Transcript

I Asked Dana White How He Made $500 Million!

From School of Hard Knocks · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 24 min · 6,306 words · 125 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "I Asked Dana White How He Made $500 Million!", an episode of School of Hard Knocks published November 9, 2025 (24 min, about 6,306 words). It mentions 14 people, works and ideas, including MMA, Jeffrey Phillips, Tony Cooer, Beverly Hills, Busy.

What this episode is about

In this content, Dana White, the CEO of the UFC, explains how he transformed a struggling MMA organization into a multi-billion dollar enterprise, while the host ventures through Beverly Hills to seek insights from wealthy individuals about their paths to financial success. The exploration highlights themes of entrepreneurship and the pursuit of generational wealth.

Key takeaways

  • Dana White turned UFC from a flounder to a multi-billion dollar powerhouse—proof that reinvention is possible.
  • Richest entrepreneurs highlight two truths: sweat equity trumps luck and failure is just a stepping stone to success.
  • Forget trends; the real wealth strategy is classic: invest your money. Money making money beats any get-rich-quick scheme.
  • From gel nails to real estate, unconventional paths prove that innovation often lies outside the status quo.
  • Learn from mistakes: not investing in Google was a lost opportunity; sometimes the risk is missing the right chance.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Tony Cooer, Beverly Hills, MMA, Busy
  2. – 10:00: Jeffrey Phillips, gaming
  3. – 15:00: MMA, Beverly Hills, Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather

Notable quotes from "I Asked Dana White How He Made $500 Million!"

  • White. But before we do that, look, I'm not in Las Vegas right now. As you can see, I'm in Beverly Hills. And before we meet up with Dana, I'm going to be hitting the streets…
    about Beverly Hills · at
  • Them by handing out a million cars that say Google Tony Cooer at every beauty show in the world. I should have taken that five grand and bought his stock and it'll be worth a lot of money today.
    about Tony Cooer · at
  • Anybody my age that's 100 times richer than me, smarter than me. Teach me real estate. He said, I'll teach you real estate. Said, By investment property, put 50% down, never…
    about Mitch Slober · at
  • Business. There's no lawyers, no confusing paperwork involved. There's no stress. You can literally create your LLC or escorp and start your business in under 10 minutes. And…
    about Busy · at
  • 27, I did a big deal and I had to put together two people and my commission on it was 48 million bucks. You made that yourself.
    about Jeffrey Phillips · at
  • What type of tech company are you running today?
    about gaming · at
  • Yeah. Well, not just me. Me and my partners all felt that we love the story lines. We thought that the fighting was way more exciting than boxing. And we loved boxing. And we…
    about MMA · at
  • Further. I want to help you out even more because look, I actually give you direct access to the multi-millionaires and the billionaires I interview on this channel every…
    about entrepreneurial community · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Jeffrey Phillips — Person · Referenced entrepreneur (street interviewee) · 3 mentions · first at
    He describes making a $48M commission deal at 27, building a gaming/patent business, and attributes success to faith and belief.
  • Tony Cooer — Person · Referenced entrepreneur (street interviewee) · 2 mentions · first at
    He claims to have invented gel nails and shares wealth advice on work ethic, investing (tax-free bonds, industrial real estate), and LLC structuring.
  • Mitch Slober — Person · Referenced mentor figure · 1 mention · first at
    Cited as a wealthy example from Inc. magazine who taught Tony Cooer a conservative real estate approach (low leverage, long-term hold).
  • Mark Cuban — Person · Referenced notable interviewee · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned to establish the host’s credibility and the caliber of guests on School of Hard Knocks.
    I have the biggest business media channel in the entire world called the School of Hard Knocks, where I interview guys like Shaq, Mark Cuban. What did you What did you What did you do to get a Rolls-Royce? I invented gel nails 1981.
  • Conor McGregor — Person · Referenced athlete · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as an example of major fights Dana White promoted, reinforcing UFC’s star-driven growth.
    Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather, but you name it, you guys. So, this is a full circle moment. We're about to be linking up an interview with the legend himself, Dana White. Come on.
  • Floyd Mayweather — Person · Referenced athlete · 1 mention · first at
    Referenced alongside Conor McGregor as part of the host’s memory of major fight promotions tied to Dana White’s prominence.
    Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather, but you name it, you guys. So, this is a full circle moment. We're about to be linking up an interview with the legend himself, Dana White. Come on.
  • Shaquille O'Neal — Person · Referenced notable interviewee · 1 mention
    Used as social proof for the host’s channel, indicating prior interviews with high-profile business/sports figures.
    I have the biggest business media channel in the entire world called the School of Hard Knocks, where I interview guys like Shaq, Mark Cuban. What did you What did you What did you do to get a Rolls-Royce? I invented gel nails 1981.

Companies & orgs

  • Busy — Company · Advertised tool / referenced company · 1 mention · first at
    Presented as the platform used to form an LLC quickly and affordably; positioned as foundational for entrepreneurs to protect assets and stay compliant.
  • Google LLC — Company · Referenced company (missed investment anecdote) · 1 mention · first at
    Tony Cooer cites meeting Google’s owners and declining a $5,000 investment as his biggest financial regret, illustrating opportunity cost.
    Them by handing out a million cars that say Google Tony Cooer at every beauty show in the world. I should have taken that five grand and bought his stock and it'll be worth a lot of money today.

Concepts & topics

  • MMA — Concept · Core domain topic · 3 mentions · first at
    MMA is the sport underlying UFC’s business; Dana contrasts it with boxing and discusses why it was more exciting and scalable.
  • gaming — Concept · Referenced business domain · 2 mentions · first at
    Jeffrey Phillips claims his billion-dollar tech company operates in gaming through ownership of casino game patents.
  • California State tax-free bonds — Concept · Referenced investment vehicle · 1 mention · first at
    Tony Cooer describes building wealth by choosing California municipal tax-free bonds for steady returns and capital preservation.
    Go in the stock market when I was 30 years old, they told me you can get a 12% return. I looked at California State tax-free bonds. Paid 5%. I've been doing that. I started with 2 million. I have it up to 50 million in taxfree bonds.
  • entrepreneurial community — Concept · Call-to-action / ecosystem · 2 mentions
    The host promotes a private community where entrepreneurs can ask questions directly to millionaires and billionaires featured on the channel.

Places & events

  • Beverly Hills — Place · Secondary setting location · 3 mentions · first at
    The episode begins with street interviews in Beverly Hills to gather wealth-building advice before traveling to Las Vegas for Dana White.

Full transcript with timestamps

I'm about to interview one of the most legendary and richest entrepreneurs of all time. And his name, you know him, it's Dana White. Who am I here with today?

Dana White. And how did you get rich? I sell fights for a living. What do you mean?

I'm the CEO of the UFC. And you're running a billion dollar company. Multi-billion dollar company.

A multi-billion dollar company. Guys, Dana White took a failing MMA company and turned it into a multi-billion dollar business. You know that business? It's the UFC. In this video, I'm going to be doing something absolutely insane, guys. I'm going to be flying out to Las Vegas to the UFC headquarters to go meet up with and interview the legendary Dana White. But before we do that, look, I'm not in Las Vegas right now. As you can see, I'm in Beverly Hills. And before we meet up with Dana, I'm going to be hitting the streets to go find the richest people that live out here in Beverly Hills to figure out how they got rich and how you can become wealthy and build generational wealth just like them. So, this video is about to be insane from start to finish. So, stay tuned until the end. With that being said, let's get this video on the way.

All right, you guys. So, look. As you can see, look, we're at the Beverly Wilshshire Hotel. Some of the richest people in LA. They come here for business meetings and whatnot. And somebody that I interviewed before that made over $100 million. He did two billion in sales throughout his career actually just pulled up to the valet.

Is this your Rolls-Royce? Yeah. I have the biggest business media channel in the entire world called the School of Hard Knocks, where I interview guys like Shaq, Mark Cuban. What did you What did you What did you do to get a Rolls-Royce? I invented gel nails 1981.

What's the most amount of money you made in a single year? Made over 100 million.

We're going to see if we can go track him down and get a part two interview with him to figure out how he got rich and became one of the richest men out here in Beverly Hills. You guys, come on.

Excuse me, sir. Sir, how did you become wealthy? Mother, you know, I already told you I invented gel nails.

So, you're an inventor. I'm the inventor of gel nails. Yeah. How much money did you make?

I made over $und00 million on my career. Can I get a minute of your time real quick?

Sure you can. Why not? So, give me the most life-changing advice you ever received on money that made you the nine figure entrepreneur that you are today. Give me the best money advice you ever got throughout your career.

I go to work every day at 5:00. I'm 71 years old. It's 95% perspiration and 5% luck. The best advice I can give you is keep trying, mother. Get out there and do it.

When did you learn you weren't going to get rich working for anybody else? I knew that when I was 24 years old. I knew I had to be a boss.

What's the worst financial decision you made? The worst financial decision I ever made was probably when I met the owners of Google. They wanted me to put $5,000 into the search engine and I beat them by handing out a million cars that say Google Tony Cooer at every beauty show in the world. I should have taken that five grand and bought his stock and it'll be worth a lot of money today.

What do the richest people in the world do with their money? I want to tell you one thing. I grew up very poor and I'm worth a lot of money today. The only time money is important is when you don't have it. The richest people in the world, the real rich people, they invest it. The bottom line to it is you have to invest your money. Money makes your money. That old saying is true. Once you have it, you just have to invest it and let the money make your money.

What was that investment vehicle that made you the most amount of money? I would say two things. I was the most successful out of my business. One was tax-free bonds. When everybody wanted to go in the stock market when I was 30 years old, they told me you can get a 12% return. I looked at California State tax-free bonds. Paid 5%. I've been doing that. I started with 2 million. I have it up to 50 million in taxfree bonds. Never cash one in. is guaranteed by the state of California. The other is industrial real estate. When I was in Incor magazine in 1987, the number one guy was Mitch Slober. He was in Cleveland. And I stayed up with him until 3:00 in the morning. He asked me if I was gay. I said, "Why do you think I'm gay?" He said, "Well, you won't leave my room." I said, "I never met anybody my age that's 100 times richer than me, smarter than me. Teach me real estate." He said, "I'll teach you real

estate." Said, "By investment property, put 50% down, never leverage it, never sell it." I said, "Well, how the [ __ ] do you make money?" He said, "You idiot. your mortgage goes down, your payments go up on the property, and you give it to your kids. That's why it's called real estate.

You know, they don't teach that in school right? They don't teach that in school, but they do teach it in Hard Knocks, right?

In the school of hard knocks, because that's why people are listening here because they want to see successful people.

How important was the entity structuring when you were building your company? The energy structure for building it, it was very important.

Did you have an LLC when you started your business? I didn't have an LLC. It was a partnership at the time, but I gave

Was that Was that a mistake not having the energy structure? I should have had an LLC. You should always have an LLC for liability. If you get sued, you don't want them to take your house, your car, and all your personal. That's But the key is again, everybody should do it when you go in business. You never know if a kid is going to swallow something, and you're going to get sued. An LLC is what covers you. They could sue your corporation. And thank God, you can bankrupt that corporation and still keep your personal assets. So, why wouldn't you do it? I tell everybody this. The most affordable way to start a business in today's world and start an LLC is through a company that I use. It's called Busy. And it allowed us to start a business overnight, not years like everybody thinks it takes. And we built a multi-million dollar business in just a couple years.

It's very important. I love that. In a sense, you don't even really need a lawyer.

You don't need a lawyer. No. You got amazing advice, Tony. Thank you very much.

And you got an amazing following. Hey, but guess what, though? We got to make some money together.

Oh, I've been trying with you kids. Hey, how how much are we going to make together?

I got ideas for you that will blow your mind. How much How much can we make? I don't know what you're making now, but I think you can make 5060 million a year with my ideas.

Let's make it happen. Guys, we just interviewed that $100 million entrepreneur again. And did you hear what he just said? His biggest regret in business was not setting up an LLC from the get-go. And why? Because it protects you from so much as a business owner. And he's right. Let me explain. Look, too many entrepreneurs, they build great businesses, even amazing businesses, but they skip the foundation, which is the most important part. That structure, that LLC or escorp is what keeps your personal assets safe. It lowers your taxes and it makes your business real rather than just an idea.

And that's exactly why I tell all people in business, you do not need a lawyer. You need Bizzy. Busy is the platform every entrepreneur should start with. And why? Because it's the most affordable and easiest way to start your business. There's no lawyers, no confusing paperwork involved. There's no stress. You can literally create your LLC or escorp and start your business in under 10 minutes. And you get a free registered agent for a year and lifetime compliance alerts so you never miss a filing. And look guys, here's the thing.

I'm not just telling you this. I'm telling you this because I actually use Bizzy. I built my own multi-million dollar company through using Bizzy and it gave me the foundation to scale without the legal side of things holding me back, which is what so many business owners struggle with. So, if you're serious about turning your idea into a business, then do not wait any longer. All you have to do is go down, click the link in the description of this video, and start your business with Busy Today, and it'll be the smartest first step that you ever take. With that being said, let's go get our next interview.

Excuse me, sir. Sir, how old were you when you became a millionaire? 27 years old. And what lot of business are you in?

Well, I'm an entrepreneur, but I've had many businesses. What happened at 27? 27, I did a big deal and uh I had to put together two people and my commission on it was 48 million bucks. You made that yourself.

Yeah. So, it's safe to say the dealmakers can really make the money in today's world.

Deal makers, they make a lot of money. So, you don't have to be the smartest guy, but if you can connect the right two people together and make money out of it, you're going to make money.

The smartest guy is a guy who's closest to God. When you keep God first, you can get whatever you want in life.

Do you always believe in God? Always believed in God. My father's a minister, but as I got older, I had a near-death experience. Four years ago, I had double pneumonia and COVID, and they gave me 24 hours to live. And here I am today, 5 years later.

So, you think it was God that got you through that? No, I don't think it was God. But I know it was God cuz I had five doctors telling my family I was going to die that night.

So what would you say to somebody out there that's questioning their belief? They don't think that God's actually there. What would you say to them?

I would say God is here. No matter what you want in life, you know, we all go through problems in life. And once we get past that problem, no matter what the problem is, we always get over it. Once we get over that problem, we have to figure out how did we do it? Where did it come from? So you got to backtrack and say, okay, how did I get here today? You know, I own a huge technology company is worth $1.2 billion.

So you're a billionaire. Well, on paper. Yes. Yeah. That's amazing. paper. What's your name?

Jeffrey Phillips. Jeffrey Phillips. No, just Jeffrey without a Y. Don't ask why.

So, what did it take to build out a billion dollar companies? You know what? I'm blessed. Deals come to me. It's like you guys approaching me right now.

So, you're saying once you build that credibility, it starts to come to you. Once you build that credibility, your trust in God, everything comes to you. I know right now I can ask for anything I want and I'll get it.

So, it's safe to say faith is at the center of every decision you make. Faith is at the center of every decision. I have all that I have only because of God.

What type of tech company are you running today? Gaming. Have you heard of blackjack? Yeah.

Okay. Have you ever played blackjack? You know blackjack with the bonus round where you put up money there? I own all the patents to those.

Are you kidding? So when you play and lose, I get paid. Oh my goodness. Right now.

And see, once again, that just happened by a blessing. But that's a lesson in itself right there because patents, if you own the patent, you can make a lot of money.

If you own the patents in anything, you can make a lot of money. You don't have to work.

How do you get the patent, though? That's where God comes in. I was in Vegas. I had a TV show that I was on for 2 years, and somebody recognized me and they said, "Oh my gosh, I was just at home watching a TV show." And I'm sitting there. I meet with this person. She tells me her dad has these patents over a two or three years period. I meet with her father who owned video poker and he says, "Listen, I've got these patents for this new version of blackjack that's going to come out." This is back in 2018 and I end up buying it from him and here we are today.

Did you have anybody that doubted you to build that gaming company centered around Blackjack and do a billion dollar company? You had to ask Did people think you were crazy?

People still think I'm crazy. They do. Are you crazy? A little bit maybe. Yeah, of course.

Just a little bit. I live in LA. I'm crazy. You have to be a little crazy to be successful though. To be that successful, you have to.

You do. Did you always know God? Always knew God, but not the way I know him now. You know, when I come from Buffalo, New York, and I'm a millionaire at 27 and get to this point at 58 where I've got a company that's worth a billion plus. Like I said, it's only God that can get you here. So, you got to have faith and belief. If I say, you know what, I'm going to own that building. I may not have the revenue to do it, but I'm going to have that building. You come back a year from now, I'm going to have it. You know what's going to happen? The universe is going to open. And when I start telling you I'm going to own that building and start telling other people, I'll tell one person, they'll say, "Hey, I know the guy that owns it, and he's looking to sell it. This is how my entire life has worked, you know, to do that $48 million deal. I was at a restaurant like this and I was sitting at the table and it

was a casino deal and the woman a chair next to me, she says, "Hey, I'm trying to put together a casino." She's talking to someone else and I'm overlisting. I say, "Hey, I got a guy that want to buy a casino." Her investors put up $450 million. My commission on it, my take was $48 million. I was 27, turning 28.

I want to challenge you right now. Take me back to the most life-changing conversation you ever had. What is the greatest advice you ever received throughout your career?

Uh, I was from a doctor. I was sick in Vegas and I was trying to raise money to do my first TV show and I had given up and the doctor said, "You got to believe in yourself." He said, "Stop investing other things and invest in yourself." Once I started to invest in myself and started believing, everything happened.

Sometimes the most unconventional circumstances can lead to the greatest pieces of advice. That's from a doctor and you're a business. You're a business guy.

Yeah, I am. You can learn something from everybody. That's why I love this channel cuz there's people from so many different backgrounds, so many different businesses. But we can learn little bits and pieces from everybody on this in this earth.

Oh, yeah. You can learn from everybody. Right. The homeless man on the street. You can learn, you know, and I talk to homeless people all the time and I do learn a lot from home.

Did you ever go broke? Of course. Are you kidding? I'm a black man from Buffalo. I was born broke.

So, you lost that 48 million. Oh, are you kidding? I lost that 30 years ago. But you made it all back.

I make it all back. And if I lose it again today, I'll make it back again. You would? How? How?

Like I said, having faith and belief and believe in myself. And one thing I do have is a creative mind. So, I know how to make anything happen.

How old are you now? I'm just turned 58. If me and you died tomorrow and you had one more guiding principle to leave with the younger generation, what would that be? Believe in God.

I love it, man. I appreciate you, man. I gotta go. God bless you, man. Keep it up.

Could I give you my contact? The time has now come, you guys. All right, we got two moguls in Beverly Hills. It's time to head out to Las Vegas to get the mogul, Dana White. There's no better promoter and marketer in sports than Dana White himself. He turned the UFC from a failing company to a multi-billion dollar business. So, let's go fly out to Las Vegas right now and go meet up with the legend himself. You guys, come on.

All right. How are you? Good. We're going to go see Dana. I just called his assistant. You guys go right to the lobby. She's going to come and grab you guys. Okay.

Okay. Thank you so much. All right, you guys. We just got to the UFC Performance Institute. We're about to interview the man himself, Dana White, out here, you guys. Come on. All right, you guys. This is a full circle moment for me. I want you guys to understand. Listen, I grew up watching all the UFC fights. I grew up watching Dana White promote all of the fights. Conor McGregor, Floyd Mayweather, but you name it, you guys. So, this is a full circle moment. We're about to be linking up an interview with the legend himself, Dana White. Come on.

How are you, James? It's great to meet you. Have you guys been to the UFC? No, it's first time here.

You want to do like a little walk? Yeah. Be awesome. Super cool. This is the UFC.

So, this is like where all of our guys come to Cutway. And also quite a few UFC fighters live in Vegas, so they work out here like on a daily basis.

Hi guys, welcome to the Performance Institute. My name is Vanessa James. Great to meet you.

Great to meet you. I fight in the UFC. Where are you from? Austin, Texas. Let's go. That's awesome. Do you do social media?

I do. Are you that guy that asks people what they do? They're like the millionaires. Like, hey, how'd you make all your money? That's so dope. I watch your all the time. Congratulations on all your success, man. It's really great to meet you. Have some fun, you guys. Yeah. If you want to have some fun upstairs, uh, I'd be glad to beat you up.

Hey, make it happen. Yeah, dude. I got you. I got you. Bye, guys. How you doing, Dana? Great to meet you,

buddy. You too. Pleasure. Bring in. We'll do it in the bar. Sounds great, man. Right here.

Yes, sir. Absolutely. Let me come on the Got you, my man. 100% deaf in that ear. It'll be an awkward interview when I can't hear you.

Yeah, man. It's all good. Where you from? Austin, Texas. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I live in Austin. Grew up in the DC area, but we've been in Austin the last 5 years. Started the channel my freshman year at the University of Texas and uh grew it to about 17 million followers across all platforms and been able to end it. But I got to tell you, this is a special one for you because you're definitely on my Mount Rushmore of entrepreneurs. I I grew up. You can ask him watching you promote, you know,

Tik Toks with we had the UFC posters in our basement in the background 5 years ago.

That's awesome, man. Thank you. I appreciate it. I got one rule for the interview, though.

There's no holding back. We're going to give the younger generation the secrets to becoming successful.

I don't hold back. I love that. Love it. I know you. It's a good rule. Who am I here with today?

Dana White. And how did you get rich? I sell fights for a living. What do you mean?

I'm the CEO of the UFC. And you're running a billion dollar company. Multi-billion dollar company.

A multi-billion dollar company. Take me back before the UFC. You were a bellman at a hotel in Boston. What was the moment when you realized I'm meant for more than this?

It wasn't was I meant for more than this. It was just like this isn't me. This isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life. And and and not to uh to [ __ ] on jobs like that cuz a lot of my friends still work at the hotel and stuff. It just wasn't for me. Wasn't I didn't like anything about it. And I said, you know what? I want to be in the fight business. Which was probably the dumbest idea ever at that time. And uh if it didn't work out, I could always go back and be a Bellman. And when you're 19, 20, 21, up, you know, even in your 30s, take risks. You have to take risks.

Go before you have the responsibility. 100%. I didn't have my kids till I was like 33.

And you mortgaged your future on at the time a failing MMA company. What is it that you saw in the UFC that nobody else saw?

Yeah. Well, not just me. Me and my partners all felt that we love the story lines. We thought that the fighting was way more exciting than boxing. And we loved boxing. And we believe that we could take all the things that we hated about boxing and loved about boxing and and and make this thing as perfect as we possibly could.

And you disrupted the fight business. So, let's talk to an entrepreneur right now. They're trying to disrupt an industry. What would your advice be to them?

Yeah, it's it's a it's a great question. I think that when you get into, you know, especially back then before social media or the internet or any of that stuff, there was a lot of old money and a lot of young people didn't have the opportunity to make money. It's it's the wild wild west now. It's a free-for-all. There are so many opportunities for disrupting like you said and basically what you do is you go in and break all the rules. People will always tell you, "Oh, this will never work or they're too big. You can't." People said you'll never be bigger than boxing. People that have been telling me that for 25 years and yes, you can be. You got to get in there and you literally have to shake up and break the rules. Just because something has been the way it has been for a hundred years doesn't mean it can't be changed, can't be different, can't be better. Was there a time when you were growing the UFC where you

thought to yourself, this is all going to collapse? And if so, how did you get through that?

Yeah. I mean, you'll go through that all the time. It's not like you just get here and and it's like, all right, we're here. I just did a new deal with Paramount.

How much? $7.7 billion deal with Paramount and I'm going into this new Paramount deal in January on a fresh slate. I have to go out and prove myself again. You have to keep proving yourself every year. And and like I have this ritual now. Every Christmas I I go to uh Italy and I'm on a boat in the middle of Italy and and and just take like 8 to 10 days and by 7 8 nine I'm like yeah I'm ready to kick next year's ass. So you you you literally have to get up every day and go out and prove yourself. Even when you by industry standards or by other people's idea of success, you have to keep grinding and you have to keep going.

I saw you were just talking about in a press conference you were asked about, you know, how are you going to compete with the other promoters and it's you think way bigger than everybody else. How long term are you thinking? It's hilarious. So these promoters are like, "Oh, can't wait to compete with me." You guys have been doing this for, you know, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years, depending on the promoter, and you're still in the same place. You don't think big enough. The way that I look at when I talk about competing, first of all, I love to compete against myself.

Are you afraid of competition? Have you ever Have you ever been afraid of competition?

No, I love competition. I love everything about fighting. And competition, no matter what it is, is a fight. I mean, I just did the 60 Minutes interview and and and and they asked me, we asked around about you and what do you think people said? And I knew they were going to say loyal, right? And what do you think other people said? Bully. Anybody that that said I was a bully tried to compete with me and lost.

You got their asses kicked. Yeah. That's I mean that's that's that's how it works. If you want to pick a fight, there's a winner and a loser in a fight. And I love that. So, you know, if if you come and say you want to compete against us, let's compete. You

brought up loyal though. How important is it to keep your word in business? It's everything. Your word is not just business in life. Your word is everything in life. For instance, I mean, I talk about this one all the time, too, but we went through COVID because I wasn't laying off any employees, you know, but when you are a a massive company like we are now, there's a lot of miles to feed and and if there's no revenue coming in, you got to make some horrible decisions that I wasn't going to make. Well, listen, we're either this mother is a battleship. We go into battle every day and we're either all going down together or not at all. So, it's like the scariest time in our lifetime and I'm much older than you. scariest time in our lifetime. You know, you have all these employees and these people who show up every day and work hard for you and the [ __ ] hits the fan. It's the scariest time in the world and just

because of money, you're going to just let all these people go. Good luck to you everybody. I hope you can figure out groceries and toilet paper and whatever else it is that everybody needed during co but good luck. And then everything turns around and comes back. What do you think? Who who who the would want to work for you when that's the way you treated the people that were with you, you know? And and and real quick for my audience, for the people that don't understand this, during co every major sports organization, they were shutting down. You decided to go out to the Middle East and you pioneered the business out there. Why did you do that?

And and was it just the innovator in you that was like, I'm not letting this happen to my company?

Yeah. You know, I had to distribute my product to ESPN and and other networks around the world. And first of all, I had an arena next door. Just built my own arena and the governor here would not let me use my arena social distancing. And I said, "Then I just need to I kept thinking island. I need an island where I can go out somewhere that has infrastructure and all I have to do is is is put on fights and beam the signal up to to all of our partners. You can't tell me that that's not possible, that we can't do that. Not to mention the fact that I have this philosophy. I grew up in in the 70s and 80s. It's 2025. Anything is possible.

Don't tell me something can't be done. Everything can be done. That's the other word I don't like around here is no. No. And we can't.

One of the things you've talked about throughout the interview is the importance of people. Surrounding yourself with the right people. When I look at you and your network, your business partners are billionaires. Your great friends with President Trump, some of the most successful, some of the richest people in the world. If it boils down to one trait, think about the most successful people that you know, what do they all have in common?

Consistency. Consistency is the key to everything in life. Whether it's getting up and building a business, getting in shape, working on different relationships. You have to be a consistent person. But you have to be driven, too. To have consistency, you have to have drive. And I say this all the time. I see a lot of this younger generation. I don't know. They they they just seem weak to me in a lot of ways.

So, let me ask you this. I'm 23. How old are you? Yeah, I'm 56. So, whose generation works harder yours than mine?

Oh, my generation will run you mother over and and then back over you again. But you think it's easy to stand out in my generation?

100%. How can somebody stand? Look at what you've done. Look at your success and look at what you've done. You know how you did it. You know, you worked your ass off from the outside. It's like these people I I hear these kids, "Oh, I want to be an influencer." Do you even understand? Like I'm close to the Neelk boys. These kids are on the road non-stop grinding, working, taking your own money and reinvesting in your business and reinvesting in yourself, believing in yourself and and like you said, being a disruptor. But you know, but kid, if I talk to somebody like you, you're 23.

Yeah. You you know exactly what I'm talking about. That's why you're asking all the right questions because you you know what it takes. A lot of the kids in in this generation, I don't see it. So, there's never been more opportunity for guys like you.

I'm going to challenge you right now. Take me back to the most life-changing conversation that you've ever had. What is the greatest advice that you ever received throughout your career?

Well, it's a weird thing to say because it's you have to understand the way that I'm wired, but uh may God have mercy upon my enemies because I won't.

There's there's no mercy for the competition. No, there's no mercy for the competition. that listen, there's such things as friendly competition and there are lots of people that that I compete with that I respect, but then there's Listen, every when you build something great and and you've built something and and and you're making money, everybody's coming everybody's coming for you to try to take a piece or take you down. And if you don't jump out of bed every day and strap up and get ready to go to war, you're never going to make it. Being an entrepreneur is a war every day. You have to go to battle and you got to be willing to get in there and fight. Not just in in in in business, but in life.

Bad shit's coming for you and and and every day bad things happen here and bad people come at you every day and if you don't look at it as all right this is a fight and we need a winner and a loser and I need to figure out how to win it's going to be a rough go for you

what anyone else thinks them all I love it you got amazing advice my friend buddy

thank you so much man I appreciate you man you're a massive inspiration everybody really appreciate that

you here for the uh fights this weekend here you going to slap yes sir 100% this is your first lap event

slap absolutely appreciate you're going to love it come here I want to show you So when you were asking about mentality and what since I was a kid, this is the quote that I've lived my whole life by. Read that and tell me that doesn't make sense

because you might as well be dead. See, you said you always put limits on what you could do physical or anything else it'll spread to your life.

Literally every day when you get out of bed, you try to be better than you were yesterday. No matter how old you are, whether it's physically, improve your relationships or your business. How do we beat yesterday? That's literally the way that I think and what I do.

Mhm. Yep. What's this one say? Say it to them right here. What does it say? Everybody pies the weak. Jealousy is earned.

I love that, man. Don't be the weak. She's She's going to give you my cell number and then text me and let me know what you congrats. Really happy for you, man.

Thank you for letting us. Guys, that's a wrap on today's video, man. We just interviewed the legendary Dana White. Did the interview. He gave us a tour. That's a legend right there. I need y'all to do me a huge favor. Like and subscribe, man, because every week I'm doing the craziest things. I'm going to bring you all the biggest business owners in the world to get their advice for you. But let's take things a step further. I want to help you out even more because look, I actually give you direct access to the multi-millionaires and the billionaires I interview on this channel every single week cuz I launched and built a private community for entrepreneurs where you can ask your question directly to the millionaires and billionaires I interview on this channel every week inside. All you have to do to join is go down, click the link in the description of this video. I can't wait to see you on the inside.

With that being said, I'll see you in the next

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "I Asked Dana White How He Made $500 Million!"?

James (Guest), Dana White (Guest), Tony Cooer (Guest), Jeffrey Phillips (Guest).

What is "I Asked Dana White How He Made $500 Million!" about?

In this content, Dana White, the CEO of the UFC, explains how he transformed a struggling MMA organization into a multi-billion dollar enterprise, while the host ventures through Beverly Hills to seek insights from wealthy individuals about their paths to financial success. The exploration highlights themes of entrepreneurship and the pursuit of generational wealth.

What is mentioned in this School of Hard Knocks episode?

14 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including MMA, Jeffrey Phillips, Tony Cooer, Beverly Hills, Busy, gaming. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "I Asked Dana White How He Made $500 Million!"?

The episode runs 24 min; the transcript is about 6,306 words in 125 timestamped sections.

More from School of Hard Knocks

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.