Dana White News: UFC CEO Claims Failed One-Off Fight Would Have Been ‘First Death’

In the mid-2000s, UFC CEO Dana White nearly sparred one of his then-ex champions.

When Tito Ortiz’s name gets brought up in a conversation with UFC CEO Dana White, the grizzled 20-plus-year promoter doesn’t hold back any proverbial punches.

White, after claiming less than two weeks ago he would never appear on podcasts again, was present with Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Maxx Crosby, appearing on Crosby’s show “The Rush with Maxx Crosby.”

White was asked about how a boxing match would have gone between him and Ortiz during a rapid fire section, which got the 54-year-old to open up about the ever-changing disconnect between the pair.

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“Tito Ortiz [was the hardest to manage], White said without hesitation. “Definitely, especially at the time and the time of the growth of the company going on. Nobody tried to damage the UFC more than Tito Ortiz.”

White added that Ortiz’s sparring match against him didn’t happen because of a belief that Ortiz would lose to him, despite going through all the pre-fight medical screenings, making weight successfully and taking part in a pre-fight UFC Countdown-style series called “Bad Blood.”

“If it was MMA [between Ortiz and I], it would be the first death in MMA,” White said. “Tito Ortiz would have killed me.”

Ortiz would eventually stick with the promotion and re-sign to a long-term contract just before the filming of TUF 3, which saw the former light heavyweight champion dethrone arch-rival Ken Shamrock for the third time.

Ortiz would never recapture light heavyweight gold, only winning one more UFC fight after the Shamrock victory and leaving the UFC as a Hall of Famer in 2012.

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