UFC President Dana White aims his mixed martial arts empire at world domination By: Rick Maese, The Washington Post
"BALTIMORE — It’s two hours before showtime, and Dana White is fuming. His bald head turns a pinkish hue, and he can’t quite believe what he just saw. White is seated in a nondescript room in the underbelly of the rickety Baltimore Arena amid a rotating cast of friends and associates, four leather sofas and two flat-screen TVs. It’s a late April Saturday that finally feels like spring, and the UFC has come to Baltimore for the first time. White is the president of the powerful mixed martial arts organization and feels a sense of ownership over every aspect of the company. Outside this small room an interview is taking place, which White is able to monitor on one TV. Interviewer Ariel Helwani just asked Chuck Liddell whether he would want to fight Jon Jones, who’s 18 years younger than the retired MMA legend. The broadcast is Internet-only at this point, a lead-in to the night’s pay-per-view, but that doesn’t matter to White, who is momentarily slack-jawed before making a bee-line for the door. 'He’s retired, you idiot!' White yells at Helwani, his voice echoing in the concrete hallway. White, 44, has no filter and sees no sense in waiting for a day-after critique. He wants every problem solved yesterday. He feels responsible for everything, which makes sense: He built this entire fight circus, and more than anyone else, his face is the one at the front of the lucrative UFC brand (which stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship). He’s on the TV broadcasts; he hosts the reality show; he runs the news conferences. Fighters will come and go. They’ll get too old and too slow. But White is the constant — the smiling, bald, profane beacon in the middle of it all."
