Brief History: From small town to big life, Dana White’s legacy is still growing. The flamboyant, yet down-to-earth Dana White was just another ordinary guy growing up before fortune would change everything.  Bouncing from Las Vegas, Nevada to Levant, Maine as a kid; Dana had to move around a lot and made many friends. Fortunately, his outgoing personality permitted many social opportunities.  Dana attended Hermon High School, where he was well-liked.  The humble yellow school was just a small town brick building on the corner of the only two main roads in the whole town.  It was typical of many New England schools, where sports like basketball and soccer were more celebrated than wrestling.  After graduating high school, Dana enrolled at Boston College, where he would spend the next two years.

In 1992 Dana was in Las Vegas running his own business called Dana White Enterprises, which was an aerobics class for athletes. Some of his first big clients were Tito Ortiz and the legendary Chuck Liddell, so things were going well. Before long, his big chance for the big time arose when he learned that the UFC was up for Grabs. He then went to his long time friend Lorenzo Fertitta for help, and before long Lorenzo and his brother Frank where proud owners of the UFC Franchise, along with their longtime and trusted friend Dana White as the president.

Perception:  Love him or hate him, Dana White has been a breath of fresh air for the sport of mixed martial arts. Before Dana came along, the MMA sport was going through hard times and was banned from the country for awhile; therefore there wasn’t a whole lot of money coming in.  That all changed with some lucky chances and changes to the industry.  Presently, the UFC is pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars and the sport is competing with some of the world’s biggest sports. In virtually every country in the world MMA is on the rise and is the fastest growing sport worldwide.  How can you not respect that?  If nothing else, Dana White has taught Americans – from entrepreneurs to little boys with a dream of fighting – that anything is possible with a hard work and a plan. One thing is for sure, Dana White isn’t going anywhere but up!  Not bad for a young guy who graduated from Hermon, Maine… a hardworking, yet humble New England community.

Jason Dengel and Anne Violette own www.AwesomeWriter.com; a writing company in Delray Beach, FL. Both are avid friends and fans of many MMA athletes and trainers. Anne also graduated from Hermon, Maine.