Back in 2022, Tony Ferguson took aim at upcoming opponent Michael Chandler by claiming he was enjoying “Dana White privilege” by receiving a huge push and a title shot after only one fight and win in the UFC.
The comment was met with some laughs but there was nothing funny about it to Ferguson, who scratched and clawed his way to the top of the lightweight division for years but never felt like he was truly appreciated for his efforts. Since then, more and more fighters have talked about the so-called
“Dana White privilege” where certain athletes supposedly receive preferential treatment from the UFC CEO when it comes to fights being made or even placement on high-profile cards.
For his part, White flat out denies that he’s actually favoring one fighter over another but admits some athletes have that special something with the potential to become superstars that often times grant them bigger and better opportunities.
“Here’s the stupidity in ‘Dana White privilege’ — when you bring guys in there’s people that you think could possibly become world champions,” White explained on the Triggernometry podcast. “Everybody wants to become a world champion. Well there’s people that you think have a much better chance than others do. So you prop these people up and you put them in positions and see what they’re capable of doing.
“Conor McGregor is a guy that was accused of having ‘Dana White privilege.’ Arguably one of the biggest superstars in sports let alone the UFC. Ronda Rousey when I brought her in, ‘Dana White privilege.’ Huge superstar for us and literally launched female fighting for us. Bo Nickal, a guy that came in with a lot of heat on him, so you put him in these fights and these positions to see if he can perform. That’s what you do. That’s called fight promotion.”
Nickal was the latest example of a high-profile prospect getting a significant push from the UFC after he landed on several pay-per-view main cards, which are often coveted spots for ranked contenders trying to earn attention to get even more opportunities in the future.
When UFC 322 was initially announced, Nickal was once again slotted on the main card for his fight against Rodolfo Vieira, which was his return to action after suffering the first loss of his career to Reinier de Ridder back in May.
There was immediate blowback from fans that Nickal was getting a main card slot over a pair of ranked lightweights in Beneil Dariush and Benoit Saint Denis with their fight originally scheduled for the prelims.
Days later, a new bout order was revealed with Nickal now headlining the prelims and Saint Denis vs. Dariush promoted to the main card.
But White promises that any decisions regarding certain matchups being made or the perception that some fighters are getting pushed more than others really just comes down to doing what’s best for the UFC. If anything, White believes anybody complaining about so-called “Dana White privilege” are actually making excuses for their own shortcomings.
“Anybody that comes with ‘Dana White privilege’ or all these other things that happen, you have a group of people, not just in UFC and fighting but in life, that if they don’t make it and they don’t get to where they thought they could, it’s never their f*cking fault,” White said.
“It’s somebody else’s fault. I didn’t have the ‘Dana White privilege,’ and I didn’t have this, and I didn’t have that and those type of people are always going to exist.”
