On a recent episode of CounterPunch Radio, Nate Wilcox, editor-in-chief of the MMA Draw and founder of BloodyElbow, challenged a widely repeated narrative about Dana White and Donald Trump, along with the idea that Trump played a key role in stabilising the UFC. Instead, he argued the relationship was far more recent and that influence inside the sport sits with a different power center.
“They’ve been spinning this since 2016, when Dana White suddenly became a politically vocal figure. Prior to 2016, Dana White had been a pretty anodyne, low-key donor to politicians, mainly Democratic, because Nevada is a Democratic state.”
According to Wilcox, the shift in public positioning around Dana White and Donald Trump aligned closely with major business changes in the UFC’s ownership structure, including the arrival of Ari Emanuel in 2016.
“Around the time Ari Emanuel buys the company in 2016 and Trump starts running for office, suddenly Dana White and Donald Trump are best friends.”
Wilcox also pushed back on the idea that Donald Trump historically played a supportive role in the UFC’s rise. He pointed to Trump’s involvement with competing combat promotions in the late 2000s, describing a period of direct competition between business interests.
“They were bitter, enemies of the UFC. And Dana White’s on the record making fun of Donald Trump. So this idea that Donald Trump somehow saved the UFC, total hokum. The idea that Donald Trump and Dana White are bros from way back also total hokum. The relationship basically appears out of nowhere in 2016.”
Instead of focusing on Dana White as the central political connector, Wilcox argued that the more significant influence sits with Ari Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor and a key figure in the UFC’s ownership structure.
“There’s just as much or more evidence that Ari Emanuel is the real player in the Trump inner circle. Ari Emanuel was an agent for Donald Trump before he owned the UFC. He might have been involved in Donald Trump’s landing The Apprentice.”
He further described instances where Ari Emanuel appeared to play an active role in high level political and business interactions involving Donald Trump.
“Ari Emanuel personally called Donald Trump and asked him to weigh in in favor of one of the most hat ed monopolies in the United States.”
Wilcox also highlighted a situation involving media executive David Ellison during efforts to acquire Paramount, suggesting that access and proximity around UFC events were tied to Emanuel rather than Dana White.
“It’s documented fact that David Ellison was a guest of Ari Emanuel, not Dana White, a guest of Ari Emanuel, cage-side at two UFC events that Donald Trump attended. And at one of those two events, Ellison and Trump were seen getting into a bit of a heated discussion, and Ari Emanuel was seen coming over, putting his arm around both men and calming the waters.”
Wilcox concluded that public perception around influence in the UFC does not match internal reality, where he believes power is concentrated away from its most visible figure.
“The fact that he can do that while his employee and sock puppet Dana White is more closely associated with Donald Trump than almost any public figure is just staggering to me. And nobody will talk about it because Ari Emanuel is a guy you don’t want to cross.”
