"All-round mortal fight" Dana White's fighting life

"Bloody, violent, fierce, powerful, fierce, casualties ..." It seems that when it comes to fighting, most people will flash such words. Howeve

"All-round mortal fight" Dana White's fighting life

"Bloody, violent, fierce, powerful, fierce, casualties ..." It seems that when it comes to fighting, most people will flash such words. However, Dana White, an American tough guy with a height of 1.8 meters, has developed "fighting", the bloodiest business in the eyes of ordinary people, into the fastest-earning sport in the world.

Dana White is the chairman and partner of UFC (ultimate fighting championship), the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world. He is a big bald man, and UFC fans in China like to affectionately call him "Dana White".

In March this year, Dana White was successfully elected to the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame 20 13, because he made great contributions to the popularization of comprehensive martial arts and the development of professional fighting market in Las Vegas. At the age of 43, he was honored as "the king of MMA" by boxing fans.

MMA is a competitive fighting sport with extremely open rules. Different from boxing or wrestling, it allows players to use boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, wrestling, karate and other techniques.

Special "octagonal cage" closed loop for comprehensive combat

The rudiment of MMA can be traced back to the fighting in ancient Greece and the beating in ancient China, initiated by Valletudo in modern Brazil. Dana White once publicly stated: "Bruce Lee is the originator of MMA." He believes that Bruce Lee's fighting concept and form of "taking the impossible as the law and infinity as the limit" promoted the development of mixed fighting. However, the popularity of mixed martial arts in China is still not high, and many people still "don't know much about it".

In fact, since the 20th century, with the vigorous development of professional mixed fighting events such as UFC, M- 1 and PRIDE FC, MMA has become the mainstream fighting sport that is popular all over the world. MMA is the most popular fighting sport in America. Speaking of MMA, we must talk about Dana White, because it was he who pushed MMA, which had been marginalized and misinterpreted, to the peak of sports.

When he was young, Dana White was a veritable "street thug" and "problem of juvenile". He hates reading. He was expelled from Bishop Gorman High School twice, stayed in the other two high schools for only one semester, and crashed his girlfriend's car. /kloc-Become an amateur boxer at the age of 0/8. Later, he got a job as a bodyguard in Boston Bay Hotel, but one day he suddenly found that his real passion was fighting. So he quit his job and opened a boxing gym to teach aerobics.

In 2002, when Dana White learned that Semaphore Entertainment Group, the parent company of UFC, intended to sell UFC, he persuaded two old friends Lorenzo Fertitta to buy UFC, and he himself took 65,438+00% of the shares and became the president. At that time, UFC was on the verge of bankruptcy, and most cable TV companies also terminated their cooperation with the live broadcast of the event. What is even more desperate is that almost all mainstream national sports commissions are unwilling to recognize the legitimacy of mixed fighting.

In order to save UFC, the first thing Dana White did was to reshape the image of mixed fighting and legalize it. He understood the need to change the "bloody" image of UFC in people's minds in the past, so he revised the MMA rules with the State Sports Commission in an attempt to make the sport more controllable and safer. For example, it is forbidden to kick the head and spine of an opponent who has fallen to the ground, and a strict physical examination system is implemented before the game.

At the same time, Dana White also misinterpreted UFC's previous slogan-"No rules!" ("There are no rules here!") ) changed to "the more real the better" ("what you see is what you get!" ), that is to say, mixed fighting is very close to actual combat and is allowed by law.

"Many people have told me that this sport is hopeless. But I know that its reputation and brand have not been recognized before. Its players are mainly boxers, but if they don't become boxers in the octagonal cage now, they are probably ordinary street boxers, and some people may even be jailed for fighting. " Dana White hopes to change the fate of UFC and its players.

After the problem of "legalization" was solved, Dana White realized that UFC still had to rely on the power of mainstream media to become famous. He contacted cable TV companies many times, hoping that they could resume their "PPV (pay-per-view) live broadcast cooperation with UFC. In order to show sincerity and eliminate the misunderstanding and prejudice of the other side, Dana White even took a group of players to participate in business negotiations.

In Dana White's view, the best way to overcome misunderstanding is "seeing is believing". "My soldiers are smart and fluent. 85% of them are college graduates and are the best salespeople of UFC. "

Hard work pays off, and the pay TV station finally accepts UFC again and broadcasts its events live. However, it is still due to the mixed martial arts reality show "Ultimate Fighter" jointly created by UFC and Spike TV in 2004, which cost 65,438+million dollars.

The program selects 16 players from all over the United States who have not signed a contract with any mixed martial arts organization for a 50-day training life. The program group trained the contestants and held a knockout match for them. The winner signed a three-year contract with UFC. It is reported that the salary is quite attractive, and the appearance fee is as high as 6 figures.

"With the help of TUF, we have harvested countless excellent fighting stars from all over the world. Many of them have now become leaders of UFC. When UFC's culture began to become diverse, its audience became more and more. " Dana White believes that TUF is an important turning point for UFC to enter the high-speed development stage.

According to the data, in 2006, The Ultimate Warrior brought UFC more than 200 million dollars in profits. The following year, Time magazine estimated that the market value of UFC exceeded $654.38 billion. Now, "The Ultimate Fighter" has reached the 10 year, and UFC has also turned to cooperate with the well-known Fox TV station to organize TUF. UFC and mixed fighting are being recognized and understood by more and more people.

At present, mixed martial arts has been regarded as "the fastest growing industry in fighting competitions", and its money-making speed is also quite amazing. It is reported that the competition income of UFC players is mainly composed of appearance fee, victory bonus, best prize bonus and broadcast viewing fee, among which the appearance fee ranges from tens of thousands to millions of yuan. The appearance fee of the more powerful players is about several hundred thousand dollars, and the upward trend is obvious.

Undoubtedly, Dana White has made great contributions to the popularization of mixed martial arts and the development of UFC. Its partner Fortita also said, "No one can do what Dana White did. He is full of folk wisdom. " Although he didn't describe himself as a "boxing champion", this diligent fighting enthusiast was awarded the honorary title of "All-round Mortal kombat" by the outside world and became a recognized sports tycoon. He led UFC to write a legendary story in the fighting world, and success and money followed.

In the eyes of many people, Dana White is an outspoken and ambitious workaholic. He is strict with soldiers, hands-on, and even listens to his advice on the choice of admission music. However, Dana White, who seems to be "tough", is actually very warm-hearted and regards his family as the most precious part of his life.

He once raised $4 million through "UFC Victory Night" to help injured soldiers treat traumatic brain injury, and won the "Patriot Award of Armed Forces Foundation". In addition, he donated nearly $8,000 to help a 2-year-old baby from England treat brain cancer.

Dana White and his wife Anne have two sons and a daughter, and he will spend most of the weekend with them. "For me, family is the most important thing." Dana White believes that it is the meaning of his life to be a "great father" in children's eyes after his professional struggle and ideal pursuit.