Dana White On Mom's Tell-All: 'She Was Looking To Buy A Bar'

Dana White says his mother's unauthorized 2011 biography was a shakedown attempt that began with a series of threatening emails while he was traveling overseas.

June White released 'Dana White: King of MMA' without her son's blessing, filling 152 pages with allegations about his marriage and personal life. White told The Diary of a CEO podcast that the book came after his mother demanded money to buy a bar and escalated when he failed to respond to her messages. "I was on a trip one time, I didn't have emails or any of that on the road," he said, per MMA Mania. "We were in London for like two weeks and when I got back I checked my emails and I had like a bunch of emails from her threatening me."

White Says Other People Were Hurt By Book's Claims

The UFC CEO said the demands grew more hostile as his silence continued during the London trip. He called the situation one of the worst experiences tied to his success, describing it as something you cannot imagine until it happens. White has not read the book but learned details from lawyers who reviewed it on his behalf.

White said the book damaged people beyond himself, naming individuals his mother wrote about who had done nothing to provoke her. He acknowledged his parents shaped who he became but stopped speaking to his mother before her death in 2023. The rift that began with the email threats became permanent after the book's release.

White has rarely discussed the biography publicly but addressed it at length in the recent podcast appearance. He said he does not seek out platforms to criticize his mother, though he called the book one of the most disgusting things that can happen when someone becomes successful.

Reported via:

• MMA Mania — Dana White claims mom’s tell-all book was a shakedown: ‘She was looking to buy a bar’