Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. Transcript: lexfridman.com/dana-white-transcript 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free sample pack - Notion: notion.com/lex - AG1: drinkag1.com/lex to get 1 month supply of fish oil - InsideTracker: insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off 0:57 - Mike Tyson and early days of fighting 11:35 - Jiu jitsu 17:39 - Origin of UFC 31:50 - Joe Rogan 37:56 - Lorenzo Fertitta 40:23 - Great fighters 44:20 - Khabib vs Conor 47:27 - Jon Jones 50:28 - Conor McGregor 55:31 - Trump 1:01:09 - Elon vs Zuck 1:02:30 - Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul 1:05:18 - Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonnar 1:12:31 - Gambling 1:27:33 - Mortality

Been saving the oil for this one

In thumbnail, dana looks like thanos.

Didn't want this one to end. Could easily listen for a couple of more hours. Hope there is part 2

I've never heard a Dana interview that wasn't captivating. I can't even imagine the UFC without him. Let's cherish this time, this era, of which he has been at the tip of the spear. 🙏

Finally, Dana is on a proper podcast.

“Whatever takes your attention on a Saturday night is my competitor” - Dana White For a UFC fan from the UK where the fights usually take place from 1am - 6am, apparently my sleep is Dana’s competitor 😂😂 He won that match countless times, so fair play 😆

What a great interview! I never knew Dana trained jiu jitsu. Hearing his stories about starting in jiu jitsu was great. Everyone who trains jiu jitsu goes through that car on the chest feeling 😂

Lex pretending he remembers those boxing matches 🤣🤣🤣

I wish this podcast was about 10 to 20 hours longer.

Always happy to see Joe Rogan and Lex having a talk. So excited to listen!

This is the best sit down conversation I’ve ever seen. Lex has a way of asking the right questions to the right people w/ zero extra. Dana is seen my millions of people in millions of different ways. The level of authenticity I felt watching this was very inspirational. Will be watching again when I’m feeling run down. Thank you both.

We use to watch vision quest during wrestling season, heaters maxed, entire team sweating it out on the mats, preparing for war

51:22 'Fook it. Let's do it.' 😂

Easily one of Dana Whites best interviews. Love the behind the scenes back stories. Dana should really think about putting more of this out. Like in a book or a video documentary. Would be an instant banger.

It's so refreshing to see a podcast where the guest talks about things they love opposed to being asked "I gotcha" questions. Dana and Lex are awesome, great job and thank you!

brilliant podcast, with great questions! my first Lex listen!

Damn, wish this was one of those 3 hour episodes 😢

Loved hearing him talk about how much he loves his life. I've been chasing that feeling for so many years. So glad to hear when others have found it!

As a Vegas local and fight man, Dana is a living Legend. Thank you Lex for hosting this great convo.

My favorite part was hearing Dana talk about Vision Quest. Unbelievable. I’m a 53 year old Army veteran, and that movie hit so hard back then, my four adult children knows who Chute is. That movie makes you want to be more. It should have won the Oscar that year. I’ve watched every UFC since. Thank you UFC.

A very welcomed and unexpected surprise to see uncle Dana on here! Time to get some snacks! Thanks Lex and thanks Dana!

Wonderful excerpt. Where may I find the full length conversation?

Hearing Dana say himself and Joe Rogan absolutely don't care about money is fucking hilarious. Best part by far. 😂

Wow the last part of that interview puts Dana in a different category for me… Lex too… very inspiring!!

I’ve been going down a ufc rabbit hole and this interview comes out. Love it

That Mohamad Ali quote was on point. Great interview!

Awesome conversation, Lex. Wish this had been 3 hours long.

I Didn't expect to hear Norm Macdonald but I love it.

Finally a podcaster who has done his homework (research) on the person he is interviewing.

Six minutes in and you're already unconditionally certain this is gonna be a banger of a pod

Probably the best interview I’ve ever seen with Dana. Pure authenticity and candidness delivered by such measured handling by Lex

Merchant was great especially with that line at Mayweather.

Isn't it crazy how Joe Rogan has managed to be the INDUSTRY AUTHORITY in SEVERAL VASTLY DIFFERENT MAJOR INDUSTRIES?? Comedy? MMA? NEWS? PODCASTS? It's nuts. All he does is talk about them. He's a once in a lifetime anomaly.

I get disagreeing with Dana...Disliking Dana... But cant see how you cannot respect the guy. He's a rare CEO that you can count on to give it to you straight and call it as he sees it.

This podcast was amazing, a lot of it really connected. 👍

One of, if not the best podcast episode I’ve listened to and I’ve listened to a lot. Much respect to Dana after this 🙌🏼

I used to think Forrest wasn't afraid of danger because he fought in a cage - what a joke. He drove a Kia for 200,000+ miles? Dude has a fucking death wish.

Strickland vs DDP 2 asap, please!

Thank you for the podcast and advise at the end!

I'm Scottish from a small town in East fife and remember the stephan bonner vs forest Griffin fight happening live. My dads mate phoned him and told him to put it on and the next day everyone was telling the tale at high school. Cool moment now looking back

Let’s see how this whole thing plays out

Lex screwed up big time on this one! He forgot to properly credit Dana as a philosopher.

This episode just hits different in a positive way.

I've long been a Lex fan and now I'm huge Dana fan as well. That was a fantastic interview, one of my favorites ever, and I almost skipped it. Thank you!

One of the best flowing interviews I’ve ever listened to involving one of my favorite people and personal inspirations on the planet. Dana White as a person and business guy is what I try to be every day in my own company . Thank you for this

Marcelo Garcia said that nogi is like training in the gi when your grips are tired. And that gi is like when the nogi match starts and you're both totally dry

Evolution of fighting in martial arts has accelerated, but what Dane is mostly referring to is the library information, that the UFC is. The fighting techniques have been around for hundreds of years, if not, thousands in some cases.

You do a good job with interviews by letting people speak and let audience have a glimpse of who they are and where they come from :-). Nicely done :-).

What a freaking duo. I could listen to these guys chat forever.

I remember watching the Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonnar fight live on TV when I was 14.

Listening to Dana talk about the scale and the beginnings of the UFC is so fun. "Building a good team". I can't believe they stuck with it. Well done.

This was a great conversation lex

1:30 Dana's ode to Muhammad Ali is Beautiful. Ali was magic!

Not missing with the guests recently. Love the podcasts Lex. Much love!

Dana not stepping out of Lex's pod. There's levels. Loved the interview! Great content!

First time I heard ufc commentators I couldn't BELIEVE it, they got excited, they were happy, they upped the fighters, they talked about how good they are, they talked about what they were actually doing in the fight. UK commentators never got excited, down played everything, whenever anything good happens they would try to 'balance' it up with a negative comment, always always always went for the underdog an always criticise their champions, always always always talking about how if they dont win this fight their career is over or they're too old or some other time some other place. UFC was a revolution in joyful sports watching.

Loved the transition into Dana saying he's "not a fan of people fighting at our age" about Mike Tyson in his 50s, about 6 seconds after talking about how he tried to make a fight involving Elon Musk in his 50s...

I know what he means about muting the audio. I mute the audio for CFB.. unless it's Gus and Joel haha! I don't need ESPN to tell me what I just saw. I used to love the skycam

Hi Dana, i keep having a dream where i go weak during a fight and i become unable to move any of my upper body limbs? Any idea what is mentally causing this? Thanks

Thankful for Dana doing regular podcasts

Total Quality from start to finish!

Lex, thank you so much for your work!!! 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽

Beautiful pod Lex! Keep up the great work man!

As a retired fighter turned fight commentator, every time I called a fight, I made it a point to do my best to make every fighter and every fight sound like the coolest, most important thing ever to happen... specifically because I experienced the polar opposite, and it absolutely sucked.

Thanks for educating me on UFC and professional organizer and learning of past UFC champions and evolution..learning of Dana's positive energy!! Nice stuff coming from Budapest!!!

Dana White's Journey in the UFC Khabib beat Conor, Putin was on FaceTime before he even made it to the locker room - 00:00:16 Trump, sitting president, ex-president, watching all the fights, calling, wants to talk about the fights - 00:00:20 Valentina Shevchenko, every time she goes home, she meets with the president of the country - 00:00:28 The most powerful, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg, are all obsessed with fighting - 00:00:38 Dana's Early Exposure to Fighting Dana's first memory of watching a fight was an Ali fight at his grandmother's house - 00:01:00 Ali was one of the greatest human beings of all time, not just a great fighter - 00:01:32 Dana fell in love with fighting after watching the Hagler-Leonard fight in 1987 - 00:03:14 Dana started religiously watching USA's Tuesday Night Fights on TV - 00:03:58 Dana's Critique of Boxing Commentary Dana hated the commentary in boxing, especially Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley - 00:04:46 The commentary would rip the fighters apart while the fight was happening - 00:05:07 Dana wanted to avoid that type of commentary in the UFC - 00:05:43 The Birth of the UFC Dana and the Fertitta brothers started training in jiu-jitsu and fell in love with the sport - 00:06:30 Seeing Royce Gracie beat larger opponents in the early UFC events was eye-opening - 00:07:35 The UFC faced a lot of corruption and shady people in the early days - 00:20:15 The Rise of the UFC Joe Rogan was crucial in the early days, providing passionate and knowledgeable commentary - 00:09:26 The partnership between Dana and Lorenzo Fertitta was key to the UFC's success - 00:10:10 Conor McGregor was an incredible partner who always stepped up to fight tough opponents - 00:50:33 Greatness in Fighting Fighters who fight for greatness, not just money, are the ones who become legends - 00:54:01 Moments of exhaustion and self-doubt reveal the true heroism of fighters - 00:55:42 Jon Jones is considered the greatest of all time for his unparalleled dominance - 00:57:34 Dana's Passion for Life Dana loves the chaos and challenge of problem-solving, whether in business or gambling - 00:59:24 The movie "Vision Quest" had a profound impact on Dana's outlook on life - 01:22:06 Dana is not afraid of death and tries to squeeze the most out of every day - 01:27:35

Had to pause at 1:07 to watch that fight Forest Griffin V Stephan Bonnar. Wow. What a fight

one of the best interviews ever Lex ... love love loved it .... keep up the fantastic work

I liked when Dana said: winning means also losing. It's part of the game in sports or business. I agree that real successful people understand this concept. There will always be ups and downs in anything you go for. Also, thank you for recommending Vision Quest! 😊

I'll be a UFC fan and fight purchaser for life in large part because of Dana White! After watching him walk off Howey Mandells podcast, I would go to battle for the man. Respect 👊 Appreciate you both, gentlemen 🙌❤️🇺🇸

Awesome podcast. Love Garcia's energy and confidence, the only wisdom I would share with him is a little humbleness. I have no doubt as he grows older and wiser, he is going to aquire it.

26:25 coming back to 5th time to this seconds just to digest. What an inspiration from Dana. Thank you for putting up this podcast, Lex!

This interview and episode drop timing is perfect. And this is coming from someone with little experience, knowledge,and/or interest in the UFC but now I AM INTERESTED. In learning more about what and where the UFC comes from. This is the right person to see it through, his eyes, danas POV is making it easy for me to get it, the allure. Really interesting how hearing it from him made me want to know more. Good stuff. Hats off to Lex and the work hes doing and sharing for FREE on KZfaq.

Dana's speech in The Ultimate Fighter and Stephan Bonnar vs Forrest Griffin fight are both the key moments that changed MMA for ever.

Wish Lex pushed Dana on why he doesn't like Frank Shamrock.. A true pioneer Hall of fameer

Love the spirit of this interview, bare knuckled impression of one's experiences and inner truths. Thank you Dana and Lex for an outstanding no BS expression from one's heart!

Dana mentioning Norm was the best thing on this one

Loved this podcast , thank you Lex!❤

One of the best interviews I’ve heard in a long time. Could listen to more stories from Dana.

I watched the Stephen and Forest fight with my friends elderly grandmother… this little old country granny had never watch one single UFC fight and I’m sitting right beside her and we were both screaming at the tv!!!! Granny was the best!! I still feel so blessed for that moment with her and kinda shameful that it was an absolute bloodbath in her beautiful little living room!!😅😅😅

53:51 Dana is a philosopher without realising it 💯

I’m a massive ufc fan but the commentary in boxing is second to none . Merchant is a legend as well

Different seeing Lex almost as a fan and not controversial. This could easily have been double to triple the time and have been liked even more. Hope they get a part 2.

An all star UFC line up podcast would be incredible with Dana!

Just finished giving the Teddy Atlas pod a relisten. Great stuff. Looking forward to what's in-store here! Thanks! All the best!

This was a good interview. Danna White, love him or hate him, is a well spoken individual. I enjoyed listening to him and his insights. He seems like an incredibly intelligent, level headed guy and i enjoyed the bit of motivation he gave at the end of the interview. Thank you!

Dana’s talk about Vision Quest really struck a cord. That movie had similar ramifications for me too

This was a great interview. Always exceeding and entertaining Lex, thank you!

Im excited to see if he talks about the Howie thing. Lex is a different breed of human that I imagine Dana respects, so im glad he got him to change his previous statement and come on. Dana has a lot of good insights to offer.

To add to the Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonner fight. I'm not a Martial Artist at all, but the passion, commitment, and pure love or "no quit" mentality these guys have literally inspires me and makes me love this sport. I'm committed in life and have deep passion for many things, yet these guys fighting gives me deep inspiration and understanding for why these guys do this. 3 round fights weed out the weak. 5 round fights determine who the real champions are. It's so clear that these guys can push through unimaginable pain and still suffer and supercede to win. That was all I needed ro see to be a fan.

The dude looks like Joe Rogan's dad.

LEX- We need “one” with Chatri Sityodtong now. Awesome job thank you 🙏

Loved Tuesday night fights!Who remembers Jimmy Thunder?

Such an excellent discussion. Thank you!

Had never seen an interview with Dana. Such a cool dude. You can truly tell how much he loves the art of the battles

I would LOVE to be able to follow Dana White around, be a fly on the wall, in the further-est corner of the room and not even speak, just to LISTEN to the man and the Wisdom he shares. I could not tell you how many interviews I have listen to Dana give... and they never get old. I have so much respect for what he has achieved in his life, so far. I can't wait to watch what he has in store. I watched my first Lex podcast... 3hrs long... this morning. I can never sit through very many hours of an interview without getting bored. I didn't get bored once and immediately Sub'ed and 🔔'ed. Then a few hours ago I got this notification with Mr. Dana White. I believe I'm going to be a long time subscriber, because there are a lot of interviews to watch. Thank you Mr. Fridman Thank you Mr. White

“Without the vision, there’s nothing.” So true! Visionaries specialize in passion and never give up. 👊

Congratulations Russell. Ever since you went on Steven Bartlett's show, I've been paying attention to you. You have transformed, and it has been really cool to watch. I have no doubt that you're a force for good in this world, and have made a difference already. Keep shining.

This may be the only podcast ill ever listen to more than once. Great job. Thank you.