Dana White Turns 57, Still Fighting Boxing's Old Guard

Dana White turns 57 today, and the UFC president is spending his birthday exactly where he usually operates: in the middle of multiple fights at once.

Born July 28, 1969, in Manchester, Connecticut, White now runs Zuffa Boxing alongside TKO Group Holdings and Turki Alalshikh while battling promoters, sanctioning bodies, and Jake Paul. He also recently admitted his own broadcast crew needs work after Zuffa Boxing 09.

White Reverses Course On Sanctioning Bodies

After months of insisting Zuffa would crown its own champions and ignore the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO, White cracked the door open over the weekend. "On a case by case basis trying to figure out what the fighters want and what their goals are, we will try to figure out whatever we can do to make those type of fights happen," he said, per Boxing Insider. The shift comes as Jai Opetaia became Zuffa's first titleholder in March in a bout the IBF declined to sanction, landing both sides in Nevada court.

Jake Paul mocked the reversal on social media. "They went from sh*tting on all of the boxing sanctioning bodies and how they need to get rid of them for the good of boxing to now this," Paul wrote, according to the report. White also blasted his production team after the same card, calling the broadcast "brutal" and telling reporters he was texting his crew all night.

White has been banned from multiple Las Vegas casinos for winning too much at blackjack, including the Palms in 2014, which gave him a championship belt reading Undisputed Blackjack Champion on his way out. Zuffa Boxing 10 is set for August 8 in Dublin with Aaron McKenna facing Etinosa Oliha, followed by Ryan Garcia against Conor Benn on September 12.

Photo: The White House / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Original reporting:

• boxinginsider.com — Dana White Turns 57, Still Arguing With Half of Boxing | BoxingInsider.com