"I'd have to say McCain. I consider John McCain the guy who started the UFC. If it weren't for McCain I wouldn't be here right now. What people don't understand about mixed martial arts and the UFC is, what [McCain] was saying to the old owners is that you cannot put on fights in states that aren't sanctioned. It's illegal. You can't do it. You have to be sanctioned by an athletic commission, which we agreed with him on 100 percent. John McCain wasn't saying this thing shouldn't happen, or it shouldn't be running. He was saying, if 'You're going to do it, it has to be sanctioned by an athletic commission.' We agree."
-- UFC President Dana White shares his thoughts on the presidential nominees during a recent chat with SI.com. Important note here: White insinuates that the old owners essentially didn't put on sanctioned fights, which perpetuates the "Zuffa Myth." The truth is that New Jersey was the first state to sanction and regulate mixed martial arts, as well as adopt the unified rules of the sport in 2000. And that happened before White and the Fertitta brothers purchased the struggling promotion one year later.
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