Dana White has established himself as the no-nonsense CEO of the UFC, and fighters usually avoid getting on his bad side. However, a former champion whom the head honcho once managed was one of the few individuals who never backed away from beefing with White. The relationship turned so bitter that White still carries the sourness, recently calling out the fighter once again.

That fighter is former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. After ‘The Hunnnigton Beach Bad Boy’ rose to prominence through his feud with Chuck Liddell, his issues with Dana White took center stage. From contract disputes to personal disagreements, the fighter-boss connection stayed plagued on multiple fronts. Tito left the UFC in 2012, but the tremors of their broken bond still echo today, with the head honcho blaming the ex-champion for destroying their relationship.  

Dana White opens up about his relationship with Tito Ortiz 

“You don’t understand how stupid this guy is. He’s dumb. And you know, when two people don’t like each other, somebody’s gonna have something to say about it. I said to you, ‘I have no ill will towards Tito. I hope he’s doing great, and it’s whatever. Him and his family.’ So we’d be doing these press conferences, and I would have to listen to 25 minutes of his rambling dumb s—t that came out of his mouth, and it made no sense in the entire press conference,” Dana White stated in an interview with Bigboy TV.  

The UFC CEO and president did not mention which press conference he was referring to. However, it could very well be the UFC 84 post-fight press conference, where both men got into a verbal clash in front of the media. That moment stands as another example of how badly their rapport suffered due to ongoing disputes.

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Furthermore, Dana White also pointed out that before the Fertitta brothers purchased the company for $2 million, the original owners actually wanted Tito Ortiz and not Chuck Liddell. At the time, the UFC head honcho managed both fighters, which made it surprising to him that ‘The Iceman’ was overlooked, especially since he later became a champion.

“So what’s fascinating is, the old owners didn’t want Chuck. The old owners of the UFC, when we bought it, I was managing Chuck and Tito. And the old owners didn’t want Chuck. They didn’t believe in Chuck. And I said, ‘You guys are crazy.’ Tito was our guy when me and the Fertittas first got involved. You know, we loved Tito. And then Tito did everything in his power to destroy that relationship,” the UFC boss added.

Now, as the President opened up about his feud with the former champion he once managed, the 50-year-old wanted to make peace last year. But, he is not the only fighter Dana White holds resentment toward. Recently, he also spoke about having animosity toward another fighter, leaving fans guessing about who that might be.  

The UFC CEO wanted a fighter to lose last year   

As fans assumed that the head honcho’s animosity was limited to Tito Ortiz, that turned out not to be the case. According to Dana White, out of thousands of UFC fighters, he has also had beef with others, and he even admitted that he wanted to see one of them lose as recently as last year.

In an interview with Real 92.3, the UFC boss was asked whether he disliked any other fighter on the current roster and whether there was someone he wanted to see lose. White did not shy away from answering.

“That’s a great question. Probably the middle of last year, yeah. Yeah, listen, we have almost 1000 guys under contract, they don’t all like me, and I don’t like all of them either,” he answered.

While Dana White did not name anyone, fans quickly jumped into guessing mode. Some pointed to Magomed Ankalaev, especially after he defeated Alex Pereira, one of the UFC’s biggest stars. Others believed it could be Belal Muhammad, as many fans were skeptical of the Palestinian American becoming champion, assuming his grappling-heavy style would lead to a dull reign. As a surprising entry, Merab Dvalishvili’s name also entered the conversation after his win over Sean O’Malley, another fighter the UFC had positioned as a star.

That said, with all the speculation floating around, do you think Dana White disliked this mystery fighter enough to want them to lose, similar to how things played out with Tito Ortiz against Chuck Liddell? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.