Dana White Revisits "Disgusting" Books His Late Mother Published
The UFC CEO has opened up about the strained relationship he shared with his mother after his biography resurfaced.
Dana White has coursed through multiple controversies throughout his time building MMA's premier promotion. No incident has taken as much of an emotional toll on him as the unauthorized biography his late mother published, portraying him as a "vindictive tyrant."
Dana White Reveals Troubling Details From The Book
Dana White's mother, June White, wrote and published an unauthorized biography of the UFC CEO in 2011, titled "Dana White: King of MMA." Detailing his rise as a combat promoter, White found some of the book's contents quite troubling.
In a recent interview with The Diary of a CEO's Steven Bartlett, the UFC boss saw it for the first time in 15 years.
“It’s unfortunate. I’ve actually never seen the book. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the book,” White told Bartlett.
The book accused White on many fronts, including his marriage, infidelity, and a change of heart with wealth and power accumulation. While White has never read the book, his lawyers updated him on its unsettling details. Allegedly, the publication also contained private pictures that June White had no right to use.
However, what truly shook the UFC CEO was that his mother hurt "a lot" of other people who "didn’t do anything to her" in that book. Although White wouldn't have wished for anything to unfold differently, he hasn't exactly gotten over what happened either.
"That’s one of the grossest, most disgusting things that you couldn’t even imagine possible until it happens to you... It just it just it’s one of those things that when you become successful, this type of s— happens to you."
Dana White Explains Estrangement From His Mother
June White may have written an overly critical account of her son later on, but their relationship wasn't always this taut. In the same interview, Dana White shared the incident that triggered it all.
The Power Slap founder explained that the fallout came when he was on a trip to London for two weeks. That's when he started receiving increasingly threatening emails from his mother asking for a huge payment upfront or in instalments. The money was supposedly for acquiring a bar.
But it wasn't the demand that pulled the relationship thin. As per White, he hadn't been able to get back to her soon enough since he didn't check emails on the road.
"And then she wasn’t getting responses because I was in London, and then the emails started getting nastier and nastier and nastier by the end, and I f—ing just blew up," White added.
“That was the beginning of the end with me and her."
Despite forgiving his mother for the past, White revealed that they remained estranged and were no longer speaking when she passed away in 2023.
