Dana White Recalls Saving A Young Girl’s Life – ‘I’m Her Guardian Angel’
Dana White recalled saving a young girl’s life by donating $50,000 towards her heart surgery.
White is seen as a controversial figure in the combat sports industry. He has been praised for making the UFC a leading MMA brand and for putting on the biggest fights. This was shown at UFC 300, where the event brought in the third-highest gate at around $16.5 million. It also produced some thrilling fights, with Max Holloway stopping Justin Gaethje with just a second left. Meanwhile, Alex Pereira stopped Jamahal Hill in the first round to retain his UFC Light Heavyweight Title in the main event.
White’s Controversies
At the same time, White has also had many controversies. He has been accused of not paying fighters enough. The UFC recently settled two class-action lawsuits relating to fighter pay. Former UFC fighters came together to bring a lawsuit, alleging a breach of anti-trust laws. It was alleged the UFC had formed a monopoly, controlling how much fighters were paid.
“On March 13, 2024, TKO reached an agreement to settle all claims asserted in both class action lawsuits ([Cung] Le and [Kajan] Johnson) for an aggregate amount of $335 million payable by the Company and its subsidiaries in installments over an agreed-upon period of time. The terms will be memorialized in a long form agreement and then submitted to the court for approval. The Company anticipates that the settlement amount will be deductible for tax purposes,” TKO Group Holdings said
The lawsuit was eventually settled by TKO Group Holdings Inc. for $335 million. White also found himself in controversy, slapping his wife publicly at a New Year’s Eve party last year following an argument. While he may divide people, White’s following comments showed a different side to him as he recalled saving the young girl in an emotional conversation.
White Reacts
“There was this guy that had posted something, that he had just come back from Thailand. He was training Muay Thai over there with this legendary coach, and his daughter was dying because she needed some type of heart surgery. She was going to die in the next several days if she didn’t get the money. It was gonna be $50,000. The guy was like, ‘Dana White you need to put this…money up right now and donate it to her, you…bet this much playing blackjack’. You know, basically coming at me like that.
“People on the thing were going ‘woah, he can do whatever he wants with his money, why do you expect him’ – but, this is the way I talk. This guy was talking to me, the way that I talk, and he isn’t wrong. I was like, no this dude is…absolutely right. He’s not wrong, he’s absolutely…right. I’m supposed to do this. So, I end up reaching out, we find out if it’s real, [and] it’s real, and I send the $50,000 over.
“When you go into their gym there’s this massive picture of me in there. Then there’s a big picture of me over her bed, like I’m her guardian angel [Dana gets choked up]. I pay for her schooling and all of her medical stuff, I don’t like talking about a lot of this stuff, but I’m in a position where I’m very lucky I can help other people.I do stuff because I should do it, and I do stuff because I wanna do it, I don’t do it because I want to be recognized doing it. But I don’t like talking about it,” White said
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