Dana White Explains Evolved Stance On Women Fighting In The UFC
UFC president Dana White spoke with one of his promotion’s biggest ever stars, Ronda Rousey about his past stance on Women’s MMA.
There was a time that White laughed when asked about the prospect of women competing on the highest platform in MMA. But after changing his mind, fighters such as Rousey, Amanda Nunes, Cris Cyborg, and others have become global superstars.
Bellator president Scott Coker ceased on White’s reluctance to bring women to the UFC, signing massive stars in Strikeforce such as Rousey and Gina Carano. This prompted White to change his mind and ultimately it paid off in a big way.
During a recent sitdown with Rousey on her “Rowdy’s Places” show, White explained his reasoning for once thinking that women couldn’t compete in the UFC.
Dana White Explains 360-Degree Turn On Women In The UFC
“Everything in life is about timing,” White said. “When I was saying we’ll never have women in the UFC, I was having a hard enough time getting men fighting in a cage accepted let alone women. You approached me, and we had like a 45-minute conversation, and halfway through it I started going, ‘Oh my God, I think I’m gonna do this. And she’s definitely the one to do this with.”
“You think about when we first met, and you walked around these things, and nobody knew you, to you couldn’t walk anywhere. You were so big, and it happened like that. We know the formula, and we know when we’ve got the person, but you have to have somebody that’s willing to become that person.”
Rousey left the UFC following back-to-back losses to Holly Holm and Nunes. She retired from MMA as one of the UFC’s biggest superstars in the promotion’s history, and easily one of the most important.
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