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UFC President Dana White ranks #45 on list of SI's '50 Most Powerful People in Sports'

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Brendon Thorne

How powerful is UFC President Dana White in the world of sports? Powerful enough to beat the president of Nike Golf and that guy who handles sports programming at Showtime. Hey, it's a start.

Sports Illustrated has released its list of the "50 most powerful people in sports," and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White at number 45, has made the cut.

Barely.

That means the Las Vegas fight boss will have to play second fiddle to guys like John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts (it's in the game!) and gals like Alison Lewis and Sharon Byers of Coca-Cola North America.

You can't expect him to rank ahead of a company who gives us those cute little polar bears who feed their cub a bottle of carbonated corn syrup, can you?

SI.com gives some context to its list:

None of the men or women -- and, perhaps regrettably, the vast majority of sports power is wielded by men -- in our ranking of the 50 most powerful people in sports are current athletes themselves. It's a list dominated by power lunchers, not powerlifters, which is why we've given athletes a separate list entirely ... It goes without saying that everyone on our guest list is a titan. But the intramural power plays among these power brokers are fascinating in their own right. Up front, in the sumptuous red-velvet banquettes by the window, sit the various commissioners. And yet they are nominally hired hands, serving at the behest of team owners.

See where White ranked in a similar list by Sports Business Journal here.

The SI piece was a little too artsy-fartsy for my tastes, but it was interesting to see the lack of International sports in the top 50, which naturally is headed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at number one, followed by the heads of NBA, AEG, ESPN and MLB to round out the top five.

See the entire list here and sound off on the placements in the comments section below.

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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