{"id":462134,"date":"2021-04-29T18:05:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T22:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=462134"},"modified":"2021-04-29T18:06:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T22:06:05","slug":"exclusive-dana-white-tells-the-origin-story-of-his-fight-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-dana-white-tells-the-origin-story-of-his-fight-island\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Dana White Tells The Origin Story Of His \u2018Fight Island\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-dana-white-tells-the-origin-story-of-his-fight-island%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=462134&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4161.jpeg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Ahead of his appearance on<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/show\/candace\"><span>Candace<\/span><\/a><span>, UFC<\/span><span> President Dana White sat down with The Daily Wire for an exclusive interview to discuss the origins of the now famous \u201cFight Island,\u201d his desite to keep politics out of the UFC, and the Jake Paul situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: We wanted to talk about \u201cFight Island\u201d a little bit. You were one of the first sports to come back. What\u2019s the backstory to that? How did that all come together?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DANA WHITE: <\/span><span>Obviously, we were trying to figure out how in the United States we could put on a fight. So, we eventually got to a point where \u2014 I was telling my lawyer at the time \u2014 let\u2019s not worry about federal (government). Let\u2019s worry about state to state. How do we get around the state and do the event?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>So, we ended up in California at an Indian reservation because the state can\u2019t mess with them, the federal can. And we got the guys to hold their ground and that we were going to do the event. And then obviously the Governor of California (Gavin Newsome) ended up calling ESPN and Disney and asking them to make us stand down. Then we ended up in Jacksonville, Jacksonville took us in, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re going back to Jacksonville. I told them when things come back, I\u2019ll bring it back here and we\u2019ll blow the doors off this place and do it the right way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>So, we\u2019re getting the state figured out in the United States, we have a ton of fighters from all over the world and couldn\u2019t get a lot of these guys in the country and all this stuff. So, we started talking about islands and Mike Tyson actually called me and gave me \u2014\u00a0I can\u2019t remember the name of the island \u2014\u00a0he gave me the people that ran the country and they wanted us to come to this Island. We talked to them and that didn\u2019t work out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We had a long time relationship with Abu Dhabi and we\u2019d done fights over there. We started talking to Abu Dhabi, Yas Island. So, I said \u2018I\u2019ve secured an island\u2019 and the whole thing just blew up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: They rolled out the red carpet for you. It seemed like the whole country was rolling out the red carpet for the UFC there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: It was bad**s because the reality is, those guys over there in the Middle East, spend tons of money in marketing the country for tourism and things like that. We couldn\u2019t have done anything that was more talked about than \u201cFight Island.\u201d It was massive, globally. The whole world was talking about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: Did you get any pushback from the media?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: <\/span><span>I got f*****g annihilated by the media. The New York Times, who never covers us, was writing a story every two weeks. And not good ones. They had this whole doom and gloom narrative that everyone was going to die. You know what I mean? All this crazy stuff. I actually ended up putting out a video about the whole thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: For Jacksonville coming up, obviously you\u2019ve decided masks are optional. It\u2019s going to be great. Have you been getting hammered for that as well by the media?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: You know what we have not. Because of how they handled the first time and how<\/span> \u2014you\u2019ll<span> see when you see this video \u2014 when you see this, this was me firing back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: Did you guys do anything differently than other leagues? I mean, I know you had \u201cFight Island,\u201d but was there anything specific as far as testing?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: We built the bubble. We were testing athletes before they showed up. Testing them in their camps before they showed up. Then when they got there, they tested, then everybody was quarantined, we kept everybody away from each other. And you know, obviously for us too, especially because we were first and especially because of how aggressive we were in going, we had to make sure that we were the best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: So can you talk us through the process, you touched on this in the show a little bit, about how your announcers, your production, didn\u2019t really mention COVID. You guys never really mentioned politics when all the unrest was going on this year. How much of a concerted effort was that? Or was it just something that just kind of happened?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: Listen, it\u2019s what we do. It\u2019s how we run our show. You know, whether all this craziness is going on or not, that\u2019s how we run our show. The other thing is we don\u2019t put a muzzle on anyone. We don\u2019t tell people what they can or can\u2019t talk about. You know what I mean? Imagine working for a company and they\u2019re telling you to believe this?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And we have a very diverse company. There\u2019s lots of different genders, ethnicities, you name it. Actually, WME-IMG who we\u2019re a part of, just did a study on all the companies that are under their umbrella. We were the most diverse. And it wasn\u2019t because we try to be, it\u2019s because we hire the best and most talented people. And the other thing we don\u2019t do, we don\u2019t tell you who to vote for. We don\u2019t tell you what to believe in. We don\u2019t tell you what religion\u2026 We don\u2019t tell you any of that s**t. You\u2019re all grown men and women, and you\u2019re going to have your own ideas, your own beliefs, and good for you. It\u2019s America. It\u2019s the way it\u2019s supposed to be. You shouldn\u2019t have to go to work and listen to that s**t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: That\u2019s refreshing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: You shouldn\u2019t have to go to work and listen to that s**t. What I believe should not be rained on you because I run this company. It\u2019s not like that at all. We don\u2019t tell anybody what to do, who to vote for. We don\u2019t even throw out suggestions, hints, or anything else. Any of that stuff, we try to keep all of that stuff away from our people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: So, if the UFC was starting from scratch, all things considered, would you be able to start the UFC today? And do you think it would have the same success? Or do you think that the world right now, maybe wouldn\u2019t be ready for it?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: That\u2019s a great question actually. Obviously over the last 20 years, people have seen and heard the things that I say and whatever. I don\u2019t know. Maybe it would be a lot more sensitive today than it was 20 years ago. But now they\u2019re just like, \u201cyeah, he was a**hole.\u201d You know what I mean? So I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s a great question though.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: 2021, 2020, a lot of cancel culture and everyone talks about that. Has there been any effort to cancel you, if you will?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: Not cancel me. Actually, everybody has been pretty cool. Sponsors and everybody that are aligned with the UFC have been cool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: Because you\u00a0 make them a lot of money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: Ya, exactly. But no one wants to admit that. God forbid, you want to make money in this day and age. You\u2019re the f******g devil, you know what I mean. If you want to make some money. But everyone, all of our sponsors and everybody was pretty cool. And me being so aggressive about going (to \u201cFight Island\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: It\u2019s a lot harder to cancel somebody who\u2019s making you a lot of money so that makes sense. Two more quick questions. You touched on this in the show a bit and I have to ask, I\u2019m sure you get annoyed by it\u2026 the Jake Paul stuff. We saw Woodley coming out and kind of throwing his name in there. I think even Cody Garbrandt got in there. I think we saw Cejudo get in there and said, \u201cI\u2019ll fight him.\u201d Even the retired guys are saying, \u201clet\u2019s get in there.\u201d Where do you see that going and do you think this is kind of the new trend where these guys call out actual UFC fighters?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: No, it doesn\u2019t aggravate me. Listen, this kid is trying to make some money. I mean, this sport is all about showmanship and getting noticed to become a big star and to become a pay-per-view draw. You have to have something that other people don\u2019t have. And the thing that this kid has is holy s**t, can this guy win? He\u2019s a YouTuber. Can he win? They\u2019ve caught on to a cool little niche, in the right place at the right time. This isn\u2019t going to last forever. You\u2019re not going to see Jake Paul, 28-0. That isn\u2019t going to happen but it\u2019s interesting, and we\u2019ll see how long the ride goes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: Does any part of you hope that he does try and step in the octagon?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: The whole country wants to see him get knocked out. I mean, part of the whole appeal of this thing is \u201coh, I can\u2019t wait to see this kid get knocked out,\u201d which is brilliant. Yeah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>DAILY WIRE: Final question, Joe Rogan, obviously he\u2019s kind of tied with the UFC over the years, great commentating. Do you have any stories of him that you\u2019ve heard or any stories you\u2019ve seen on the road with him over the years? Because he\u2019s such an eccentric guy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>WHITE: Yeah, no, he\u2019s actually super mellow and chill. There\u2019s nothing crazy about Rogan at all. He\u2019s actually a very intelligent guy. Craziest thing I could say about Joe Rogan is he believes in f*****g Bigfoot. Other than that, I don\u2019t even know. He\u2019s brilliant. He\u2019s very mellow. He\u2019s a great\u00a0 f*****g guy. And he\u2019s the greatest fight broadcaster of all time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers and the NBA for Sporting News. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><em><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/a><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">member<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ahead of his appearance on\u00a0Candace, UFC President Dana White sat down with The Daily Wire for an exclusive interview to discuss the origins of the now famous \u201cFight Island,\u201d his &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277046,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4161.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"EXCLUSIVE: Dana White Tells The Origin Story Of His \u2018Fight Island\u2019","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-462134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4161.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"EXCLUSIVE: Dana White Tells The Origin Story Of His \u2018Fight Island\u2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}