Last year was a year full of milestones and challenges for Dana White’s promotion. Several marquee events upped the ante in terms of entertainment and standards. New champions were crowned and some storied rivalries came to a close in 2024. The UFC even managed to solidify their dominance in the MMA realm as some stars from ONE Championship also debuted in the UFC. All in all, it was a rollercoaster ride for the promotion as UFC CEO Dana White made sure that no stone would be left unturned to make 2024 an amazing year. As we march towards 2025, the UFC head honcho appears to be back, ready to raise the bar ahead of UFC 311.

2024 was full of amazing surprises for Dana White, as many marquee fighters such as Mikey Musumeci and Reinier de Ridder jumped from ONE to UFC. Additionally, fighters such as Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones came back from their hiatus. The UFC also became the only combat sports organization to host an event at The Sphere. With more than $132 million in revenue last year, Dana White is back from his vacation and ready to crash into 2025 with even greater ambitions. The UFC CEO uploaded a story where he showcased a video of his super yacht, Apho, and captioned it as, “The parties over back to grind.” 

The UFC CEO looks to have come back refreshed after spending some quality time with his family on his  377-foot superyacht costing $3 million. Now the UFC head honcho turns his focus on overcoming challenges pertaining to the UFC. The first hurdle to cross comes in the form of the highly anticipated UFC 311 clash between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan.

Dana White has already announced the marquee events for UFC 311 and UFC 312. While the first two cards of 2025 are highly stacked, what about the rest of 2025? Let’s take a closer look at what the UFC CEO has planned for this year.

Dana White aims to turn lofty goals for 2025 into reality

With over $132 million in revenue through the prime events, Dana White has made 2024. However, the savvy businessman will want to raise the bar in 2025. With UFC 311 and UFC 312 already on the cards, the UFC CEO plans to truly take the UFC global. While the UFC Apex served as a prime venue for the Friday night events for quite some time, White believes that it is time for him to expand the promotion’s reach.

In a recent interview with Sports Business Journal, White opened up about his plans for the UFC’s next chapter. He said, “I’m looking to go everywhere on this planet. We’re going to start going into cities that we haven’t been to [since] pre-pandemic. We’re going to start going back. We’re going to do Chicago in ‘25. We’re going to go back up to Seattle and hit a lot of other places that we haven’t been in a while, so we’re going to move around a lot in ’25.”

The UFC head honcho also added that he would love to expand into international markets such as Spain, Mexico, Africa, and other potential territories. Regardless, Dana White will be looking to mark some new records. What’s your take on White’s ambitions? State your thoughts in the comments below.