Overview
- TIME added Dana White to its inaugural TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports list on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, placing him among top athletes and executives.
- TIME’s profile credits White with building the UFC into a multibillion-dollar operation and cites the 2025 seven-year, $7.7 billion media-rights deal with Paramount as a key commercial milestone.
- The list also names combat-sports figures Oleksandr Usyk and Amanda Serrano and media personality Pat McAfee, showing the magazine’s broad view of influence across fighting sports and sports media.
- White is slated to host a high-profile UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House on June 14, 2026, headlined by Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje and attended by President Donald Trump and other officials.
- White has led the organization since 2001, helped steer the 2016 sale to WME-IMG, and expanded into other fight ventures such as Zuffa Boxing and Power Slap, a track record that helps explain both his business clout and growing political visibility.