2. The idea came in 1992 with a 8 person tournament between different types martial arts. The winner of the tournament would prove that his form was the best. Had the saying “fighting without rules” which caused the fights to only be shown on pay-per view. No weight classes like in boxing and wrestling. Would get an audience by asking questions like “Can a wrestler beat a boxer?” The winner of the first tournament was Royce Gracie with his submission techniques.

3. In the mid 1990s stopped tournaments and started doing just one on one fights Drew much controversy with politicians. John McCain launched a campaign to ban UFC. He sent letters to all 50 states requesting that they ban UFC in their state. Caused UFC to be dropped from many contracts and started to lose money. Close to bankruptcy in 2001 and decided to sell to someone.

4. Born in Connecticut but raised in Las Vegas. Decided to start teaching boxing instead of finishing college. Began managing two fighters in 1992 as owner of Dana White Enterprises. Heard that the control in UFC was being sold, so convinced long time friend, Lorenzo Fertitta, to buy UFC and establish him as the president in 2001.

5. Implemented more rules that included no hair pulling. Had much better advertising which helped the popularity rise. Put the events in bigger arenas like the Trump Taj Mahal and had the fights back to pay-per view. In 2002 Fox Sports Net aired the first cable UFC fight with the main fight as Chuck Liddell vs. Victor Belfort.

6. Although growing in popularity, UFC was still in financial trouble Had suffered $43 million in losses. The popularity of UFC being featured in “American Casino” sparked the idea for UFC to hold its own reality series. After many rejections, Spike TV finally bought into the idea. Called the show “The Ultimate Fighter.”

7. “The Ultimate Fighter,” shown after “WWE Raw”, was an instant hit in the United States. The winner of the show received a six figure contract with UFC. The finale had Forest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar. This fight was anticipated the entire season. Dana White credits this season with saving UFC.

8. After the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” UFC continued to grow gaining more viewers each fight. Dana White has been involved in every move that the UFC has done. The very next fight after the first season of the show was chosen especially by Dana White. It included the two teachers from the show. This fight had over 300,000 pay-per view orders, doubling the previous record set.

9. He decided to start the series and got all the sponsorships to keep UFC alive when it was going bankrupt. Dana White also picked the wardrobe that is fought in today and decided to use ring girls. Dana decided to implement more rules into UFC, so networks would show the fights making money. He handpicks the people to fight that are shown on pay-per view Shows today include “The Ultimate Fighter,” “UFC Unleashed,” and “UFC 104”

10. UFC would have gone into bankruptcy and not exist today. Many of these people would not be as popular as they are today. UFC is the most watched event on pay-per view. This is one of the biggest sport industries in America today.