Dana White says he never wanted women in the UFC. Ronda Rousey changed his mind in a matter of minutes.
Appearing on The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, the UFC CEO said his old stance came down to business. MMA was already a hard sell to networks and sponsors.
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, ugh, whatever, women?'
White famously said in 2011 that women would “never” fight in the UFC. Rousey changed that after approaching him at an event and asking for 15 minutes of his time.
We went into my room at the arena, and minutes into the conversation I’m like, ‘Holy s—-, I think I’m gonna do this.'
White said her attitude sold him.
And she came in with the whole f—-ing bravado. You wanna talk about a chip on your shoulder, she had it.
He also pushed back on her critics.
So many people now wanna hate on her. She is a f—-ing unicorn.
Rousey signed with the UFC in November 2012 and was named its first women’s bantamweight champion that December. She headlined UFC 157 against Liz Carmouche in February 2013, the first women’s fight in company history.
She defended the title six times before losing it to Holly Holm in 2015.
