Dana White On Vince McMahon Thwarting UFC’s NBC Deal

In an MMA news update, Dana White has looked back on the time that Vince McMahon had prevented the UFC from securing a TV deal with NBC.

The two are now on good terms following the recent merger between the UFC and WWE to form TKO Group Holdings, Inc. While that may be the case, White has spoken previously about things not being so rosy. The CEO of the UFC recalled how Vince had called him out for a fight while a UFC 158 presser was a priority for him.

“Vince wanted to fight me—swear to God. He called me up, said, ‘Let’s do it. We can do it in the UFC, or let’s do it at WrestleMania.’ And I said, ‘You are crazy,” White stated

And now it appears that Vince was a tough man to deal with when it came to negotiations. As NBC had a deal with the WWE, White sought to do the same in 2011.

And given that the UFC/WWE were competitors, it appears that this did not go down well with McMahon. Thereafter, the UFC would go on to secure a deal with FOX, ending any hopes of the UFC’s desire to work with the network.

White On Vince

“Vince in his heyday, he saw everybody as competition. He was one of those guys who would just f*cking stick it to me, just to do it, for whatever reason. We were about to do a deal with NBC and we got to the one-yard line, and Vince has the final say who can go on USA Network and who can’t if you’re a combat sport.

“Me and Lorenzo flew out to Connecticut to see him. We do all the small talk first, then we’re like ‘The reason we’re here is we’re doing a deal with NBC’… ‘You need to sign off on it’, and he was just like ‘Yeah… I’m not going to do that’. Like, why? ‘Oh I’m not interested, I just don’t like the idea of you guys being on USA Network’… That’s one of ten times I can tell you where Vince did it,” White

Vince On White

Despite that being the case, Vince has since then denied having any bad relations with White. The WWE legend has often been criticised for the cut throat manner in which he conducts his business deals.

But now that TKO Group Holdings, Inc, is on the New York Stock Exchange, the merger has allowed White and Vince to come a lot closer together. And that has now been reflected by both men in their recent comments.

“Busting his chops? Please, I don’t do business that way. I don’t bust anybody’s chops unless they get in the way. Dana and I get along very, very well. He’s really a good guy. We’re good partners and good businessmen. (If) you’re good businessmen, you get along,” McMahon said

“My history with Vince isn’t a good one. He tried to f**k me so many times for no reason whatsoever except just to f**k me. But that’s in the past. Now that Vince and I are allies, no one’s been a better partner than Vince. Since day one of the deal, it’s like I’m dealing with a different guy. It goes to show that when you oppose him, or he thinks you are opposing him, the guy comes after you blindly. Once you are aligned, Vince is an incredible partner,” White revealed