DFW: We’re bigger than HBO or CBS
MMA Business: You’ve built the UFC into a successful and powerful company, one that leads the entire Mixed Martial Arts…
MMA Business: You’ve built the UFC into a successful and powerful company, one that leads the entire Mixed Martial Arts industry. I’m wondering how much of your work focuses on building UFC the company and how much on building MMA the sport and industry.
Dana White: There is no doubt we are the driver of the Mixed Martial Arts industry. I mean we created the industry. When we bought UFC, things were looking grim for MMA as a whole. We had a lot of ideas about changing MMA and we’ve succeeded with that while building the Ultimate Fighting Championship the business. So it goes together, can’t separate the two.
MMA Business: A lot of MMA gym owners in California and nationwide are wondering if they’re now in direct competition with the UFC for consumers? Is the UFC Gym and its national expansion going to be competing with MMA gyms for members?
Dana White: I told these guys when we started planning out and putting together the concept, I said, I don’t want to see a fighter within a hundred miles of this gym. Two completely different places. This is for kids, this is for families, this is for businessmen, this is for people who wanna work out. People who wanna be fighters can go to Randy Couture’s place and all these other places where MMA fighters are trained and brought along. But they can also join the UFC Gym and go in there and lift weights. Like the guys who live in Vegas and train at Couture’s and all the different gyms that are in Vegas, these guys still go to 24 Hour Fitness to get their weight training and cardio in. So they can be a part of this gym, too. A lot of normal people that just wanna work out and learn and don’t want to fight and spar, they aren’t going to Randy Couture’s place – they’re going to be intimidated. They’re intimidated by all the fighter gyms. UFC Gym is the complete opposite. This is to learn about the sport, train in it, and do it for fun. People can come in here and learn, and if they want to take it to the next level and fight they can go to these other gyms.
MMA Business: Let’s talk about television. Spike TV and Pay Per View seem to do very well for UFC events and for The Ultimate Fighter. But the networks or ESPN can deliver even more viewers. Is that a consideration?
Dana White: I definitely consider this. I would love to get UFC together with either ESPN or a major TV network, but we haven’t been able to do that yet. We’ve been close to big deals like this. But I’m not gonna just jump at something. This might be stupid, but I think we’re bigger than HBO or CBS. I really do think UFC is bigger than any of those networks. I’m not gonna go in and cut some deals just because they are who they are. We’ll do what’s right for UFC and for our events.
MMA Business: You’re close to 1 million followers on Twitter, is that part of it, too?
Dana White: I love Twitter, I think it’s the coolest thing ever. And I do tweet all that stuff myself, the pictures and all. I have a MySpace page and some other stuff, too, but I’ve never even seen MySpace. I think Twitter is just amazing.