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ANYONE UNFAMILIAR with fight sports activities, or the main lights of Donald Trump’s “MAGA world”, could have been shocked to see a bald, stocky man on the rostrum after Donald Trump’s victory speech. Shouting the president-elect’s praises with the practised ardour of a carnival barker was Dana White, the boss of the Final Combating Championship (UFC), the world’s largest combined martial-arts (MMA) promotion. Mr White is aware of a factor or two about speaking up pugilistic characters like Mr Trump.
To the Trump trustworthy, he was extra acquainted. Mr White spoke on the Republican Nationwide Conference (RNC) in 2016, when Mr Trump grew to become the get together’s nominee for the primary time. He advised the conference of the origins of their friendship: when Mr White took over the failing UFC in 2001, no venue would play host to the “bloodsport”. That’s, till Mr Trump supplied one among his casinos. Expressing a thought that has since develop into a mantra for Trump followers, Mr White advised the group: “No person took us severely, besides Donald Trump.”
Mr White praised the qualities of “the Donald Trump that I do know”: his “nice enterprise instincts”, that he’s a “onerous employee” and that he’s a “loyal and supportive pal”. That these claims had been all extremely disputable even in 2016 was irrelevant. Like several good struggle promoter—and Mr Trump himself—Mr White is aware of you shouldn’t fear an excessive amount of about reality when making a fable.
Mr White’s personal origin story, recounted in lots of interviews and options, is more durable to fact-check. The usual model is the story of a hard-scrabble child who grew up on the streets of Southie (as South Boston is affectionately recognized by locals) and in Las Vegas. A little bit of a brawler, he received into beginner boxing and ultimately co-ran a health club. There he taught boxing to native youths and boxing health to businessmen and housewives.
After an extortion try by an affiliate of Whitey Bulger, a infamous native gangster as soon as performed on display screen by Johnny Depp, he returned from Boston to Las Vegas. He opened one other health club and received into MMA, a multi-discipline fight sport so violent that it was once banned in 36 American states. (John McCain, a senator, presidential candidate and boxing fan from Arizona, as soon as known as it “human cockfighting”.) Mr White satisfied two childhood pals to purchase the UFC for $2m and let him run it.
He cleaned up the game, professionalising and popularising it. UFC now airs in additional than 170 international locations and is price $11.3bn, in accordance with Forbes, a enterprise journal. The authorised model of Mr White’s story paints its hero as a captivating rogue with a foul mouth and a little bit of a mood, whose tough edges and upbringing made him the businessman—and showman—he’s as we speak. His superpower, he says proudly, is that he’s “a savage”.
Others paint a darker image. In her “unauthorised biography” of Mr White, his personal mom contests the “boy-raising-himself-in-the-streets fable”. And he or she says his transfer to Las Vegas was motivated by a falling-out together with his enterprise associate, making no point out of a run-in with organised crime. She admits her son’s significance to the popularisation of MMA. However she says his meteoric rise made him “egotistical, self-centred, conceited and merciless”—a ruthless “tyrant” who guidelines these round him “by intimidation”.
Some who’ve had disagreements with Mr White would possibly concur. He has had bitter and protracted authorized fights with a number of of his fighters over allegations of low pay and exploitative contracts. (Mr White denies that there’s any drawback with fighters’ pay.) And a video that emerged of Mr White slapping his spouse in 2022—an incident he admitted to and apologised for—means that his brash persona isn’t at all times innocent pantomime.
His lengthy friendship with Mr Trump is maybe unsurprising. Mr Trump is a struggle fan, whether or not or not it’s UFC, boxing or wrestling. His love of strongmen, literal and figurative, is well-documented. The once-and-future president could even see a bit of himself within the self-promoter’s unapologetic machismo. Mr White spoke on the RNC not solely in 2016 however the subsequent two as properly.
The president-elect probably understands that his friendship with the struggle promoter helps him with young male voters. Some 49% of 18- to 29-year-olds plumped for him, in accordance with exit polls, up from 41% in 2020. At Mr Trump’s victory celebration Mr White shouted out the names of podcasters and YouTube stars who attraction to the type of younger males who comply with UFC. One among them was Joe Rogan, a comic and former UFC commentator who’s now amongst the world’s most popular podcasters.
Now the struggle is gained, what purse will Mr White obtain? A spokesman has stated he has “no private political ambitions”, and hypothesis that he could have secured himself a cupboard place nonetheless appears far-fetched. However no matter occurs, UFC’s preventing spirit appears prone to stay in favour within the Trump White Home and its boss a potent affect. ■
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