Josh Brolin opened up about his growing connection to the UFC during an appearance on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast, explaining how his friendship with Dana White has made him feel part of a community he never expected to join.
When Von asked whether he knew White well, Brolin explained that their friendship began through a shared passion for motorcycles.
“Yeah, I know Dana pretty well. I know Dana through motorcycling. He loves Harleys and I love Harleys.”
Brolin said he regularly goes on long motorcycle rides with a group of friends, sometimes covering around 1,200 miles. White shares a similar interest, although he prefers newer bikes. Their mutual enthusiasm for riding gave them common ground and helped build their relationship.
“Like my thing is I have a group of guys and I go these long pulls, 1200 mile pulls or whatever. And then Dana does it with newer bikes. But he has his group of guys and he goes out and we talk.”
Even Theo Von said the UFC president had made him feel welcome, allowing him to spend time around the athletes and others involved in the organization.
“He’s been real good to me about just welcoming me into that group over there. Just letting me be around their group.”
Von also spoke about how much he had come to appreciate the athletes themselves. Being around them and witnessing their dedication gave him a new perspective on the sport.
“Just getting to see the athletes inspired by a lot of those guys, you know.”
Brolin admitted that he initially struggled to understand how the sport could succeed, particularly when he first encountered its more aggressive aspects.
Brolin stated, “When it first happened, I was like this is not going to work.”
Despite his initial reservations, Brolin eventually became more interested as the sport evolved and reached a wider audience. He acknowledged how dramatically the MMA landscape had changed, particularly in relation to boxing’s position in combat sports.
“Seriously though, it just wasn’t going to work. And then it got more interesting and more interesting and then it started overwhelming boxing, which was crazy. Oh, the journey of it all has been crazy.”
