Last night (Sat., May 17, 2013), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White sat down with "The Voice," Michael Schiavello, for an in-depth interview that aired on AXS TV.
The nearly hour-long interview was far from conventional, touching on several professional and personal topics that ranged from his childhood, current family life and what it's like to be the profanity-laced mouthpiece of the world's leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion.
Here is how AXS TV described the encounter:
"The Voice Versus Dana White is the most personal and candid episode of the series yet. From the first question, Dana opened and gave me an extremely candid, personal and revealing interview the likes of which he has never done before. To see such a powerful and feared businessman talk about his family with such passion -- and provide us with exclusive footage of his children never seen before -- makes this episode of The Voice Versus a must watch and something truly special."
The video is definitely worth a watch if and when time permits -- it's long, but Schiavello does a great job of not asking the standard questions and getting the familiar responses from White. Several highlights include, but are not limited to:
- Relationships with fighters and how he handles business
- His custom-built, super-successful Pee-Wee football team in Las Vegas that features his two sons
- Growing up with Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC co-owner (White reveals he got kicked out of school twice, while Ferittita was a model student)
- Cursing ("Fuck" is his favorite word)
- His personal experience with performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)
- Wanting to work for his boxing promoter rival, Bob Arum, prior to getting involved with UFC
- His early boxing ambitions (he had a good jab and defense)
- Being "surreal" friends with Mike Tyson, who he feels never raped Desiree Washington despite the convicition
- Being run out of town by Whitey Bulger's henchman, Kevin Weeks (more here)
- Getting the "shit beat out of him" in a Boston, Mass., bar sticking up for his sister, which likely caused his current Meniere's disease issues (more here)
- His beefs with Frank Shamrock, Pat Miletich and Tito Ortiz
- The controversial purchase of Pride FC
- The chase for Fedor Emelianenko and his dealings with "Vadummy"
- Gambling!
- His fear of sharks ... and Australia
- UFC surviving without him
That's not all, in particular, the interesting "True and False" segment toward the tail-end of the marathon session.
Again, definitely check out the full interview whenever possible, sometime after UFC on FX 8, which takes place tonight (Sat., May 18, 2013) from Arena Jaragua in Santa Catarina, Brazil, featuring a main event between Vitor Belfort vs. Luke Rockhold (full results here).
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