White gives thanks to the Fertitta brothers

UFC 205 may eventually be seen as the moment mixed martial arts broke through to the mainstream. Its reach on social networks was three times that of the last Superbowl. However, one of the architects of the league, former co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, was not Octagonside to see it live.

UFC president Dana White was asked about it at the UFC 205 post-fight press conference.

“I was a mess when this whole thing went down,” said White. “This guy who’s been my close friend since high school looked at me and said ‘Dana, I’m done. Be happy for me.’ He’s in South Bend – he went to his son’s football game today at Notre Dame. He’s doing what he wants to do now.

“No matter what happens from here, no matter what Ari and I do, no matter how big this thing gets, nobody, from here on out, throughout the history of this sport, forever, will have contributed more to this sport than the Fertittas have.

“It’s easy to get into this sport now. We’re breaking records at Madison Square Garden. The numbers are through the roof. Everything’s crazy.

“They were doing this at a time when it didn’t look good, and it didn’t look like the money was going to come back to them. Yet they kept pumping money in. There will never be bigger contributors ever to the sport than the Fertitta brothers.”

The thanks White gave go back 15 years.

Lorenzo Fertitta and his brother Frank, convinced by high school friend Dana White, bought the UFC for $2,000,000 in January of 2001. They lost tens of millions of dollars and were looking for a buyer when they decided to fund one last shot – a reality television show called The Ultimate Fighter.

The season ended with Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar, a fight that was everything MMA can be. It proved to be so popular, that the future of the MMA was secure.

Lorenzo and White spent the next 15 years in a grind, and the company sold on July 9 for approximately $4,000,000,000, the largest-ever acquisition in the sports industry.