Hi, Ike Boris and this is straight talk. Hey guys, we're a dear Circuit Crown Sydney. What a place, what a joint, how gatful, how good? And welcome Premier. Thanks, I'm welcome, Dana, thank you, thanks for coming to our town.
Oh it's good to be here.
Thanks for bringing UFC to our town again.
I love it. Love this town, beautiful, love it. Crowd here is great. Tons of fans been cruising around last couple of days. Lots of lots of UFC fans here in Sydney.
Yeah, well the mental for it, and I think to some extent we've got to thank the premiere for the and destination of New South Wales for doing the partnership with UFC. In relation to so, thank you Premier. So what's behind that?
Yeah, we love it.
I love the UFC for years and years, and when we were in opposition not in government, we were huge fans of it. For some reason, the previous government didn't try and grab UFC pitch it into Sydney. But it's been fantastic for crowds, great for the economy, and I also think there's a lot of young fighters that have come through as a result of the big promotions that have that have already taken place, so hopefully we can get it for for a few more years.
He's been a champ for us, he's been he's been, you know, one of our biggest supporters. And yeah, I was just saying before we started this thing, it's incredible how fast it's exploded here and not just as far as fans go, and and you know, people flying in from all over the world for the events, but the talent here. You know, we started first started, you know, coming into Australia, there were like two guys Elvis Senisik was one of them. And now there's multiple world champions, uh,
top ten contenders. It's just it's blown up out here. It's it's insane.
I want to ask you, Chris some or should refuge his premier. I just I just want to ask you, what is it you like about the UFC, What do you like about mixed martial arts and what has the UFC brought say that you think is really able to be amplified in here in Sydney, for example.
I always love boxing.
I'm like you, I always loved it, thought it was fantastic, but you never get the matchups the absolute bouts that everyone wanted to see. It to be two or three years late, and then the UFC came through and the best in each division would be fighting twice a year, three times a year, and no one was able to duck a fight.
And I saw what Dana was doing.
I mean I probably jumped on during the Mendez McGregor era, saw it on television, thought it was awesome. I just got hooked from there. It was amazing.
So Dana and Chris just mentioned something like Connor McGregor so importantly, how important is it for you, as the CEO of the UFC and the founder of the UFC to have characters like him from an point of view, like he's a great, he's a great at his craft and then't me wrong, but I'm just talking about the character of the individual.
Well, the business is star driven, you know, when you have somebody, you know, we had George Aperr from Canada who ignited that entire country, Brandon Moreno down in Mexico, Wiley Jiang who's fighting here this weekend in China, Volkanovski and Izzy from this area. It's very star driven. So when you Econo McGregor, when you have like econom McGregor around a Rousey who are globally, you know, big superstars.
That's that's what grows the sport, that's what makes people jump on board that might not have followed the UFC.
It's very star driven.
So but I think UFC is not just the fight game. It's sort of a brilliant game. And what I mean by that is that the way it's evolved from when you first started it, the way you use digital media, social media, the way you promote authenticity. You know, you're like the real deal, Like it takes something like Showy. Two of us are like, he's a legend here in Sydney. Tie. But the way you allow them to express themselves. You're not sort of sitting on people and not all the same.
They're all different and that seems to drag fans and people love that stuff.
Yeah.
Thanks, we're actually just talking about that. You know, we don't stop them from being whoever they are. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good, but it is what it is. This is these are all grown men and women who have their own opinions and their own style of whatever it may be. The women make just as much money as the men do. You know, when you look at the UFC, it's it's it's very real and.
Very fair.
And you know when they talk about like the w n B A and in the United States right now, tennis, golf, all these other things. When Ronda Rowsey was here, Ronda Rowsey made more money than everybody until Connor McGregor hit the scene. She was the highest paid athlete in the company because she brought in the most money. So, yeah, the UFC is uh, I don't know. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but yeah.
We don't.
We don't tell anybody what to say, what not to say, what to do. They all have their own personalities. Whoever you are, that's what I'm selling. Wherever you come from, that's what I'm selling.
So when you go to put people into the UFC, you've got your contendency or is he looking for individuals who are happy to express themselves like you know as part or.
Just the skill skills you can you can be a deaf mute if you're a badass, That's what I'm interested in. I'm interested in how good are you at fighting? If you have a personality like Connor and Rhonda and these others that's just you know, it's good for you. It's a home run. Yeah, it doesn't suck.
I think, and I don't know if you've been told this before, but some like you is. You are a great icon for people who are aspirational. And I think that's one of the reason why you've seen is successful at least in this country because Australians, a lot of Australians are aspirational, particularly the people I see come to the fights UFC fights and I've been to a number
of them. Do you see that as something that drives you in your own life because you know, you, you know, you didn't start off as a multimillionaire or anything like that. You you work through the process and you've got you know, you had some good like your sold the UFC and you're now working in the UFC, et cetera. But your aspirational journey. Do you see how important that is relative to the UFC brand and do you live it?
Hmm? Interesting?
I I I love everything about this business. I love taking people that you see that you think have talent and finding out if they can become world champions. I love letting people be whoever they are. I love the fact that we can find the toughest people from every little place on Earth and they all get to come in and compete on the world stage. I love everything about this business. And yeah, I think that the UFC
and it's at Fleets are very inspirational. And uh oh, these people that come from poverty and and all these different walks of life. And you know, like I said, it's not like we're in the United States or regionally. The whole world gets to compete. And when you, like he was saying earlier, when you become world champion here, there's no question you went. You ran through the gauntlet of the toughest people in the world, and there's no debating that you are the absolute best.
I don't know.
Yeah, the UFC is I love what we have here, and I think it's very inspirational.
And I think what the Premier is referring to is sometimes boxes can be managed. And you have a boxing background, so you know, it looks going to be many worst You're can just manage them through to a point and at some point they're going to have to fight up.
But there's five or six different champions. None of them want to fight each other, you know, you know, the rankings are always more about money than they are about who is truly the best.
We don't do that here.
So you're talking a as the audience here, and probably you're talking to a global audience as well. But what makes Aussie fighters so good? What's your experience?
I was just telling him again, but you know that this our image of Australia and in America was like crocodile Dundee type, you know, rough tough people here. Everything that exists that can kill you is here in the water or on land, from jellyfish to shark, snakes, spiders that they're all here. And Australia has looked at as this as this really tough place with tough people.
It was, and then as a fight fan. I then look at the Dakistani's and some of these people from hestern Europe and I think, to my, so, my, oh my god, they're tough people too, Like seriously tough people. I mean, do you find that you have to find different characters from different regions to satisfy all your different customer basis, call it your audience.
No.
I think one of the things that's fascinating about this business is I'll give you an example, I just did a fight a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles right with an Armenian and the main event was an Armenian and and and ah Dagistani Russian. Right now, Back in the day in boxing, you'd have had to have a Mexican in Los Angeles to to pull a crowd. And we were sold out and and and we set the record for that new arena. I can go to
Arizona with a Brazilian and a and a Canadian. I can go to you know, anywhere in the world, even here. You know, we have an American versus the South African in the main event in Australia and it's sold out and and it's you know, it's fascinating because people just care about who the best in the world is that they don't have to be from Australia or from uh Los Angeles or whatever. It's it's uh, it's one of the cool things about this sport.
And I think that that and I think that's a really good point because your point is that the way you structure the fights and said at a moment ago too, is you're going to be watching the best matched up against the best there's no bullshit around this place.
Yeah, and it's it's actually weird because when we go into places and if if I had the card too full of Australians, Australia doesn't love Australia wants to see the people they watch on pay per view that they don't get the opportunity to see all the time. And it's like that when we go to Brazil, it's like that, when we go to Mexico, it's like that when we go to Canada. This is a very unique sport.
But like but like boxing, you guys could have just stayed in Las Vegas and not moved.
Was obviously a decision to say we're going around the world.
The no brainers.
Back in the day when we started this thing, it was you would do Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New York and La sometimes that that was what Boxing had done, but mostly Vegas and Atlantic City because you know they were paying for the events. But this that we we we felt differently. We took this thing everywhere all over the world. Even when we go to White Knights, we go to small towns and our live event is so good. For those of you that are watching this, if you've
never been to a UFC live event. I guarantee you this. It is the most exciting live sporting event you will ever see. Nobody ever walks out of a live UFC event and goes, yeah, I don't ever want to come see one of these again. It's the exact opposite. We traveled this thing all over the world because we knew. Like you told me, your brother in law got you
into the UFC. That's how it works. Somebody gets into it and then they turned three, four or five more people onto it, and once you go to the live event, it's over.
We got you.
Can we look at next this? Can we look at this Sunday and the main cards, Due Places and Strickland And there's been a lot said about it. I mean obvious seen Strickland jump over three or four people and get stuck into Due Places, and I interview Due Places last week and he's saying that he's confident that he's going to take it to the next level. He's saying that he's evolved, and Sewan has not evolved. As a fight, I'm talking that what are you expecting? Fly works?
Well, I ran listen Sean Strickland for all of his you know, talking that he does when he gets into the the octagon. You know, he's got a very very good style. Nice jab always stays composed. I ranted the duplexity and the elevator at the hotel and his coach, and they were telling me, I mean, these guys do everything right, that they're actually really smart in how they approach everything. He got here. I'll give you an example. He got here over two weeks ago. To acclimate to
the time and all the other things. I think that's one of the things that boxing has over us because we had such humble beginnings and we're only like thirty years old as a sport. These guys don't do the things that boxers do. Like when you were a boxer at that level making that kind of money and you were the main event, the camp was all built around you. You had your own camp, your own training partners. You
would get into a place early. You know, like I said, to acclimate, whether it's to altitude or time differences, or temperature or humidity, all these different things play a factor in the fight. And I think Dupless's camp did a great job of getting here early. Ronda Rousey when she flew over here to Australia and lost to Holly Home. She came straight from filming a movie, got here three days before the fight. I had a hard time making weight because of it and obviously the time difference, and
you saw how that fight ended for Ronda. Dupless's really him and his team and his coach is brilliant, have a great game plan coming into this fight.
I remember you saying that Australia is the home of the upset too.
It's truely, it really is that. That is true.
And I think all of the things that I just mentioned are part of the reason. They're all factors in it. And Dupless's camp knows that, and and have really looked at this thing like professional boxing does, and and and how they set up their whole camp and their strategy to come into Australia.
And you just it's interesting to mention that Chris the Austraight as the home of the upset. Last weekend, I was tuning into Easy's fight is well it's fight and there was an upset for me anyway, he got knocked out and t k O in the second round. I think it was is he yeah, yeah? And would surprise you because I saw an interview later and you said you didn't expect it.
Yeah, listen, is he looked incredible in the first round, absolutely pecking them apart, chopping the calf, kick the whole round.
Uh.
At the at the end of that first round his face was all busted up, his leg was busted up. And is he got caught in the second round. Anybody can get caught with a big punch. But yeah, what's what's the question you're asking? No, anybody can get caught.
Yeah, and that's sort of the point. Anybody can you get caught? And that's a that's sort of the point about dupless it because Strickland is a dangerous, a dangerous fighter, and he's a good defensive fighter, but he can get dangerous.
One now he's going to get in there and mix it up with him and you know, yeah, it's going to be a great fight.
Yeah.
So Australians love toe to toe and we are we are sort of I would say aggressive, but at least the fight fans are we like to see it rip in. We like to see guys rip in. And I said to du PLESSI would you stand to to tone to him? He said absolutely. And you know what's something very interesting.
He said to me.
I said to him, are you prepared to die in the ring? He said, I'm prepared to die? And he said, I'm prepared. I know that I have to be prepared to kill someone who said that Dricas and I and I said, and he looked me straight in the eye and with that south that really strong South African look that he has, and I actually believed him.
And uh and uh, all of these guys, I mean, if you go in and you're you're you're going to stand toe to toe for five rounds and remember you can punch me elbow, take a shin to the head. I mean, these people are wired differently than the rest of us. That that's what makes professional fighters and especially in MMA so different as far as humans go. There's this many of them right here that become world champions and have that type of mindset. They're not wired like
you and I. They're different. They're special human beings. And yeah, I mean I think that's that's all of their mindset when they go in and fight.
So the octagon is is really is a true battlefield, like it's a true then I think that's part of its appeal. Could actually this and I'll ask you too, premium, really unbelievably great fighters. Who is the number one? Is it John Jones? Who are we talking about? Who do you think?
You know the answer to this question, it's it's absolutely positively John Jones. John Jones is the best ever. You know, it's become this running oak almost now. But listen, nobody can debate it. Nobody can debate that John Jones is the greatest to ever live. He is, uh he And I don't just say this in UFC, in MMA ever in the history. You know, if you look at his skill set and what he's able to do compared to boxers or anybody else that's ever fought, John Jones beats everybody.
I've actually seen him wristle or do jiu jitsu with Gordon right, and he's even with someone like him on the floor. He's unbelievable. Yeah, he's quite incredible.
John Jones the best ever.
So he's only got a couple more years, I guess. But how do you do how do you find the next person who will be the great the greatest ever?
Well, what you do is you keep going out and one of the things here's what I do for a living, every day when I go to work. When you have a brand like the UFC, there's all these ancillary businesses that come off of it, from merchandise to video games, to gyms, et cetera, et cetera. All that stuff is
whatever it is. When I go to work every day, I focus on the core of this business, and the core is finding up and coming talent, putting on the best fights that we could possibly put on, making sure the live event is absolutely perfect, and making sure that what you see on television is the best that we could possibly do. As long as I focus on that every day, you can't mess this business up, it just continues to get bigger and better.
And because you don't protect the thought is because everybody has to protect their belts. You do have to make sure that you've got a pool system or a farm system of people coming through all the time.
Right, Yeah, that's what you know. One of the big things that I that I work on, whether from the Ultimate Fighter to the Contender series, the show I'm Looking for a Fight exactly, all of those things are designed to not only go out and find the young, up and coming talent, but how do we how do.
We make them big?
Right?
Outside, right right out the gate. How do you think about this? The Contender series, millions of people see these people fight before they even step foot in the UFC. Yeah, So it's all about finding talent and making sure that the live product that we present is the best that it can possibly be.
I think a lot a lot of people, in particular strainers, And because people talk to me all the time about it, they see you as as Daniel Waters, somebody's made a lot of money some some years ago, and he's you know, he's running the running the show these days. And they asked the question, what gets him up in the morning, Why does he go to work? Why the hell does he do it? I mean, I have my own views on those things, but I'd love to know what drives you? What is it? What's the deal I have this?
It's like people always ask me, do you ever look around and say, oh you did, you know, look at what we've done.
I don't.
I'm always looking to I think that every day when you get out of bed, you should try to be better than you were yesterday, whether it's physically, professionally, mentally, every day when you get up, try to be better than you were yesterday. And the same thing about the business. The business is it's not Look how big this event was that we did yesterday. What can we do tomorrow that's bigger than this. I'm just always trying to take everything to another level.
Where do you get the drive from?
Though?
So, but you were some little kid growing up thinking to myself, I want to be this dude? Or is it just the vitality you get from it?
Like he has no idea. I have no idea how or why or any of that, just what I love to do. It's like, you know, I started power slap. I saw slapping on on Instagram in twenty seventeen and this guy dumpling out of Siberia, Russia. And what I saw was is that what I noticed, I wanted to see who won. I stayed around long enough to who won it. As I started to take a deeper dive into it, I said, I think I'm gonna do this.
And you know, obviously it wasn't very popular idea with a lot of people, and a lot of people didn't love it. But it's the fastest most successful thing that I've ever been a part of. We just did one in Saudi Arabia. It was our first one there. The next day when I went to meat Shake Turkey, he was going crazy over it. It killed it. It did four point two million viewers. It was the biggest first of all. This thing is a juggernaut on social media. It was
the biggest one we'd ever done on social media. And he just signed up for five more. He ordered five more events in Saudi four this year and one in America. Why am I doing that? I don't need to do that. Why am I doing this? I could have retired in sixteen, you know what I mean? I don't know. This is just what I love to do. I love to build brands. I love to do things that people say can't be done, and I'd like to just I don't even think we've scraped it's the surface on how big the UFC is
going to be in the next ten years. We got a new rights deal coming up. There's a ton of places that we haven't been in a long time, and there's some places we've never been, like South Africa, like Spain.
Yeah, I just I love to build.
It's if I look at what you built, like it is a jugging what it really is? How How big are we talking about? Like how many employees would you have across the globe?
Yeah, I mean god, including you know, uh employees and uh people that we contract. I mean.
Thousands, Yeah, thousands of people.
So you are sort of to some extent, you are helping economies. So I'm going to get back to you, Chris Well.
The economic impact we have when we come into cities all over the world is massive.
And that's what I want to find out, Like, is is that the reason? Why? Is that one of the reasons Chris, why you do a partnership with UFC, whether you said thought I was government does a bunch of UFC.
Impact It is in part I mean we get a big economic multiplier from the UFC coming here. People come in, they spend money, tourists, they have a good time. They don't just go to the fights. They make a weekend of it, which is fantastic for the city. But also, I don't have a problem with this, but we spend a lot of money on opera and classical music and
a ballet company. But the truth is there's millions of people in Sydney and New South Wales that don't aren't particularly into that, but love MMA and love the UFC and Ultimately, we want to bring events that they can go to, that they can feel part of, and so I think it's got to be equitable. I'm very democratic about these things.
That's for interesting. You actually have a view on making things equitable in terms of entertainment. Basically, yes, absolutely.
I mean the second part of this, as we talked about earlier, is that we find it hard to get through, particularly to young men, about dropping their devices, their electronic devices, getting off the sofa, getting out of the house, and as I said a lot to the media in New South Wales and Australia, they don't a lot of people don't understand the life that you have to live to be an MMA fighter. You have to be incredibly scrupulous with your diet, the fitness. It's all encompassing and it's
ultimately a very clean, living, outward ambitious life. And I think that they're good values, genuinely good values for a lot of young people to have and frankly, mark a government advertising campaign on me putting out a media release is not going to cut it. I mean, if these fighters can get through to young people about living the kind of life that's positive, it's a fantastic thing for the state.
That's actually that has to be call a really good call too, especially for New South Wales. Dana talking about health, I see that I was looking at something where you did a fast You're into your health and you did something with Gary Brecker.
Yeah you look.
I couldn't believe it like you. I saw you with the show off. Unbelievable before and after. How important is health to you in order to do your job?
It's everything.
Honestly, before I met Gary Breca, I was having a lot of problems. I couldn't do what I'm doing right now. I've been on the road now for two weeks. I couldn't have done this three years ago before I met Gary. Yeah, it's fascinating. I'm into fasting. I literally there's two. I went to a couple of saunas here. You know, I'm into the sauna now. You do like one hundred and eighty five degrees for twenty minutes. You guys got some saunas here that are no joke like these old school.
I was in Chinatown last night in the sauna that the last five minutes of doing twenty minutes of a sauna let you know who you are and who you are not, I'll tell you that right now. But yeah, ever since I got into this whole health kick, I've never felt better. I feel like I'm thirty years old again, and I can do I can do things that I couldn't do three years ago.
And do you get any inspiration from watching fighters live their lives? Because they're in a cold baster and as on as they're into health, they're into the right food, they have dietitians, et cetera, et cetera. Do you get inspired by them to take control of your own health?
I get inspired by anybody who has the discipline. You know, It's all about discipline and consistency and getting in shape and taking care of yourself. And yeah, I love I love doing things that challenge me mentally and physically and to push myself. Coal plunge. I got the coal plunge set up in the room here in the hotel. It's
thirty nine degrees. You get into thirty nine degree water for three minutes, you know, one hundred and eighty five one hundred and ninety degrees sauna and staying there for twenty minutes. And when that's how you start your day, there isn't too many things that you're going to run into the rest of the day that can challenge you, like something like that. And I love doing stuff that has the potential to mentally break you. I love that stuff.
And they say that that type of behavior, that sort of activity actually develops a certain part of your brain, which for people who do these things like wim Hof et cetera, their brain has a certain part of their brain is actually larger than the rest of the normal people. Because doing something you don't want to do actually creates a certain sense of sense of achievement for the day, no doubt, everything else seems easy after it, no.
Doubt about it.
You're living your life like that one hundred percent every day, literally every day, even when I'm on the road. We're just in Saudi for a week. I had the whole setup out there in Saudi. I'm here for a week. I got the whole set up here. We're running around town looking for the best saunas to get into.
Yeah.
I love doing these things that are physically good for you, you know, and but but that have the potential to mentally break you. I love trying to mentally break myself. And when you overcome that first thing.
In the morning.
Yeah, Like I said, there's not much that's going to hit you the rest of the day that you can't deal with.
I can give you something that could mentally and you can swop places with the premier. Early this week he's been in positions. I mean, that's be doing something you probably wouldn't want to have had to do in terms of the in terms of Sunday, for the for the for the fights. We have the girls as well, and we just want to look about them with the co main event, and we have some under some other people on the
card to who are you looking forward to seeing? Who you're looking forward to showing their craft.
The fight that hasn't been talked about enough is the co main event. You know, Tatiana Swaz and Whaley jang Uh. Tatiana is and has been one of the hottest prospects you know in the sport now for a while, but has had tons of injuries that she's had to overcome. And Wally Jang is one of the baddest women of all time. She's so exciting and fun to watch. I'm very excited to see how that fight turns out. Yeah, I think it's a fight that hasn't been talked about enough. It's an incredible fight.
Cole main event, Chris, have you been following the cod Yeah?
I mean I think the main one Dudels is Strickland. Strickland just keeps coming and he shocked Australia last time around, and as we spoke about earlier, it's the land of upset. So I can't wait to see that about. I think it'd be awesome.
And I got to ask you this, Dana, what about Volk? Is he a chance coming back?
We love Volk.
Volk's a legend. I mean, if you look at what that guy has done in this sport and in that division, he's an absolute legend. I get to this place where what more does he have to accomplish and achieve? He's done it all. I don't know personally. I haven't talked to him about where his head is and you know what he's thinking about the future. But when you talk about a guy like Volk, he's done it all. He's an absolute legend, not just here in Australia but worldwide.
And when we talk about inspirational figures, he's one of them.
Man.
If you look at his journey and his story, and what he's accomplished in his life. I don't know, it's just it's up to him. Whatever that guy wants to do. He's the guy that you know, there's been any situations where we picked up the phone and said we need you and he's he's inn absolute stud, absolute legend. And whatever he wants to do next, I'm in.
Well, Chrisy. He's involved being Alex, being a boy from win Dang and Wollongong. You know your territory, not not not not where you live or not certainly not your elector. But he's a good working class kid.
Yeah, he's a legendar Alex.
He's killed it and he's Would you like to see him back in the Octoglond.
Yeah, I'd love to see him back, but on his own time. I mean he takes fights at a short notice. But I'd love to see him have a big, long camp, get ready for a big fight, hopefully have it here in Sydney and flatten whoever Dana puts him up against. But I think because he's just we've had to fight and take it on so quickly and he's enthusiastic. Sometimes that's sort of cut against him. But he's an amazing
guy and he's an inspirational fellow too. I mean he's been fantastic for young people south of Sydney and the Wollongong area. Daya just not about one hundred k's from us here. He works a lot with the pc YS, as does the UFC in local communities, a lot of disadvantaged young people. The UFC has been fantastic partnering with these organizations.
It's really worked.
Thanks.
Yeah, absolutely, And on that note, I'd like to thank you Premier for coming in today. I don't thank you very much for Dana
Thanks for having me, good luck to thank you