Dana White and Michael
UFC President Dana White paid a heartful tribute to a young fan who passed away recently
UFC President Dana White wrote a heartfelt tribute to Michael, a young MMA fan who passed away recently. The young fan was in attendance at UFC 279 where Nate Diaz took on Tony Ferguson in the main event. He was introduced to the UFC head honcho by his friends Heather and Brian.
Dana White also spoke in length about how boxing legend Mike Tyson helped create a beautiful memory for the fan. In the end, it was a soul-stirring experience and it was profound for White to express his thoughts in words.
“I met Michael at UFC 279 his friends and family put together a “go fund me” to get him to UFC to meet me and it was brought to my attention from an old friend of mine. We jumped on it and got him there. This kid was SO AWESOME I immediately loved him.”
“He just turned 16 and got his drivers license. He was such an amazing kid I invited him to UFC 281 in NYC. His parents said he was so pumped all he cared about was getting to NYC for this event. I sat him right behind Mike Tyson and I fuckin love u @MikeTyson!!!”
“Without being told anything Mike treated Michael so good and took pics with him etc. Amazing, incredible, beautiful little Michael passed away today and I’m fuckin devastated. He held on long enough to make the event and I just want to thank EVERYONE involved with Saturday Night that made his weekend special. My heart goes out to Michael’s friends and family and I want to thank you Heather and Brian for introducing me to him. I will never forget him.”
It was indeed beautiful to witness Dana White make a child’s wish come true and we hope his soul finds peace.
Dana White has been a big fan of professional boxing for a long time. From streaming fights at UFC events to promoting Mayweather vs. McGregor and beyond, the boss has always had a soft spot for the squared circle.
Luckily for him, in his youth, he chose mixed martial arts as his entry point into the combat world, and established the UFC as the world leader in combat sports.
It took absolutely ages to build the organization and the company was sold for $4 billion in the summer of 2016. White had laid down the foundation for Zuffa Boxing start-up, only for it to never materialize. He recently expressed his desire to pursue a second major venture in an interview on Amazon Prime’s The Cari Champion Show:
“I’m already dabbling there and doing some things. I’m just sort of playing. I’m staying in the outside and sort of playing with it and it’s just such a corrupt, bad sport. It’s so corrupt and it’s really tough to navigate. So I’m staying in the background, I’m playing around and we’ll see what happens over the next couple of years. [But] it’s so bad that it’s indescribable. The people that are involved in it. Every time I go, ‘You know what? I’m gonna go in there and do it.’ I’ll get in a phone call with a boxing guy and I’ll hang up the phone and I’ll go, ‘Am I nuts? Have I lost my mind? Why would I ever consider doing this?’ Now that I have said this to you, you will see over the next 6-8 months some of this stuff start to play out publicly.”
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