggest fight brand to ever exist. The UFC was purchased for $2 million. And if the Lakers sold for $12.5 billion, then the UFC is worth $50 billion. And every day that I show up here, I'm here to win. When I'm dead, it's going to be impossible to beat what I've built. And I am addicted to chaos. And if there isn't any, it created. From UFC fighters to CEOs of multi-gazillion pound companies to the world leaders,

I see in you a man that is truly obsessed. Early on, I knew exactly who I was. and I knew that I wanted to be involved in fighting. That's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Was there any athletes that you sort of put in the class of their own? Connor McGregor, Habibn-Mirgamenev and Rhousie, but I didn't want women in the UFC. But Ronda Rousey grabbed me, said, can I get 15 minutes with you?

And she came in with the whole fucking bravado, and I'm like, holy shit. I think I'm going to do this and she's the one to do it with. If there were principles that you would most attribute to the success of the UFC, what would it be? When you decide who you are, what you want to do, what you're going to accomplish, and you work toward it. It is impossible for you to fail.

Do not be afraid to take the risk. But some of these kids that think they want to be entrepreneurs, they don't know what it really takes. And there is a formula, and guess who has it? And we can talk about this. And then this is a book your mother published, about you unauthorized as a biography. She's critical of you at certain points.

I don't go on shows to speak negatively about my mother, but, I mean, that's one of the grossest, most disgusting things. You couldn't even imagine possible until it happened. to you. And sometimes family is the worst. And that was the beginning of the end with me and her. Have you forgiven her? Um... Guys, I've got a favor to ask before this episode begins. It's the algorithm, if you follow a show, will deliver you the best episodes from that show very prominently in your feed.

So when we have our best episodes on this show, the most shared episodes, the most rated episodes, I would love you to know. And the simple way for you to know that is to hit that follow button, but also it's the simple, easy, free thing that you can do to help us make this show better. And I would be hugely grateful if you could take a minute on the app you're listening to this on right now and hit that follow button. Thank you so, so, so much. Dana, you know more than anybody that to become a great fighter, oftentimes you have an anomalous upbringing. And I have some of these fighters in front of me like Khabib and Islam and Mike Tyson. And when you look at their backgrounds and where they came from, they have atypical origins. And when I look at you, I consider you

to be a great fighter in your own regard. So that's my question, is what is that early context that's made you the fighter that you are? I don't know. You know, I always have trouble when we start talking about me and my upbringing and psychoanalyzing me. I don't know how to really answer those questions. I don't know. It's not like I grew up like these guys grew up. But early on, I knew exactly who I was and I knew that I wanted to be involved in fighting. That's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. In terms of your mom and dad, I listened to you talk about your dad and his absence and his difficulty with alcohol, divorced at eight years old, left with your mother.

And that was also a turbulent relationship as you grew up. Is there anything from that early context that you look back on? I know you don't like being psychoanalyzed. I've heard you respond to like Pierce Morgan and other. who have talked about your childhood before. But is there anything from that early context that you think did shape you into this sort of like relentless? You know, I always say that, you know, you see these people that play the victim, you know, the victim mentality. It's like, oh, I didn't have any role models when I was growing up.

Yes, you did. You just didn't look at it the right way. When you grow up, everybody who's involved in your life, they're all role models in good and bad ways. I used to look at, you know, some of my uncles and my dad and something like, I was like, we don't want to go in that direction. Let's go in this direction. And in America, you can start drinking when you're 21. I quit drinking when I was 21.

I believe that I wouldn't be able to accomplish all the things that I wanted to accomplish if I was drinking. And I saw a lot of, you know, family members and other people where drinking had had been detrimental to their life. And, you know, I think I had some pretty talented, you know, family members that could have lived a different life had they not drank. You and your sister? Yeah, that's me and my sister. If I was a fly on the wall during that period of your life, what would I have seen? I don't know. I don't really remember. Me and my sister, you know, now that we're getting older, we talk about this stuff a lot. Me and my sister are super close. You know, both our parents are dead and it was just us.

So, yeah, my mom was an animal. My mom worked her ass off. And, you know, if she wasn't working, you know, and picking up extra shift, she was a nurse, she was going to school. And she effectively raised you on her own? Mm, definitely. Because your dad was, he was absent. I remember he reciting a story of him taking you to the cinema, drunk. Yeah, yeah. And just, I mean, what I got from that was, I guess, carelessness, the story of him taking you to the cinema,

telling you, asking you if you wanted something, throwing $20 your way, telling you to go get it for your sister. Yeah. And embarrassing you. One of those moments. And, you know, you have these, these things that you remember from your young life. And I have a few with my dad. But, you know, the movie was Beverly Hills Cop. And it had just come out. And it was like the biggest movie in the world. And we got there late. He showed up drunk to pick us up and take us to the movies, you know. So getting there was a whole, you know, scene on its own. And then we get there. The place is packed. There's no seats. He walks in and screams. We're going to have to start moving some people, you know, and throws money at me to go get. to go get food and popcorn or whatever. In my opinion, my dad was a very selfish guy. And, you know, he lived the life that he wanted to live. And everybody else didn't matter. Did you ever understand him? People always say that when they get older, they understand their parents better.

Well, what I understood was once I became a parent, I was like, holy shit. This is the way you're supposed to feel about your kids. And this is the way you're supposed to, you know. So, yeah, I think that my parents. made me a better parent. You've got a very atypical drive in you. There's a certain relentlessness that I've seen. I mean, I've seen it all.

And one of the sort of defining traits when I think of Dana White is this sort of relentless, insatiable ambition. So my line of questioning isn't really to psychoanalyze. It's really just to understand, like, how that comes to be the case. One would guess that there's some kind of chip on your shoulder to some degree.

Yeah, it's true. But I try to focus on, I like to win. Winning is fun and everything in life, but, you know, I also make sure that the obligations that I have, you know, I pay attention to those too. Like, listen, nobody's perfect, but I've tried to do the best I could to be the best at everything I could at work, at home with the kids, you know. And if I'd asked you when you were a young boy, like some of these photos, what are you going to be when you grow up, would you have had an answer for me?

I didn't really know that until I was in my late teen. You know, literally walked out of a job that at the time and in the place a lot of people would kill for. And checked all the boxes and made cash every day. You got a paycheck every week. 401K full dental and medical and, you know, all the things that people are looking for. But I didn't like working for other people. I always felt like working in the hotel industry was incredibly disrespectful the way that they would treat you and talk to you. and I never liked it. It was never for me. So I walked out one day and I said, I'm going to get into the fight business. At the time, I didn't know exactly what that meant or, you know, at what level. But that was my goal.

Have you always had a problem with, well, an issue with, dare I say, authority? You have? Yes, very, very much so. Yeah, it was never for me. Where does that come from? Do you know? I don't know. I honestly don't know the answer to that. But I never liked it. I never liked working. for other people. I never liked being told what to do. And I don't treat my employees like that. Did you think you were going to be successful in your life when you were 14, 15. Yeah, I did when I was younger. I believed that I would be. Yeah. Based on the sort of had these, you know, these ideas in my head, which at the, you know, at that time you don't know exactly what it means or at what extent, but let me tell you what. So when we worked, when I lived with my mom, me and my sister were just talking about this the other day. So my mom worked all the time.

or was at school, and me and my sister were home alone all the time. But we had chores that we had to do. I mean, we were mow the lawn, you know, cleaning the pool and trimming the bushes and all that. And I was like, let me tell you what, the day I make a dollar, I'm never doing this shit ever again. So that's probably an important lesson she taught you. No doubt about it.

And I, you know, I try to do this with my kids, too. My kids have been great and done everything the right way. the story before, but my son, Aden, my youngest son, flies home from college one weekend, says, I don't want to stay in school. I have an idea for this business that I want to do and whatever. I said, he lays it all out for me. I'm like, this is a pretty good idea. I get it. I like it. But you're not going to quit school and just try to do this. This doesn't, this won't chew up eight to ten hours of your day. You're going to go out and you're going to get a job and you're going to put out, you're going to go put in applications and you're going to try to get a job.

because if I die tomorrow, that's what you're qualified to do. And he did it. And he went and he worked at U-Haul. And you know, you got to have those kind of jobs. My son right now, my oldest, is getting his master's degree in Boston right now. And when I lived in Boston, I used to work for E.J. Paving Company. They paved roads. I actually want my son to go do some days at this paving company.

What is it you're trying to teach him? Well, what hard work really is. So people like, I run around, I don't sleep much, and everybody's like, oh, you work so hard, you work so hard. No, no, no. I'll show you what hard work is. Hard work is construction. Hard work is concrete. Right up the street here, I don't know how many days this summer were 115 degrees out.

115 degrees out. These construction guys were out there working in a 115 degree week, like hard work, real work. And then in the winter, people don't realize this in Vegas, but it gets down into the 30s. these guys will be outside working when it's 30 degrees out. And hard physical labor every day. And then you go home, you eat and you go to bed, you get up the next day and you go do it again. In your life, to figure out what you want to do,

you have to figure out what it is you don't want to do. I have a bunch of quotes here that you've said, if you just wanted to look at the first one. There's no such thing as a day off. When there's no such thing as a day off when you run your own business. You know, there's no birthdays, there's no Christmas, there's no thanksgivings. Bad shit will happen every single day that you need to deal with. But when you like what you do, it's fun.

A lot of people, especially young people these days, want to be entrepreneurs. You know, I'd really like to work for myself and own my own business because I'd love to plan my schedule. You're going the wrong way. What you need to do is find a nine to five job where you have weekends and holidays off. And, you know, that's your move. If you're looking to start your own business because you want more time to yourself, you are picking the wrong thing to do. I promise you that.

The key to becoming a good entrepreneur is you have to find solutions to problems. Every day. The universe was trying to fuck with me the other day. I got out of bed. I had to be at a board meeting at 9 o'clock, right? I go in, I got a shave. Both my razors died. I use electric razors, they both died.

Get through that. I get in the car and I'm driving and the sensor says your back right tire is low. Stop the vehicle immediately. I said, yeah, no, we're not fucking stopping. We're going. That's just life, right? When you get up and it's life standing there to kick you in the face and you got to get through all this shit.

Then you get to work and there's a laundry list of problems and things you've got deal with. And this younger generation that think you can work from home and build a successful business, it's impossible. You can't do it. I'm in the office from 8.30 in the morning, and I don't leave the office till 7, 8, 9, 10 sometimes still, to this day. There are times when I go to work, and my schedule is planned out for the day. But people will pop in my office and we start talking about things. And, you know, when you have people, a good group of people like I have at the UFC, and we get in a room and you start talking, things pop up that you would never expect and things happen and a lot of good ideas come from everybody being at work.

Has being kicked in the face by business over the last couple of decades changed you? Definitely. I don't freak out the way that I used to. I've been through at all and I'm way more calm now. I see this with a lot of guys. You become, I want to say you get weaker. But you do get weaker as you get older. There's a softer side to you than you had when you were in the early days of building your business. And I don't ever want to be that guy. You know what I mean?

I try not to be that guy. But you do relax and chill out and you don't. The things that you used to flip out about when you were younger, you don't when you're older. I mean, I went through a phase where I ripped through like 10 secretaries in two years. Like, I need people around me that can keep up. you got to have people that can keep up and can handle the load of work. You know, it's probably the business year for me this year because I have Zufa boxing power slap in the UFC that I'm running these three companies.

And then there's a ton of other things that I do too. So we'll be on the road. You know, I think we just got off the last two months. We were home for like four days in the last two months. Then I get home and I don't stop. I just, I go out and I do things. And, you know, these guys that are with me, they have to, they're. with me and it's tough. Nobody owes you anything. So, you know, we talked a little bit about my

parents and whatever. I had this kid that I grew up with. And, you know, we were 12, 13, 14 years old. And I remember his dad had done really well. And, you know, they had a beautiful house, they had cars. You know, he had all the shit that you would want growing up. And I remember him telling me one time, his dad ran into hard times. And his dad, and his dad, had put a million dollars away for him in an account. And then his father ran into hard times and his father took the money. He's like, my father stole a million dollars for me. And I remember thinking, are you out of your fucking mind?

The fact that your dad even thought of you that way that he would put that money away for you is incredible. But that was never your money. You didn't earn that money. That wasn't yours. I remember thinking that way when I was 12, 13, 14, 14, right? I'm like, that is definitely the wrong type of mentality. Entitlement.

Brutal. And that guy grew up exactly the way you would expect that guy to grow up. He's just, you know, nobody owes you anything. Nobody. Listen, to be set up in a position where somebody can make some phone calls for you and do some things, but then once they do that, you have to go in and deliver. There's going to be a ton of people listening that want to be entrepreneurs. Do you think most people are.

cut out for it. No. No. To be an entrepreneur is a very unique thing. I mean, you have, it's hard enough for a lot of people to get up every day and depend on themselves to take care of themselves. When you're an entrepreneur, lots of people depend on you. Lots of people feed their families. And I take that role very serious. I mean, when I got into this business, not a lot of people believed in it. That's why we bought the UFC for $2 million. Right. Let's be honest here. The UFC was purchased for $2 million. And if the Lakers sold for $12.5 billion, then the UFC is worth $50 billion. So the people who did believe in this and did, you know, when I was trying to hire

production people, production people don't want to live in Las Vegas, Nevada, especially 25 years ago. They want New York or L.A., right? I was trying to hire sponsorship people, New York and L.A. They don't want to live here. And then I had a group of people, Craig Borsari, who is my head of production, who is an absolute rock star, the best in the business. He was a rising star at Fox. He left Fox and came here because he believed in the vision and what was happening here. When you think back front on that journey of buying it for $2 million, and then let's say it's worth $50 billion.

million dollars now if it was valued, you know, relevant to the Lakers. If there were principles, if there were like a couple of principles that you would most attribute to the success of the UFC, when at the time nobody wanted to put on the fights anywhere, everybody thought it was like too barbaric. Matchmaking. Matchmaking, yeah. It's number one. The live event production. Okay. And the television production. And then on the business side that you think, you know, if we'd gotten that wrong, we definitely wouldn't be here. The big problem, if you look at how 25 years ago when we bought this,

you're never going to compete with boxing. Boxing's too established. It's been around too long. It's this and that. Boxing became a going out of business sale every time these guys would put on a fight. They try to grab as much money as they can and run. I am now involved in boxing. I have the only global television deal, right?

On Paramount. All these other guys are on a streaming service. of us called literally every promoter. What they've done is they've chased everybody out of the business. Television networks don't want to deal with it anymore. Sponsors don't want to be a part of it anymore. What we have done over the last 25 years is built a brand that not only the consumer trusts, but sponsors, television networks, list goes on and on. So I make sure that when people show up to my live event, which is super important. The people who pay to come to the live event spend way more money than the people on TV.

And they got to buy flights and rooms and pay for their dinners. Every time we put on a live event, I want the people walking out of there going, God damn, that was a good time. I'm glad we did this tonight, and I would love to do this again. And how did you make sure that's the case? I heard somebody saying one time, Dana acts like there's a formula of this. If you look, if you went back, I don't know the actual number, but it's a long list and a big number of guys with a lot of money who are really smart

and have done good things in life that have tried to get into this business and couldn't do it, couldn't make it work. There is a formula. And guess who has it? One of the things I've learned as I've gone through my business career that I didn't know at the start of my business career was how much of success is actually determined by the people you're able to assemble. I think at the start of my career you think if I work weekends and I work really hard and have good ideas myself, then I'll be successful. And somewhere along the way, I realize that it's really about like assembling people and binding them with the right, like, philosophy or culture, whatever they call it.

And the question I have for you is, have you noticed the same? Have you noticed that one of the like obvious but seemingly unobvious things about business building is the quality of people you hire? There's no doubt about it. No one guy does everything. When we first bought the company, I was the everything guy. There was like two employees, me and somebody else. and you know, you wear all the hats when you start.

Then you start going out and you start building a team. And there are people who fit and people who work and people who don't. And you have to be really good at figuring out who fits and who works and who doesn't. And over the last 25 years, if there's a superpower that I have, it has been picking the right people to surround myself with. and I knew when there wasn't. We made a big decision when we sold on people that we brought in, and I knew right away the people that didn't fit, and I fired them. What are you looking for in great people?

First of all, you have to have talented people. You have to have talented people that are not only really good at what they do, but are hard workers to and have the drive. But everybody has to be on board with the vision and has to be on the same page. I am at a place right now with my production team when we do spots and we do vignettes and they'll bring them into me and there are very few changes. What is your talent there?

Like if I ask the people that work closest with you and I know this is a little bit of a weird question to answer, what is Dana's three skills that are rare relative to other people? I am a fight fan to the core. 25 years later of doing this, I am still a hardcore fight fan. And when we put something together and we nail it, I know we got it. And now what I do is I push my team, whether it's production, matchmaking, sponsorship side, whatever it is, I push all these guys every day to get us to where I know I want to be.

You are the customer. Yeah, I am the customer. Yeah. And you have been since I saw in your sort of early, sort of mid-20s, you were captivated. with boxing at the time, I believe. Yep. Every time when we go to an event, there's a red phone on the table where I sit, and it goes directly to the truck. And there's our producer's name is Zach.

The truck where the producers are. Yeah. Zach runs all the shows. He has the freedom to do what he wants. And he tries. So I'll pick up the phone and go, what was that? And he was like, I thought we tried that. I say, yeah, let's never fucking do that again.

Okay, bye. And there's no hurt feelings. There's no whatever. Or we'll do something. And I'm like, that was incredible. Yeah, congrats. That's incredible. And, you know, once you get to that level with your team, there's a woman sitting

out here. Her name is Lene. She's the head of PR. I don't really make a move without talking to her anymore. I trust her so much and she's so smart and she's so talented that she's involved in a lot of different aspects of my life. Craig Borsari, who I talked about, who is the head of production, my head of sponsorship. Once you build this like rock star team, it's all just like it becomes a well-oiled machine

where everything just starts to work the right way. Like when we were going through COVID, these people that I'm talking about, you know, when you go through something like this, who the hell knows how long this is going to last and as crazy as the world was during that time, here's what. one thing that wasn't going to happen, I don't give a shit, we were not going to lay off our employees. These people that have been here with me and that I'm super close to saw this quote from, I don't know who the CEO was, but says anybody that's trying to sell you that we're a family and is full of shit. This is transactional and it's a I don't know who wants to run through a

fucking wall for that guy, but he's full of shit, okay? My team, that is the way I feel about my team. And I do care. And I will never pick money over people, ever. Scariest time in our lifetime was COVID. You're looking at the numbers and going, oh, shit, you know, we got to let go with some people. We got to, what? During the scariest time in human history? No, your job as the CEO is to figure out how to keep your business running and to take care of all your people. Right? Here's what you don't do.

Oh, we're looking at hard times. Let's just start fucking putting bullets in people who have missed their kids' first step, didn't go to a fucking game, missed this and miss that to help build this company. It is your job as the CEO to take care of these people and figure out how to make money.

That's the way that I look at it. And that's what we did. The reason why people have a problem with this whole whole, like, you know, my team and my family thing because they always say, well, you don't fire your family. And what you're saying is actually those that have been loyal to you are the ones that you treat like family, I'm hearing.

Yeah. If you don't have loyalty, what do you have? Right? If you work in a place where you feel like the rug could be pulled out from under you at any minute for no reason other than, ooh, the numbers don't look good, you think you want to be an entrepreneur and you think you want to be the CEO of a company. every day when your foot hits the floor out of bed, you're going to war. There's people trying to take for what you have.

There's people trying to screw you over. You know, people are coming after you every day. And the more successful you become, the more people that are coming after you. And I look at the UFC and other businesses that I run as a battleship. And me and my team are going to war. And we either all go down together or we don't go down at all. I guess in that context, if you are at war, then you need, you know, your brothers in arms. You need soldiers.

Yeah, you need soldiers. Yep. And I'll tell you this. So I know lots of different stories coming out of COVID. The day that everything started to shut down, I literally got all my employees in a room together downstairs at our dining room. And I said, listen, I don't understand this. I don't know what's going on. but if any of you feel unsafe or feel that, you know, you have loved ones at home that could be unsafe from this whole thing, you can go home.

Nobody walked out. Nobody walked out. I said, we're going to figure this out. We're going to get through this together. And, you know, every week I had weekly FaceTime calls with all my employees. And it sounds weird now, but I was like, if you need anything, if you need groceries, toilet paper. A loved one of yours gets sick. Make me the first call.

We'll get through this together. And then, you know, it was only a couple weeks. And I said, we're going. We're going to work. And everybody, men, women, they all said, we're with you. Let's roll. Do you know what's interesting is the last time I heard a founder, a CEO of a company say this to me, they also had a very turbulent childhood where they didn't have a family.

and he ended up admitting to me, he goes, you know, I guess to some degree as an adult, I've been able to build my own community family that I really never had. And so I was just wondering, as you were speaking there, if there's a link there at all between how you treat people. Here's the link for me. If I, again, psychoanalyzing me, I've worked for companies that you go in and you give your time and your energy to and they treat you like you don't even fucking matter. right it's like well if you don't like it there's 10 other people right behind you that would love to

have this shot wow that's how much you value me and what i do here yeah it goes both ways right i've been in those positions before and i've yeah that red phone um reminds me of another quote that i read from me which is that you are always in the weeds and one would think you know dana you're 57 yeah 57 years old very very successful made a lot of money in your life pique of your powers one would assume that by this time you'd be a little bit out of the weeds and dare I say even, I don't know, delegating and enjoying yourself a little bit more. I mean, that's presumptive the word enjoying yourself, but would be out of the weeds by now. You ever hear the saying it's easier to get to the top than it is to stay on top?

True words were never spoken. When you're at the top, everybody's gone in for you and everybody's looking at your blueprint and saying, how do I use what he's done and how he's built this to beat him? How do I steal his people? It's like being a world champion. So you become a world champion and then everybody starts studying you and how you fight or how you play or how you do trying to figure out how to beat you. And I love that. How do you respond to that?

I love it. Because it's easy to get distracted when there's that many people gunning for one guy. And don't get distracted. You know what get distracted on? You get into a business like this, right? And lots of goofy shit starts coming at you. Like, hey, we want to do a movie about this. Hey, we want to do a thing on your life.

we want to, uh-uh. There's three things that I focus on every day, and I'm not going to say it. But you're not going to say it. No. Why? There's three things that I focus on every day. And if I don't fuck this up, you can't, you can't mess it up. Why wouldn't you tell me?

It's part of the formula. It's part of the formula. Three things you focus on every day. There's lots of ancillary things that come around the brand of the UFC, right, that if you start diving into all that. You know, and let your ego take over. You let your ego get into, you know, all this bullshit that you can't mess it up. Because I've seen other companies that are so big and massive and have been around for a hundred years.

And you make a couple of mistakes. And then somebody else is coming trying to eat your lunch, man, and nipping at your heels. Nobody's nipping at my heels. All these other guys that are out there. we are not the same. Okay. This thing has gotten to a level now. My competitors are the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NHL, and the NBA. We did an $8 billion deal with Paramount, right? Now, I don't know this for a fact, but I know this for a fact. The NFL are a bunch of animals, right? As soon as that deal was announced, all the powers that be at the NFL got in a room and said,

there was $8 billion out there that we didn't get. We'll do games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you know what I mean? And if you look at me now, we're sitting in my arena. Next door, I have the Performance Institute and our headquarters. We have everything that the NFL and the major league base. All these guys have. We are part of the, the, the first. four major sport organizations in the United States. Dana, can you give me one of these three things? No. No, no, no.

It's part of the formula. But, you know, we have gotten to a level now where we are one of the top four major. All these other promoters and all these other guys putting on fights and all this shit, they don't matter. But on this point of being in the weeds, is that important for, you know, people out there that are... So here's what can happen. You know, and people say this to me all the time. We did the $7.7 billion deal with Paramount. And they're like, wow, that's incredible.

You know, you didn't fucking make it. You never make it. You don't make. Do you know why Paramount did a 7.7? Because they believed that we can impact their business. Now, my job over the next five years is to make sure we do that. Because guess what I want? I want $10 billion.

after we get out of this deal, right? And the way that you do that is you added value to their company and, you know. Is it not tiring, though? Constantly having to be in the weeds for 25 years and now you're rich, and you've made all this money, like, is it not?

I could understand for some people, maybe, but not me. I mean, I'm 57, and I'm sure to a lot of young people, that seems old, but 57 isn't that old. And what the hell would I be doing? I am addicted to chaos and, you know, and if there isn't any, I create it. It's a weird thing, but I'm definitely an addict. Yeah.

There's a particular quote in this part of quotes, which I think is really relevant. Yeah. I love the haters. The haters are the best, man. There's nothing better than haters. Haters will lay out what they think is wrong with your business and how you're not, you know, doing this or doing that. and, you know, what this used to be called was, you know, the critics or the whatever. Now these days they're called the haters, and I love the haters.

Do you listen to the haters? Yeah, yeah, it's not like you don't listen to the haters, you know, it's not like you don't, you know, you know what, you know what is real and you know what's just bullshit. They're just, you know, but you have to have these guys, they sort of keep you on your game. Now, most people would say, I drown that. What I drown out is like the media that covers our sport. I don't look at them as haters. I look at every fucking thing they say is wrong. And when I look at what they say, it's like,

it's amazing that you could be involved in this business for 25 years and know nothing about it. You know, but I guess that's why, you know, we've never had any real competitors. Because when you think about what we're doing, it's never been done before. So what I'm thinking, and what's coming next, these guys could never know.

So literally all the guys that cover our sport, I block them out of my feed. I don't want to hear, they're all wrong and everything they say is wrong. And it's a waste of my time to even listen to anything they say. But the hardcore fans, you know, and the people who hate and the people who say were great and all this, I like that information. I like hearing what they have to say. The two points you just made this one in the point before brought to mind this point of focus. You talked about these three things.

You talked about blocking out the haters. When you're at the top, there are so many things screaming for your energy. There's a everybody's going, look over here, Dana, give me five minutes of your thoughts and energy. Then you've got a journalist over here. Then you've got this fighter saying coming out, making a comment over here. And so I wanted to understand what your relationship with, like, focus and how important this idea of focus has been to your success. Yeah. That's why you have to, like I was saying, you have to figure out what you pay attention to and what you don't pay attention to.

Kevin O'Leary called this signal and noise. Yeah. You told me about great phone. The noise, you got to block out a lot of the noise. The problem is, these days, anybody with a fucking phone, all right, can consider themselves an expert and I'm criticizing what they do. But it's just, it's always wrong and it's always just such a waste of time. I want to hear what the fans think. I don't want to hear what these guys who are trying to start a podcast or a website

or a fucking Instagram account, you know, on the business think. I want to hear what the real fans think. And when you have been doing this long enough, you can sort of go through and tell what's what and who's who, right? So when I feel like somebody has made a really good point or an opinion on the show or the match, me, it's like when we put together a fight and I've been saying this since one, they're like, this card sucks. You can't say the card sucks until it's over, right? Because these are obviously all really talented people that are on the card. Maybe some of them are,

you know, are younger and haven't proven themselves yet. But you can't judge a card until the card's over. And believe me, if the card sucks, I'll be the first one to say that the card sucked. So there's just lots of things that are, that makes sense and things that don't. What has made the biggest difference to you in terms of, you? your energy, your health, in making sure that you can show up really well every day. Because you're the reason I heard about Gary Brecker. And then I brought him on the show and he did really, really well on the show. And then it was that watching you talk about some of the impact he had on your life.

He's a health expert that transformed your life. But I say all this to say that in my life, I noticed this variance between my good days and my bad days in terms of energy level, my ability to articulate myself. And so I'm longing to like get up to a high baseline. So I'm wondering for you, like, what has that been for you? Yeah, he completely changed my life. When I hit 50, Gary Breka changed everything. So I have two doctors, one in Vegas, one in LA. They're both great doctors.

So when I started the whole Gary Brecker thing, they called me up together. I'm like, Dana, what are you doing? What are you doing with this shit? I said, listen, man, the guy said, give me 12 weeks and I'll change your life. We'll see what happens. In six weeks, I was like, wow. I feel incredible. And all these things that they couldn't fix,

they just kept switching up the pills and all this shit. And one of them that was real bad was sleep apnea. I was waking up almost every night and throwing up from sleep apnea, right? And how did you meet him? Someone referred him to you. Carrie Kasem. Carrie Kasem was like, I want you to meet this guy. I'm telling you he'll do this and that.

I didn't want to meet him. And then the weirdest thing ever is that my son turned 21 and I had his 21st birthday down in Miami. And Gary Breka lives in Miami. And he says, well, we do IVs so we could do all the IVs for you guys down there and whatever. I said, all, cool. So we would go out and drink and, you know, then do the IVs. And then one day we're doing the IV and he says, let me take your blood and let me do your blood work for it. Gary said that.

Yeah. And Gary had this thing that he could predict. you know, when you would die. And then I became obsessed with that. He gave you 12 years? 10. He gave you 10 years. So then he said, it can be 12 weeks.

I'll change your life. It's going to be hard. And I said, well, it won't be hard. Once I set my mind to it, I'll do exactly what you tell me to do. It took six weeks. Six weeks in, I was like, I never felt better. And clarity, legs and all these other problems I have. And then sleep apnea gone.

me and my wife truly believe that he's wrong. I didn't have 10 years. We thought I had less because of the way that I would sleep and all the shit that was going on with me. And, you know, this guy is a life-changer. I wouldn't be doing all the things. I mean, I'd probably still be doing UFC, but I wouldn't be doing all this other stuff that I'm doing.

I wouldn't be able to run at the level I run at right now without him. Okay, another one of your quotes here. It says you either have the killer instinct or you don't. And it's so true. So this happened with Ian Gary. You know? I saw your interview.

I felt like Ian Gary in that fifth round, you have this opportunity you're fighting possibly, the greatest fighter of all time. And you did a damn good fucking job for four rounds. And, you know, he was battered. His whole right side was busted up. His face was busted up. But he was beating you as far as rounds go.

Now you're the younger, bigger, range of your fighter, you just fought four incredible rounds, get out there and put it on. You go out and start shaking his hands and hugging them and do that when they're strapping the belt on you. Show Islam all the love you want when the fight's over. This is the fifth round. You have five minutes to shock the world and, you know, everything you ever fucking dreamed of and work for can happen in this next five minutes.

And you didn't do it. Does that mean he doesn't have the killer instinct? I don't know. You know, he's a classy, really nice guy, but that's not the time or place to be it. You have to go out and you have to, you have five minutes left to, you know, he didn't show it if he does have it. He didn't show it. Any guy, company or person that wants to be a sponsor of ours, I'm not a logo slap guy. You just take your logo and slap it in and let's hope this works out.

No, I want you to win. When you're with me and your name is on our canvas, I want this to be a mutually beneficial deal for both of us. I want you to win. I want you to go, damn. Thank God I spent my money on the UFC. And you have to get up and you have to kick ass every single day. Not just for you, not just for your employees, but for your sponsors, the network. And, you know, you're never out of the weeds, I guess is the answer.

You have to be an absolute savage in business. I mean, that goes right along with what I was just saying. Are you a savage? I don't like to, you know what I mean? I don't know. I would let other people judge whether I am a savage or not. But yes, I will tell you this. I absolutely positively have killer instinct.

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dollar a day and member pricing on advanced imaging. Head to functionhealth.com slash doac to join and use code DOAC 25 for a $25 credit. There's going to be some people listening that are at the start of their careers and they'll be inspired by you, they'll want to win like you've won, they'll want to climb to the sort of peak of the mountain in whatever pursuit they go after. And the question I'm kind of wondering is like, is there a way they can learn this savagery, this killer instinct? Have you ever seen someone go from not having it to having it, whether they're a fighter or someone else?

That's a good question. I don't know if I've ever experienced somebody who didn't have it and got it. I don't think that I have. but here's what I do know. If you want to get into business for yourself, you have to have a certain mindset and you have to be a killer, man. You have to, and you have to not just think about yourself.

There's a lot of other people that you have to think of more times than less before you. Do you think you have to have a chip on your shoulder? I don't know if you have to have a chip on your shoulder, but, you know, most guys you see do. but it's because you get up every day and it's you versus the world. I mean, everybody's coming at you. And the more successful you get, I mean, if you look this up, I mean, every business that's ever been successful, right?

There's a army of scumbag lawyers out there that will find a way to figure out how to sue you because, you know, you did something wrong or the other thing that happens is people that are involved in your business that don't become successful. it's never their fault. It's somebody else's fault on why they weren't successful. And, you know, there's always a, there are groups of lawyers like companies out there, massive companies and smaller ones too, that actually fund. You can go in and you can invest in a lawsuit with them and be a part of it. So every day when you get up, there's just, you know, scumbags, regular people, good people that are all coming after you. question then, which person would you, of all the entrepreneurs and killers you've met, which one would you not like to compete with as it relates to business? Hmm, I don't think, I want to compete with them all. But is there anyone who goes to, I like it? Listen, we're at a level now where I was saying to you, the NFL and Major League Baseball, these guys are all, you know, first of all, they've been around for 100 years or more or less

or whatever it is, and I'm at a level now where we're competing with the elite of the elite in sports. Who is the most badass entrepreneur you've ever met? I don't know. That's a tough one. Like there's guys that there's guys that I like and respect like the Michael Jordan's Carl icon. I like guys like that. What about athletes that you've worked with?

Was there any that you sort of put in a class of their own in terms of dinner? Connor McGregor, Habibn-Mirgammergamenev, Chuck Liddell when, you know, it was his time. Ronda Rousey. You know, people, people, you know, want to talk shit about Ronda Rousey now. Let me tell you what. Rhonda Rousey came to me. I didn't want women in the UFC, right? And the reasoning is I was trying to sell men to networks and sponsors, and they were like,

this is too, whatever. Women, Rhonda Rousey grabbed me at an event and said, hey, I'm Ronda Rousey. Can I get 15 minutes with you? We went into my room at the arena and, I don't know, minutes into the conversation. I'm like, holy shit. I think I'm going to do this and she's the one to do it with, you know? And she came in with the whole fucking bravado. You want to talk about a chip on your shoulder.

I mean, she had it. You know, so many people now want to hate on her. She is a fucking unicorn. What do these people have, the Conners, the Kabibs, the Ronde's. What is it? Connor McGregor, I went to dinner with him when we signed him. I left that dinner. I called Lorenzo Fertita and I said, dude, I don't know if this guy can fight or not,

but if he can even throw a punch, he's going to be a massive superstar. He's incredible. What was it? Well, the number one factor in this business, can you fight? How good are you? Number two is this mentality of manifesting and just sitting there and you're telling me what you're going to do and how it's going to happen and how it's all going to play out. And I've only had a handful of these meetings in 25 years.

a handful. Do you believe in manifestation in that regard? Manifesting is real, and I'm a big believer in manifesting. When you decide who you are, what you want to do, what you're going to accomplish, and you get up every single day, and you work toward it, it is impossible for you to fail. Some people just take one side of that bug, and they'll say, I'll just sit here and think about it, I'll make my vision board, but then they won't get out and press the pedal. Right.

It's kind of like getting in a car in your garage and setting the sat nav, but not, you know, putting your foot down. That's exactly right. Not stepping on the gas, you're right. You're going there and your program, you're fucking, you know, your GPS system, and then you never step on the gas and you can't fucking go anywhere. But, yeah, if you lay out your plan, you know who you are, you know what you want to do, it's impossible to fail.

And then what does failure mean? What does failure mean? My thing about success in life is, are you happy to get up every day and love what you do? know, I know a lot of billionaires that are miserable, miserable human beings. Why? I don't know why. It's just, listen, being happy is a choice. Do you love what you do?

Do you want to get up? Do you want to be happy every day? And to me, that's the key to success. I actually, I'll tell you a story of my son. My oldest son called me the other day. And he's like, Dad, I need some direction, you know. I'm thinking about this. And I always tell my kids, I want you guys to be happy.

He goes, Dad, don't give me your fucking happy speech. I need some fucking direction and help me figure this out. So I think we had a good conversation and he seemed happy when we got off the phone. But, yeah. What did he want direction on? Yeah, just life choices that he's looking down the barrel of right now. Don't be that guy that's laying in the hospital bed dying, saying, I wonder what would happen if I tried.

Yeah. I don't want any regrets. I don't want to be, you know, I don't. want any regrets. And I don't right now. I don't regret anything. If you push me hard and said, tell me one thing that you regret. I don't believe that I have any. I don't believe that I have any. I know you don't like it when I go here, but I wanted to ask you if you have any of that. Your parents have passed away a couple years ago. Well, that's the thing. When you talk about, like, you know, this podcast, Diary of the CEO, I don't think that it's all, you know, cookie cutter

and stamp. Everybody has their own things. You grew up different than I grew up. All you grew up different than we grew up. And there are things that, you know, obviously had big impressions on you when you were young. But I hate the past. I don't like the past. And it's not just my childhood or anything like that. Fuck the rearview mirror. It doesn't matter. Whatever happened yesterday means nothing today. And some of these kids, you can never let the past affect your future. Right? So people say to me, hey, do you ever look back and go, wow, we did this and no, fuck that? Because whatever we did back then got me to hear. Right? We're here. What just happened a few hours ago doesn't mean shit anymore. It's gone, right? What's next? What's next? What's next? I don't ever look back and let, you know, you learn some things and you learn some lessons and, you know, good and bad or whatever happens. But these people, who sit around and go, you don't understand my dad did to my mom and fucking who gives a shit. Fucking everybody went through that stuff. Shut up. That doesn't matter anymore. Don't let the past affect your future. So people will say, do you ever just sit around and reflect?

Fuck, no, I don't reflect. I'm thinking about what's happening tomorrow and what's going to happen and, you know, who's going to come after me in the next fucking few days and, you know, how do we build and how do we get bigger and how do we get better? you know, I'm 57, but I want to be better tomorrow than I was today in every way that you can possibly be better. Have you always been like that? I think so. I think I've always been that way.

Yesterday never mattered to me, you know? You took whatever lessons you had from that, good or bad, right? It's like, it's like these kids that grew up and said they didn't have any role models, you know? Oh, yes, you did. You had tons of them. Does that mean that you can't, you're not hurt by things? Never. You're never hurt by things.

Never hurt by things. Really? Never hurt by things, yeah. And people, I always, you know, people that are close to me, but when's the last time you cried? Fuck, I don't even know the last time I cried. What does crying do? How does crying fucking help in any way, shape, or form?

And, you know, maybe for some people. Crying's great. Crying doesn't fucking work for me. I'm not a crier. And it's pretty fucking hard to hurt my feelings. And I'll give that to my mom and dad, my uncles and aunts. I mean, we have a fucking tough crew. when people who were supposed to love you would say the things that these guys would say to you, you know, what is fucking this guy over here? I think I give a shit what this guy thinks. It's like when we talk about getting canceled, who can really cancel you? Right? Oh, the New York Times doesn't like that I fuck the New York Times. Give a shit about the New York Times. I have a group of people in my life that mean something to me, right, that I care about. Their opinions, you know,

My relationships with them would ever mean a lot to me. And if one of them went away, that would bother me. Right? Everybody else, I give a shit what, you know, three guys on the fucking internet think or, you know, some guy who writes for something or the fucking New York Times, which, you know, through COVID, New York Times was on my ass like crazy. But this is what I always think about. And are you saying that came from the fact that people that were supposed to,

say nice things and be super affectionate and cushy when you were younger they were saying horrible things so it kind of built a resilience in you no fucking doubt about it no doubt about it they built me for this for this life and this uh you know and i always say i wouldn't take back one thing from my childhood or want different parents or a different family or a different setup it was incredible what were they saying to you uh i don't know listen i i'm a ball buster i like to bust balls and and whatever, even with my friends and my crew. And that's the way my family was. My family was a hard group.

Like my grandmother, which I love both my grandmothers on both sides, were incredible. You know, there's nothing better in life when you're young than to have great grandparents. I mean, everybody watching this right now, everybody thinks of their grandparents. I'm like, ah, yeah, your grandparents were the best and all that shit. Like my grandmother, my Irish grandmother on my, that, you say, hey, I love you, Graham. Fucking, nothing bad. Good to see you. later.

Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. There was none of that type of shit growing up. Yeah, yeah, there you go. When I heard about this, I thought, oh, shit. So this is a book that your mother published. I've actually never seen the actual fucking book. This is a book your mother published about you unauthorized as a biography.

Yeah. And put a bunch of pictures in here, me when I was a kid and all this shit. But I think, you know, this happens a lot. I mean, she put my fucking wedding pictures in here and shit. And she didn't ask you to publish this book. No. Put fucking wedding pictures in here and all this fucking shit. I mean, I, you know, I saw some Kobe Bryant stuff where Kobe had to, like, sue his mom.

She was selling his shit from his bedroom. And, you know, it happens, man. It happens. It's unfortunate. And it's, I've actually never seen the book. It's the first time I've ever seen the book. I'm not going to read it out or anything. But in the book, she's critical of you at certain points.

Specifically the last page, which I read, she says critical things. And I was wondering where along the way did that happen? Well, I've never read it. and that's the first time I've ever seen it. And I was just flipping through like the pictures. Like, you know, it's, it's bad shit nuts. Bad shit nuts. Where along the way did that happen that you fell out with her?

I was on a trip one time. You know, this was before, you know, I didn't have emails and all that shit on the road. And I was with Lorenzo Furtita, my partner, and we were in London for like two weeks. and when I got back, I checked my emails. And I have like a bunch of emails from her, like, threatening me. You're going to send me this much money by the... You have two options. You can give me this all up front or you can pay me payments over the next fucking whatever.

I'm looking to buy a bar or whatever it was. And then she wasn't getting responses because I was in London. And then the email started getting nastier and nastier. and nastier by the end. And I was like, I fucking just blew up. And that was the beginning of the end with me and her. Yeah. So these things happen.

When you become successful, it's not just, listen, sometimes family is the worst. Sometimes family's worse than, you know, like when we talk about things that are being said in newspapers and things like that, pale in comparison to what you can get from, some family members. But I have a whole other group of family like cousins and, you know, me and my sister are super close. I mean, listen, I say this all the time. We all fail at certain things in life. In my opinion, if you fail as a parent, it's the ultimate failure.

It's the ultimate failure. My mom passed away without me or my sister talking to her. My sister had her own set of issues. You know, with me it was money. With my sister, it was other things. So we didn't talk to either one of my parents. Have you forgiven her? Um, yeah, listen, I didn't, I don't go on shows to speak negatively about my mother. You know, I was telling you earlier, I wouldn't change anything.

And, you know, people say, do you think you are where you are today? Because of your parents? Absolutely 100%. You know, good, bad, whatever, however you want to look at it. You know, my parents passed away. I don't want to tell bad stories about my parents. But, I mean, that's one of the grossest, most disgusting things that you couldn't even imagine possible until it happens to you. And, you know, what are you going to do?

You're going to fucking cry about it. And, oh, you don't understand my fucking. Well, you got an opportunity. It happened. And, you know, it is what it is. The thing that that's bad about that and what she did is a lot of other people. I think she hurt in that book. She didn't hurt me, but other people that, you know, a lot of things that aren't true

and a lot of people that didn't do anything to her in that book that, you know, and again, I've never read it, but I've had lawyers tell me about it shit like that. And then the, you know, the personal private pictures that she just threw out there that, you know, she really didn't have the right to do. You know, it's just, it's just, it's one of those things. that when you become successful, this type of shit happens to you. You have a wonderful partner like I do. On P.S. Morgan, you talked about her psychoanalyzing you.

My fiancé does the same thing. I think my fiance deep down thinks I must be fucked up and is in constant search of evidence that I am fucked up. In part because she knows of my childhood and my relationship with my parents. So she assumes that I must be fucked up. And it's like everything is confirmation of it. Well, she'll get into this thing where she'll start telling me she's like, she'll try to talk about my feelings.

She's like, how do you feel about this? And that's why when Pierce Morgan was quite, I said, you sound like my wife. You know, it's impossible for you not to be able. I said, it's not impossible and no, you're wrong. And then once you do an interview like that, and that'll happen in this interview, too. It's like, then people start going, oh, this guy's got to be a psycho not to fucking, you know. And maybe that's true. Maybe you're right.

I don't know. Be it a different. But I don't like to talk about. kind of shit, because it doesn't matter at the end of the day. It doesn't matter. Like I said, the rearview mirror means nothing, right? Let me tell you what's not going to, you're not going to get rear-ended in fucking life unless you did some horrible things in your past that are going to come back and fuck you at you or whatever. The rear-view mirror means nothing to me. I learned from it. I had these experiences, some incredible, some not incredible, but they all

built who I am today, and that's all that matters. I think, therefore, it does matter because a lot of people think they go through life thinking that if this happened to me, I can't possibly have a future be successful. I can't possibly move forward. And so hearing someone that went through, in my view, an objectively very tumultuous, very difficult upbringing and has been able to separate themselves from it and look forward, I think means it does matter because it shows that it's possible. Well, I don't ever want to sit down.

and talk about things where I'm like some victim. I'm the furthest thing from a victim. And I think that, especially if you grew up in the 70s and 80s, a lot of bad shit happened to you in a lot of different ways. It just, it was a different time, a different place. And I think that my parents and my grandparents before them, they grew up in a different world and different times. And, you know, things weren't easy for them either.

They went through some shit that got them, you know, to where they were. And I don't blame them. I don't have any ill feelings toward it. You know, me and my sister will talk about my mom and we'll be like, how the fuck did she do it? She was a single mom. My dad was what he was.

Single mom worked her ass off, you know, did all this stuff. And she did it. She raised two kids, right? No matter all the bad things or whatever that happened, the book and all that, she raised two kids by herself and moved to cross country from Boston to Vegas, you know, with two kids in a dog and a car, we drove cross country. You know, I remember we were going through the Midwest and there were tornadoes coming and shit and like all the stuff that we did.

And we went through, she did it. She did it by herself. And my sister and I, even though we didn't talk to her for years, you know, at the end of her life, we credit her and respect what she did. Anne is a little bit right, isn't she? Because my partner is a little bit right. I don't tell her. Yeah.

She's Italian. Your wife, Anne. Yeah, you know, they're all together all the time. But when you have that, that type of a family structure, which is the complete fucking opposite of what mine was, it's cool to see. So I have sort of the best of both worlds. And her family's great. You know, anytime while I was building this business, her family was helping with the kids

and they all work together and they all did all this. So, you know, I've been lucky that I've been able to experience both. There should be a button just down below here. And if it says subscribe, you're already subscribed. If it says subscriber, that means you're not yet. And if you're not subscribed, please could you do us a favor and hit that button. It helps the show more than you know. And according to the algorithm, you're someone that watches our show, but you haven't yet hit that button.

Thank you so much. Okay, we've got two more. Here we go. Trust your gut, not the focus groups. Yeah. Everything that I've ever done has been based off my gut and what I felt would. I mean, the power slap thing, I mean, you want to talk about the critics. I mean, you know, UFC huge sold all this money. And I remember seeing people, he's going to, he's going to destroy his legacy by doing this and that. And all the shit that they said about the UFC, they then said about power slap. Anything new that people don't understand or, or don't get that they attack and go after. But sometimes your gut is wrong, no? Sometimes you get things wrong. You think something will be...

Yeah, there's no doubt. Well, luckily, not in business it hasn't yet, so... Not the big things. Yeah. But I think that sometimes, because I'm quite weary of the fact that we sit here and we give people advice to trust their gut. But some people's gut is, like, not good. Yeah, but if your gut is wrong, here's what I always think. What's the worst case scenario?

The worst case scenario is you go, back to work. You learn something as well, I guess. Right? If your gut is wrong or if you don't make it and you don't want to, your worst case scenario is you go back to work. It's not a bad worst case scenario. Speaking of work. Right? I used to think the day that I walked out of that hotel, I was 19, if this whole thing doesn't work out, I'll have some great experiences. But if I have to go back and go back to work, I tried. I gave it a shot. I can't wake up when I'm 40. And that was the thing. When I was a bellman, I was making great money, right? I was able to have a good life for myself.

But then I saw these guys that worked with me. One of the guys was 45 years old. He made the same money I made. He had the same benefits that I had. He had the same schedule that I had. So what's the worst case scenario? I'm 45 and I come back and I, you know, I do the same thing.

It's not a bad worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is you never try. You don't try to do it. And then you wake up in your 45, I'm like, fuck, man, I wonder if what, when I had no kids, nobody depended on me for anything, and I never gave a shot.

If you're only in it for the paycheck, you've already lost. Yeah, it's absolutely true. Nothing I ever did was based on money because if I did base it on money, I'm still standing in the hotel lobby because that was the much better option at the time. 401K, right? All the check all the box, dental, medical, cash, checks,

all these fucking things at 19. If the money was the deciding factor, I'm still standing in the lobby of the hotel. Now, when I left and said, I want to be in the fight business, everybody told me it was fucking stupid, right? And when you say that, what does it mean? Does it mean where I am right now and what's going on right now? You could never predict that. You couldn't even fucking dream it up the shit that I've done and the things that I've been a part of.

In your wildest dreams, this wouldn't be it. Where does luck fit in this equation? A lot. I think a lot. And I wouldn't call it luck. I'd call it timing. Everything and life is about timing. So there was this kid. His name's Adam Corrigan. I went to high school with him. And he was a rich kid in high school. I was not. And I didn't have a car, all that shit.

This guy would pick me up and drive me to school every day. Right? And think about this. And this is the way I always think. For him to come get me, he had to wake up 45 minutes to an hour earlier. Get ready. Drive over. Get me.

And then we both had to be to school on time. and I had this blanket policy. Like I told you, I quit drinking when I was 21. And I also had this blanket policy in my 20s. I didn't go to anybody's wedding. Everybody you ever knew was getting married when you were in your 20s heading toward your 30s, right? And first of all, you have to fly somewhere.

You know, I lived in Boston. You had to fly somewhere. Takes a bunch of time out of your to go to, so I wouldn't go to anybody's wedding. So then Adam Corrigan is getting married. how am I not going to go to Adam Corrigan's wedding with all the things that he did for me when we were in high school? I go to his wedding, and who do I run into at his wedding? Frank and Lorenzo Fretta, who you end up, I hadn't seen in 10 years or more.

So Lorenzo comes up to me at the wedding and says, hey, how you doing? I just got on the Nevada Athletic Commission, and I heard you've got a boxing gym, you try to, I want to come in and train with you. He came in on Monday and me and Lorenzo have been together ever since, and Frank.

And you bought the UFC together for $2 million sometime thereafter. So if you hadn't been loyal to your friend from school and gone to his wedding, then, I mean, who knows? Yeah. Sliding doors moment.

Everything in life is about timing. Do you believe in karma? I do. I don't believe in much. Like, I'm, you know, I'm not religious. I don't believe in God, the devil, ghosts, goblins.

I don't believe I need of shit. but I believe in karma because I've seen it play out good and bad I've seen karma there is a there is a big fight coming up a big UK fight coming up

between AJ Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury one of the biggest fights in boxing you know of the last at least the last decade for sure definitely in the heavyweight division yeah

who do you think is going to win they both had tune up fights that were very very sketchy so we'll see you know it's not like either one of them completely dominated and their tune-up fights. So it's an interesting fight to see.

And obviously, you know, two of the biggest, most famous, most popular heavyweights to ever come out of the UK. So if you had to pick. If I had to pick, I don't pick. You were about to pick. You didn't tell me the three things. You can tell me this. You're getting nothing for me that you actually want in this interview. What a waste of time.

I guess, so there is this empty one. I wanted you just to write one more. that's front of mind for you. And again, this is just a principle for all my audience who are various ages that are thinking about how to be successful in their own, whatever they're doing in their lives. It can be anything.

Okay, what did you write? Do not be afraid to take risk. Okay. You will never accomplish or achieve anything that you want out of life if you're not willing to take the risk. You know? And it's always easier

to do it when you're younger before you get married, before you have kids, but don't be afraid to do it then either. What is your worst case scenario? To me, the worst case scenario is always laying in your deathbed

and going, I wish I would have. When I built my house here in Las Vegas, right, I was like, this is the last fucking house I'm going to build. And you know what I don't want to do?

I don't want to wake up some morning and go, damn, I wish I would have. So I went way over budget and I got the whole deal. And I wake up every day. in my fucking house and I love it. And I've been there eight years and I've never said, damn, I should have. Never.

You know what I mean? I'm just saying, in everything that I do in my life, I don't want to wake up and wish that I had, you know, do not be afraid to take risk, you know. And if there's something out there that you feel like you want and you, you know, fucking go, go, go get it. What's the worst thing that can happen? You end up back at work, right? that's the worst case scenario.

And it's not a bad worst case scenario. In a way, we kind of do live like we're going to live forever. When you think about, because really, you know, neither of us know how long we have left. So there's a movie that really impacted my life when I was a kid. It was called Vision Quest. And it's a wrestling movie. You know, the kid's in high school. And he feels like he never really accomplished something.

He wanted to leave his mark in high school. So he's going to drop a couple weight classes and try to beat the greatest wrestling. in like the country or something, the shoot was the guy's name. But he's in class and there's this, you know, it's like his poetry teacher, his English teacher, whatever it is, is telling a story about a poem. And he says, what does this mean to you? And the kid, Loudoun Swain is his name. Loudoun Swain says, you know, this little girl's walking through the park and all the leaves are dying and falling off the tree. And then she realizes that she's going to die someday too. and then there's this one of the greatest scenes in a movie of all time.

So he works at a hotel in high school. He works at he's a room service waiter. The head chef that works with him every night is always like he's cutting weight and doing all this stuff. And every time he's around this guy, this guy's negative. Like, what are you doing this for? Pick up the fucking thing and eat it. Eat some food. Do this and that.

And it's always like shitting on him. So he gets to a place where he's getting ready to wrestle to shoot. and he meets this girl, falls in love with her and all this shit, and he's willing to blow it all and give it all up. And she leaves because she sees that this is happening and she leaves him and he's all fucked up. So where does he go? He goes to the chef who's always shitting on him because he knows he'll talk him into quitting. Fuck it.

You don't have to do this. You don't have to do that. He goes to work and the guy's not at work. He's supposed to be working. So he goes to his apartment, knocks on his door and the guy's dressed up with a fucking dress shirt and a tie. And he's like, what are you doing? What's going on?

You know, it works? He's like, aren't you wrestling the shoe tonight? And he's like, yeah, but they're going to dock you a day's pay work. And this guy goes into basically, I'm fucking sitting in this apartment alone one night. And I'm watching TV and there's a guy named Pele. Have you ever heard of him? And he says, I watch this guy. He flips upside down and backwards and kicks the ball into a net and rips his

shirt off and runs around the place and the fucking crowd's going crazy and disrupt. Look, I think goosebumps telling you the story. So he says, a human being, a species that I'm actually a part of, you know, I'm sitting here alone in my apartment and I start crying, you know, it's not the six minutes. It's what happens in that six minutes that matters. But basically, this movie spoke to me like nothing had ever spoke to me before. And I got it. You know, we don't have time.

There's not a lot of time. And it does seem like we're going to live forever, but we're not. And to these younger people, like 30 years old seems so fucking old to me when I was 18. You're 30 like that. Don't waste your time. Don't be afraid to take a risk. Don't be the guy sitting home alone at whatever his age was at that point in your fucking apartment thinking, I could have done more than this. I could have been bigger than this.

I could have been better than this. That is, that's, that's the fucking worst thing that can happen to anybody. You don't want to be that guy. And listen, not everybody is built that way or for that. I told you, some people, listen, they want that city job, 401K, the benefits and all that shit. They want weekends off and they want holidays off. And there's nothing wrong with that. We need all types of people in swivel live.

But if you believe that you are an entrepreneur, you believe that you believe that you, in something that you want to build, do not be afraid to take the risk. It's going to cost you, though. It's funny, so I was thinking about you talking about your big house in Vegas, but then also the fact that you were there for four days in the last two months. Yeah.

That's actually that behavior that got you the big house. True. Yeah. And I wouldn't change a second of it. I love this shit. I still get up every day, and I'm fired up to get in here and get to the office. And I love, like,

you don't want me to get into this bullshit. long or whatever, but, you know, I'm working on something right now that just became fucking obsessed with. I became obsessed with it. And I got these guys, Tucker at my office. I got this kid, Merriman at my office, and all these guys that are really talented, creative people. And I get them in a room with me and we start talking about it and I tell them what my vision is and then they get into it. And then they start doing what they do and building the thing. And then it's just like, fuck it. I just, I love it, man. The team that I have built, you know, when I get in a room with these guys and we start

talking, it's incredible what you can build and what you can do and what's available and what you can accomplish. And Ari Emanuel, Ari's this guy, you know, the ultimate all-time super agent. You know, he came in and did the deal for the UFC, got the WWE and many, many other things and people he's built in his lifetime. And he's the guy that when I come up with something, creative. And I call him and I'm like, I need $30 million. I want to do this. It's like, I'll get you the money. So I've gotten to a point now where I've all these people that are part of my fucking team.

And when I come up with something, we all get together and then we make it fucking happen. Is there a destination in your mind? No. There's no destination. No. Bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger. And then what? Right? Well, think about this. Then I die. then I die. Who gives a shit? Right? It's this, I can't picture myself like, hey, I made a bunch of money.

I'm going to fucking retire. And do what? And do what? You know, I probably take four, not this year. I'm fucked this year, but I take four great vacations a year, right? And if my wife had her way, it'd be 15 days. But I, you know, her and I are battling over a vacation this year. but I couldn't imagine.

By the time I'm done with my vacation, I can't wait to get back to work. I'm so excited to get back to work. Do you enjoy vacations? Yeah, yeah. It takes me a couple days, right? I mean, anybody who runs a big business and understands this, you get there

and you're shaking off the shit that's going on and all the stuff, and then by, like, day three, I'm in, you know? I enjoy myself. I enjoy hanging out with my kids. And then by the end, I'm back on the phone going, I'm coming home. Everybody get fucking ready. I'm coming home.

One of the things that is obvious speaking to you is that self-awareness really is the advice that you've sort of given today because I imagine a lot of people wouldn't like your life. They would find it miserable, whereas you find it so exciting. And I think that's a really important point of nuance when we have these conversations, which is you're not necessarily saying, from what I hear, that everybody should have your life. You're saying just like, be aware of like who you are. And this is who you are. 100%. And you're just giving it everything to who you are. Yep.

And even when we hire at the UFC, like the woman on the other side of this wall right here, Linnea Breckenridge, animal, animal. And brilliant. And just, fucking I have so much respect for her. Then I got Craig Borsari. I got Hunter Campbell. I have all these guys that work for me. And they are all killers, right?

Then you go, there's people that come in and they work nine to five. And it takes all types. I'm not looking for 650 fucking killers. But the ones that work close to you. Yes. You can't be within a fucking a mile of me if you're not a fucking killer. Yes. But it takes all types.

And like you said, I'm not saying my life is the life for everybody. It's the furthest thing from it. That's why I say some of these kids that think they want to be entrepreneurs. They don't know what it really takes. And there's plenty of. guys who have been entrepreneurs and made that, you know, the kids call it the bag. They made the bag and they fucking run. And that's it.

That's a rap. And they go do other things they want to do. But this beautiful thing. So I'm a big motorcycle guy, right? And I remember, I always used to say, when I get to a certain point, I'm going to get my buddies together and my cousins. And we're just going on these incredible rides all around the United States. And then I started getting older. I'm like, fuck, I'm in my 40s.

When do I think I'm going to do this? So every year I don't give a shit, I carve out, and we go to a destination and we fucking ride motorcycles. Now, everybody that I've known, once they get to a certain age, when I say men start to get soft. When they go, they feel like they can't handle the bikes anymore, right? And they stop riding. If and when I get to that point, I don't know if that will happen to me, but if it does, I own like 30 fucking motorcycles. I'm going to ship them all to Italy.

This is Italy. I'm going to ship them to the top of Italy. I'm going to have a truck, have all my bikes in it, and I'm going to ride them all the way down to the Amalfi Coast. And then I'll just leave the keys and I'm going to leave them on the side

of the fucking road in Italy. I'll leave them all there. That's going to be my last fucking ride of my life. Turn me a text when you do that, and I'll be weighing down there. Dana, we have a closing tradition on this podcast where the last guest leaves a question for the next, not knowing who they're leaving it for.

The question left for you is, if you could only complete one more major goal, what would it be and why? I've already built the biggest fight brand to ever exist. You know, now I'm getting into boxing. I got power slap. My goal over the next, it's a seven-year goal because I have seven years

in my Paramount deal. To build the biggest. biggest combat sports brand that is already did, but to a level that it just can't be replicated again. It's just like when I'm dead, it's going to be impossible to beat what I've built by the time my life is up. Speaking of haters, there's a lot of people saying that you can't do it in boxing. It's different. I've heard them all say this is 150 years old. You can't do it what you did in UFC in boxing. How about power slap? Yeah. Right? I mean, you want to see something that people think doesn't work and isn't right and isn't possible. But again, that's, that's, I love it.

That's all the fuel that I love hearing that and people telling me what you can't do. And everybody who's watching this right now is going to deal with some level of people telling you what you can't do and what's impossible. Nothing is impossible. And literally, at UFC headquarters, the only thing you can't say is no. I don't accept no. Don't tell me. this can't happen. You know, on Craig Borsari again, I dropped. Tom Brady hit me up and says, hey, I'm in town. You want to go to YouTube?

I'm like, you, where's you? The sphere. Their first, I went to the sphere and I saw it. And I was like, holy shit. The star of this show is a sphere. I called Borsari. I said, I don't know what you're doing next weekend, but cancel it. You and the crew are coming to the U2 concert.

Come, I want to do this. And we did it. The president leans over to me and says, we should do a fight at the White House. Yes, sir, I agree. We should do a fight at the White House. And then now Craig Borsari came to me with his own idea that I think is fucking brilliant. And I'm working on that one now. But we don't say no at the UFC. It's just we always, whatever people think is impossible and can't be done. Not only will we do it, and we'll do it at the level that just blows people's minds. Why will you win at boxing? First of all, boxing was my first love. And I knew the sport was broken and as it started to decline. And I just, I know how to fix it. I know what to do.

You and I got to get together again in like five years and talk about boxing again and watch what we do. Watch what we do over the next five years. I mean, I'm already two years ahead of where I thought I would be because the guys that are doing it right now are just so bad at doing it. And I should have known that going in, but, you know, I give everybody the benefit of the doubt And I don't look at anybody and say, oh, yeah, let's not take this guy serious.

I take everybody serious. And I love to compete. And if you say you want to compete with me, I look at competing as a fight. Are you talking about Eddie Hahn? Talk about all of them. Every one of them. Eddie Hearn is weak. Eddie Hearn, his dad built that business.

His dad's a real guy. Like, his dad's, as I get deeper into this thing, his dad is the guy. And I see it in Frank Warren. Frank Warren just came out recently. He hasn't talked any shit. He hasn't said anything. He's been completely silent to this thing. And I just saw an interview with him the other day.

Frank Warren is like a... Frank Warren's the real guy. Eddie's... Eddie's not the guy. Eddie's dad is the guy. And I'm not saying this to shit on Eddie. I'm just being honest. And I don't dislike Eddie.

I don't dislike him. But he's not the guy. His dad's the guy. and Frank Warren. Frank Warren, I just saw this interview with him and I was like, fucking love it.

Why? What, he's just like, you know what? All this fucking talking and all this fucking bullshit, let's fucking fight, let's start,

go, right, you know, he's like, and I'm like, yeah, that's the guy. And a few other things that I've seen with Frank Warren.

Frank Warren's like a fucking real guy. Eddie Hunn's work rate is impressive. I just remember seeing him one day in New York and I remember him standing there for like six, seven hours with the media just doing like every single blog and be going, what the fuck is he doing? And he just did every, on this rooftop in the, in the, he's responding to every little

fucking thing that's going on. And it's just like, the truth is, nobody's done more to try to hurt the AJ Fury fight than Eddie Hearn. It's like he's, I don't know, I hope AJ owns a piece of match room. Eddie Hearn's status, Barry Hearns, a. real fucking guy. He's the guy. And Frank Warren, these old school fucking hard dudes that, you know, when I, when I see them talk, yeah, I get it. I see through all the bullshit and I know who's who and what's what. Having interviewed both of you, what I find exciting is you're both absolutely relentless. And so it's funny because there's the fight business and then there's

this other fight business going on above the fight business, which I think is quite interesting as a fight fan. Dana, thank you so much for being so generous. with your time. I've been a fan of the UFC for the longest, longest ever time. And it's remarkable what you've done. And so it's super inspiring for me as an entrepreneur, but also, yeah, you expand the paradigm of what is possible. So thank you so much for taking the time and giving me this privilege. Thank you. Wait to see what we're doing the next seven years. I can't wait. Me too.