- Beyond the recent accusations of an eight-figure debt, UFC President & CEO Dana White has steadily cultivated a reputation for his prolific gambling habits.
- The self-confessed โdegenerateโ gamblerโs antics range from losing US$3 million from a drunken night to winning US$26 million from Caesars Palace after a multi-month campaign circa 2024.
- Netflixโs untitled Dana White documentary release date: TBA.
As the UFC grapples with a dramatic betting scandal involving fixed fights and an FBI investigation, Dana White is now once again in the headlines for his own gambling.
To be clear: the leading mixed martial arts promotionโs President and CEO has consistently maintained a hardline stance against any UFC employee or rostered fighter (even his own kids) placing bets on Octagon activity. But White has what you could say is a well-documented personal history with Las Vegas.
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So much so that recent reports indicate he currently owes between US$25 million and US$50 million to Red Rock Resorts, and to the extent that Netflix has been shadowing him with a production crew for a โyet-to-be-announced unscripted project.โ
โHeโs the ideal protagonist: a voluble, larger-than-life high roller whom its cameras have caught on at least one occasion up more than $800,000 at the Bellagio,โ explains Gary Baum of The Hollywood Reporter.
โThe Ultimate Fighting Championship boss โ and Donald Trump confidant โ has become a folk hero for his storied gambling sessions at Sin City casinos. His adrenalised exploits, primarily at blackjack, are much discussed across the modern-day saloon culture, often dubbed the manosphere.โ
These tales have ranged from friend, influential podcaster, and veteran colour commentator Joe Roganโs firsthand account of watching Uncle Dana getting himself into, and then back out of, a US$600,000 hole at the aforementioned Red Rock โ an establishment operated by Whiteโs longtime friends, business partners, and co-founders/former owners Lorenzo & Frank Fertitta (hence the relative impunity) โ to Whiteโs own claims of walking out of the Venetian with โa trash bag full of moneyโ and allegedly rinsing Caesars Palace Casino for US$26 million playing baccarat across the opening months of 2024.
โI f**ked up their whole [financial] quarter.โ
โThis is like my part-time job: I work in the UFC all day and play cards at night,โ he said, having hired a private blackjack dealer for his yacht while anchored off the Amalfi Coast.
โI canโt go on vacation without playing. The sickness is real.โ
Though, as alluded to by that rumoured eight-figure debt, not every story has a happy ending. For every night of making US$1.1 million in profits from six limit-raised hands of baccarat (a wholly irresponsible US$300,000 per bet), there are horrific albeit lesser-publicised mornings.
โOne night Iโm over at the Rio and theyโve got big suites over there, so I go over there with some buddies and we got one of the suites, and we have some dinner and we start drinking,โ Dana White recalled on Lex Fridmanโs podcast.
โIt starts to ramp up, Iโm having a good time and I make my way down to the high-limit room, and we start gambling. I continue to drink, having a blast, I end up leaving to go home that night and I lost, like, US$80,000.โ
โIโm at work the next day and the host over there calls me and he says, โHey Dana, are you coming back? Do you still need the room that you guys had where you ate and all that s**T?โ I said, โNo, I donโt need the room, but donโt get too comfortable with my f**king eighty grand, Iโm coming back for it.โ Dead f**king silence on the other end of the phone.โ
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โAnd heโs like, โDanaโฆ You lost US$3 million last night.โโ
White continued: โโWhat the f**k are you talking about? โI only have a million-and-a-half dollar credit line.โ He goes, โYeah, you made us call the GM of the hotel and you started calling him โa f**king p***y,โ and I went, โYeah, no, that sounds like something I would do.โโ
โThis was a huge learning lesson for me, so I never drank again when I was playing cards after that night.โ
One shudders to imagine whatโll happen the day Dana White burns through the entirety of his estimated US$600 million net worth. But considering the forthcoming Netflix content and personal mythologies being circulated on the podcast circuit, thereโs no denying the bonfire would be quite a spectacle.
When it comes to taking a punt, chances are, youโre about to lose. If you or anyone you know is battling gambling addiction, there are people who want to help. Reach out here or call the Gambling Help Hotline at 1800 858 858.
