you know I didn’t grow up with money we
weren’t rich by any means but I knew I
wasn’t going to college I knew that
wasn’t reality I didn’t really want to
go to college one of the things that I
was very lucky in my life with as I knew
exactly what I wanted to do from the
time I was a young age I knew I wanted
to be in the fight business and people
thought I was crazy because when you
look at different at the time when I
grew up I’m I just turned 49 years old
when I was growing up yeah Don King Bob
Arum these guys were the were the big
promoters in the fight game and you know
everybody was set in their ways they
didn’t think that you know the fight
business could change and III believed
it could I had a lot of ideas and I
believed that could I could change the
business and I was I worked in Boston at
a place called the Boston Harbor Hotel I
was a bellman in there I was 19 years
old I made good money you know there’s
some guys to get those jobs and those
are the type of jobs they you know their
life early they want those jobs forever
it’s a good job it’s not a bad job this
wasn’t for me and I was literally
standing in the lobby one day and I’m
like what the hell am I doing here what
am I doing here this isn’t me this isn’t
what I want and I walked out the front
door and one of my good friends he’s
still one of my good friends today who
was the doorman says what are you doing
I said I’m quitting and he’s like he’s
like what what are you gonna do I said I
want to be in the fight business he said
that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard
in my life
yeah I always knew what I wanted to do
and every day when I woke up I would
work toward that goal I’ll tell you guys
a story this is completely not a setup
at all I swear to God and this is the
first time I’m talking him about this
but I I didn’t even have a car I had a I
had a mountain bike said I you know rode
everywhere in town with and I had a
Walkman for those young kids you don’t
know what a Walkman is but I had a
Walkman and I used to listen to awaken
the giant within and I swear to God I
swear to God and personal power I listen
to both of those states swear to God I
was
I actually used to buy them for people
for gifts I used to give them away as
gifts to people and everything that was
in there
is absolutely true makes sense and
applies to everybody’s life it really
does this is not a setup it’s one of the
God this is the truth and he and I have
never talked about this but yes there
was there at that time tree yes so there
was the kid in in Boston his name was
Peter Welsh and he’s actually like a
street fighting and boxing legend in
town and everybody had heard of them and
I literally sought this guy out I went
to him and I said I wanted I know this
is crazy you don’t know me but I want to
work with you you don’t have to pay me I
want to learn everything that you can
teach about the fight game and I worked
under this guy for like three years and
I did everything from you know from
boxing to corner work I was a referee
and fights I manage guys everything you
could possibly do in the fight business
I I did have done everything except
score a fight I’ve never been a judge
everything I learned from that guy can I
consider you know how in martial arts
you have a sensei this guy was my sensei
in the fight game yeah and and you know
he took me under his wing and you know
nothing bad was having a guy that works
for you that you don’t have to pay
either so you know I worked hard for
this guy learned everything and and then
I you know eventually moved out to Vegas
so all the Boston guys will remember
Whitey Bulger and other people too so
why do Bulger had a guy who worked under
him and his name was Kevin weeks and I
was actually teaching a boxing class
that at the club in town and these guys
walked right in the middle of my class
and they’re like hey we need to talk to
you
and I still have teaching a class here
and they’re like yeah we need to offer
something I don’t know who he was so we
walk outside and he’s like yeah you
won’t be money I don’t even know you
how do I owe you money he goes you don’t
know me and once he started talking like
that I was like oh no this this is not
good so yeah they wanted $2,500 from me
I was doing business in town and I
didn’t have it I told them I don’t have
the money he goes well you better come
up with it I went yeah so did he give
you a few days no I I never I didn’t
months went by Oh
months went by and one day I got a call
at my apartment and it was somebody on
the phone said you know stop money in yo
it to us tomorrow and it was a Saturday
I and they’re saying I owed it to him on
Sunday I said I don’t have it and they
said well you better come up with it and
I said or what he said are you gonna
find out I literally hung up the phone
picked it back up and called Delta and
got a one-way ticket to Vegas
I left my couch my stereo my TV I left
everything I left everything there I
flew out here and I’m like a couple
months later is when all that stuff had
they started digging up the bodies at
the beach he fled here the whole thing
came crumbling down like months later a
buddy of mine Lorenzo Fertitta we went
to school together and when I came back
to Vegas a mutual friend had a wedding
and we both went to the wedding we
bumped into each other and he had just
got on the Nevada State Athletic
Commission and he heard that I was doing
boxing out here and and he said I want
to hook up and start training so we got
together on that Monday which was in
1995 and we’ve been together ever since
the owner of the UFC at the time was the
guy named Bob meyerwitz out of New York
and I managed Chuck Liddell and Tito
working in Chuck here we got into a huge
battle over Tito Ortiz this contract and
through that one day on the phone it’s
just all erupted and he said you know
what there is no more money
it’s all over this this this thing’s in
trouble I don’t even know if I have
enough money to put on one more show
well I said interesting okay so we hung
up I called Frank and Lorenzo they were
and who’d become my partners and they
were in Florida at the time they own
station casinos here in Las Vegas local
casino and I said the UFC’s in trouble
and I think we should buy it
I think we could buy this thing we
started making some calls a month later
we bought the UFC for two million
dollars two million dollars and sold it
for 4.0 to five billion so we bought it
for two million you hear four billion
that sounds great but the burn of almost
40 million was not fun and it was
painful and it’s you know what a Lorenzo
and Frank say about that it was a
breakup yeah
Lorenzo called me one one day and said I
can’t keep doing this man I can’t keep
burning all this cash and I need you to
get out there and find out what you
could sell this thing for so that day I
made a bunch of calls that night I call
him when he’s on his way home and I said
you know what maybe six seven million
bucks
we’re in almost 40 I think I get six or
seven million and
he said okay I’ll call you tomorrow he
called me the next day you thinking that
night oh you know first the first thing
you think is man I just blew 40 million
dollars of my friends money yes first
thing yeah and that’s not fun
then I the fact that you’ve put all this
time and energy into it and and and it
just doesn’t work it you know it didn’t
work the way that you thought it would
yeah then he called me back the next day
and said it let’s keep going
first of all when you have a business
idea there’s always going to be
detractors some people that think you
know it won’t work you’re always gonna
have those people around you and in your
life even when you’re successful believe
me it gets worse when you’re successful
then you know you have to get to a point
where you don’t doubt yourself you’re so
into this thing and you know that it’s
gonna work
timing is everything in life timing is
everything and we ran toward regulation
you know when you
you’re never gonna you’re never gonna
beat the government okay let me tell you
this when you when you get involved in
your business and your business starts
to grow and everything else and the
things that come at you the government
came after us and called us a monopoly
we built we took this business from zero
to where it was we create zillions of
dollars and taxes but all these
different things you know all these
people that all the people that we
employ all over the world that when we
go into the economic impact we have on
cities when we go into their cities all
this stuff we’re monopoly now we’re
being looked at as monopoly so we’re
spending we’re spending you know seven
eight million dollars a year trying to
defend ourselves from the government as
monopolies that these type of things
happening and I could go on forever you
just you go in you do the right thing
and you just you pay your money and you
just take your lumps when you own a
business you don’t try to fight these
guys you just you just roll with the
punches and you do what you’re supposed
to do so we went in and we met with
California Nevada New York New Jersey
and the list goes on and on everywhere
that had a real strong you know
regulations regulations everybody that
had strong regulation we went in and met
with yeah educated them on the sport and
we started to open up and and and
getting this regulated in all the
different cities and and then we started
to go to other parts of the world and
get it regulated and the list goes on
and on then I had to fly from state to
state and meet with all the reporters
you start meeting with the you know from
the New York Times to the this that
local sports reporters who cover sports
every night in your hometown so I
literally flew around the whole country
doing this for years and nothing happens
overnight it’s it’s all just you just
have to keep grinding every day every
day you get up and it’s you know for us
to to make this happen with the UFC it
was really all about education yeah and
I always knew two things if I brought
these athletes
Madame you would realize the type of
people that they are not what you
expected them to be right and if I ever
got you to a live event nobody walks out
of a live event goes yeah I don’t ever
want to see one of these yeah that’s
true
so energy I believe I knew I knew if I
could get you at least again whether you
were a sponsor or a TV network executive
or whatever it was if I could get you to
the live event I got you you know it
when you think about when you talk about
manifesting your own destiny and you
know that is Ronda Rousey that is Conor
McGregor yeah is any of these successful
people that you meet that’s who they are
and that’s exactly what they do it’s a
fact then she sat there and laid out and
told me exactly how her career was gonna
go Conor McGregor laid out and told me
exactly how his career was gonna go
these type of people it’s it’s it’s it’s
real it’s absolutely real and and I’ve
seen it many many times in my life I
love when people doubt us I love when
people say no you know even even when we
just sold the company when we sold the
company it’s been 2 years now right we
sold the company and then everybody all
it’s always surrounded by anything you
do positive in your life and anything
that’s huge it will immediately be
surrounded by negativity right
immediately get ready for it because no
matter how successful you become one
thing never goes away
negativity haters whatever you want to
call it that’s always there and you have
to read it every day um how do you keep
that separate I separate myself from it
back in the old days we make it and we
started I used to read it to the point
where I was just nauseous you know yeah
I do not read any of that stuff because
one of the things that I have learned
over over my many years of doing this
their opinion doesn’t matter
their opinion means nothing give it
effect it is literally an opinion it’s
negative and it means nothing
to you it doesn’t mean anything it
doesn’t affect unless you’re the type of
sick twisted type of person like me that
likes to let it fool you you let it it’s
like you’re you know it’s like your fuel
and and and other than that it’s useless
it means nothing everything that the
reporters write everything that these
people say just don’t eat do your thing
stay on your course stay focused and
keep your eye on the prize and and and
everything comes together but but not
but I love that stiii so now I just tune
it out I do my thing when we first
bought the company when Ari bought the
company yes and and he overpaid for it
over paid for it these guys are in big
trouble now now they have so much debt
hanging over their head this too that
their TV deal is up with Fox you know
all this stuff’s going back and forth so
and and and a lot of these things are
true our TV deal is up with Fox we do
have a lot of debt but these are all
things we knew going into it you know
and then everybody keeps asking me why
did you stay you know when you make that
kind of money you know there’s always
this thing about you know you money
everybody knows that term oh man
I’m gonna tell the boss to kiss my ass
if I ever get that lottery or I hit this
or hit that problem is you’re the boss
you’re the wrong job if you’re looking
for you money you’re in the wrong
place already you already know you’re
not in the right place okay because
there’s no such thing I just made more
money than I ever dreamed I would make I
don’t want to leave what am I gonna do
where am I gonna go this I’ve been on
trips and stuff I can’t stand three-day
weekends I hate three-day weekends man
I’m like man I’m I want Monday to come
again that’s how much I love what I do
so that should be if that’s not your
mentality every weekend when you’re at
home like you’re dreading Monday man
stop stop and get another job cuz you’re
in the wrong place that that’s not
healthy for you so I keep veering off
here and going all over the place
already perfect so I made all this money
but arias gave me my ownership to stay
so I stayed and and now the cut we we
just did a deal with ESPN for 1.5
billion dollars five years now the
company’s worth seven billion dollars
first of all when you’re in that
position we didn’t need any money and
and everybody’s telling me oh my god you
made you know 360 million you made this
you made that I already had money I had
money I had bought a lot of stuff that
I’d always want you know how many people
grew up broke okay when you grow up
broken you make money you buy the
dumbest ever boring you get bored I
know it when you hear somebody say that
you’re like I won’t get bored you’ll get
bored you just get bored of buying stuff
and you already have everything and at
the end of the day it’s really about
that you love what you’re doing and it’s
about the journey
the people you’re doing with it that
you’re having fun you’re getting up
every day and and you’re all working
towards the same goal whatever it might
be it’s a very fulfilling feeling it
really is a very fulfilling feeling
because I’ve been where most people have
been I’ve been in the end the shitty job
that you’re just trying to pay your
bills and you’re trying to make ends
meet and you’re miserable you’re doing
it because you have to do it because you
have to pay your bills because you need
money once you break out of that you
find what it is you truly love to do
it’s really not work it’s it’s actually
fun and you enjoy every day of your life
and there were death
do this thing III was really bad
insomnia for a long time and I knew a
lot of people that would freak out and
go crazy I loved it I loved having
insomnia my wife was so good I didn’t
want to sleep and I embraced insomnia I
loved it I loved insomnia I slept for
two three hours a night and I had a
blast but but but when you get to that
point in your life
sleeping man no way I want to stay
up yeah because I think that you know I
talk about us as human beings how we’re
made up and we love fighting but every
one of us is a fighter every day you get
out of bed you when you get out of bed
every morning right you get up out of
bed life is standing right there to kick
you in the face
ready leg cocked ready to go to kick you
in the face because every day when you
get up bad shits coming at you right
forget about work your personal life
everything car don’t start – this – that
life is ready to get you you know and
you got to get up and you got to fight
through that every day you have
to you know if you don’t you can’t roll
over can’t roll over man you just get
you got to fight through all the
that life throws at you then you get to
a point where life’s throwing a bunch of
at you now works throwing a bunch
of at you know your business that
you have to fight for every day and you
have to get up and you have to have that
to get up and fight every day man and
once you get into it you start and you
start fighting it becomes addictive so
you actually like it yeah I’m so sick
and twisted that if my there’s no chaos
in my life I create chaos it’s very yeah
I love it I love I love competition I
love
I love things that I love adversity I
love when adversity comes at us I love
solving problems I love you know in
personal and professional life I really
do like we’re not when we bought this
company ESPN would not cover us would
not cover us wouldn’t talk to us
wouldn’t meet with us January 1st were
on ESPN was one of the biggest deals
they’ve ever tried to combat sports
history so it took 18 years when we
first started this thing you know you’re
talking 2001 right and you have all
these older guys that are in these
powerful positions yeah okay all these
older guys were in these and they’re set
in their ways they don’t want anything
new they’re not looking to rock the boat
I’m not messing with this stuff this
yeah I don’t get it I don’t like it I’m
never gonna like it yeah now if you can
figure out how to grind to keep growing
and everything else we finally got on TV
on a small little Network called spike
that yeah you know that it just started
at the time and what happens is younger
people start to see it yeah right and
then they start to take over then
exactly it starts the build and then
those younger people that grew up
watching that yeah are now in these
powerful positions whether it’s in the
media whether it’s in you know
television networks sponsorship or
whatever else might be its yeah see UFC
I grew up watching that you know not as
scary as it was to the older generation
that was on their way out
when we started when you think about it
we haven’t even scratched the surface of
how big this thing can be we’re still
going into countries September fifth
we’re in Russia we’re going Korea’s
building this huge arena we’re going
into Korea
I have a guy right now from China who is
really good and looks like this guy
could be a world champion Wow so Conor
McGregor I go over to Ireland and I you
know I like to go in all the pubs and
all that stuff and we had a pretty good
fan base there at that time and people
kept talking to me about Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor you got a signed Conor
McGregor so I come back and I talked to
my matchmakers I’m like who the hell is
this Conor McGregor kid now like I is a
kid he fights over there and the local
shows whatever I bring him out to Las
Vegas and I go to dinner with him right
and I hadn’t seen him fight nothing I
just wanted to meet him so we go to
dinner and I leave this dinner I call my
partner Lorenzo I said holy
now I don’t know if this kid can fight
but if he can even throw a punch he’s
gonna be the biggest star anybody’s ever
seen I can tell you that right now
my lady I knew the night that I met that
kid and he ended up being the bear
wasn’t what was there the qualities that
you saw in him in that we all see he
just has this unbelievable personality
as laughs his sense of humor his
everything he just certainty he has that
it factor that thing that you can’t
teach anybody he just had it he had it
in truckloads how do you manage you have
to be a leader you have to be a leader
and you have to get people to believe as
you believe and to want that the dream
as bad as you want the dream and you
have to you know it’s great to have a
bunch of people in your place working
you want enthusiastic people that love
what they’re doing as much as you know
those are the type of people you want
and that’s that’s I you know that’s the
type of shop we’ve run since the day we
opened and you have to you know it’s
great to have a bunch of people in your
place working but you want you want
enthusiastic people that love what
they’re doing as much as you know those
are the type of people you want and
that’s that’s you know that’s the type
of shop we’ve run since the day we
opened what makes somebody a great
leader well I think I think part of it
is setting by example I think that they
have to see that you’re out there
willing you know don’t just come up here
and tell us a bunch of and you
know they have to believe that you truly
believe and that’s truly your your as in
love and is passionate about what you’re
talking to do whatever it takes
exactly and do you go out and and if you
hire right you’re hiring the same type
of people in Jewess you have to be able
to talk to people you have to be able to
motivate people you have to be able to
get people to believe if you believe in
what they’re doing to love it as much as
you do yeah you know in my experience
that that’s what that’s what it takes
it’s worked for me when you continually
give a good product people are going to
cut you some slack when there are a
couple of bad ones they know that listen
every Super Bowl you’ve ever watched
isn’t the best football game you’ve ever
seen you know it’s like you can’t
guarantee that that’s always gonna be
the best but you try try art earlier I
like authenticity well I don’t need
everybody to listen if you show up and
you’re Conor McGregor you can fight and
you can talk you’re really funny and all
that stuff home run incredible I love it
I’ll take it all day but I want you to
be you I don’t ever want you to act like
somebody else because it’s not genuine
it’s not authentic crazy I think that I
from what I’ve learned and as I look
back on my life everything in life is
about timing yeah really is about timing
the right time the right place the right
everything and and I also believe that
you create your own timing in life – I’m
really lucky when you work your ass off
yeah exactly it’s the thing is everybody
what’s the worst thing that can happen
if you try if the day that I walked out
of that hotel right and I went to do
this it doesn’t work out I can go back
and be a bellman again whenever I want
to you can always go back and do that
the worst part is not trying you have to
try nobody’s ever gonna do anything
without trying that’s last wish what
it’s never the right time it’s never the
right time it’s like I can’t now I got
the truck I just bought I got payments
on this friggin thing you know I got
this if you do that to yourself you’ll
never do anything
forget the truck forget this forget that
go for it
just go for it believe me I’m living proof that it can happen
weren’t rich by any means but I knew I
wasn’t going to college I knew that
wasn’t reality I didn’t really want to
go to college one of the things that I
was very lucky in my life with as I knew
exactly what I wanted to do from the
time I was a young age I knew I wanted
to be in the fight business and people
thought I was crazy because when you
look at different at the time when I
grew up I’m I just turned 49 years old
when I was growing up yeah Don King Bob
Arum these guys were the were the big
promoters in the fight game and you know
everybody was set in their ways they
didn’t think that you know the fight
business could change and III believed
it could I had a lot of ideas and I
believed that could I could change the
business and I was I worked in Boston at
a place called the Boston Harbor Hotel I
was a bellman in there I was 19 years
old I made good money you know there’s
some guys to get those jobs and those
are the type of jobs they you know their
life early they want those jobs forever
it’s a good job it’s not a bad job this
wasn’t for me and I was literally
standing in the lobby one day and I’m
like what the hell am I doing here what
am I doing here this isn’t me this isn’t
what I want and I walked out the front
door and one of my good friends he’s
still one of my good friends today who
was the doorman says what are you doing
I said I’m quitting and he’s like he’s
like what what are you gonna do I said I
want to be in the fight business he said
that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard
in my life
yeah I always knew what I wanted to do
and every day when I woke up I would
work toward that goal I’ll tell you guys
a story this is completely not a setup
at all I swear to God and this is the
first time I’m talking him about this
but I I didn’t even have a car I had a I
had a mountain bike said I you know rode
everywhere in town with and I had a
Walkman for those young kids you don’t
know what a Walkman is but I had a
Walkman and I used to listen to awaken
the giant within and I swear to God I
swear to God and personal power I listen
to both of those states swear to God I
was
I actually used to buy them for people
for gifts I used to give them away as
gifts to people and everything that was
in there
is absolutely true makes sense and
applies to everybody’s life it really
does this is not a setup it’s one of the
God this is the truth and he and I have
never talked about this but yes there
was there at that time tree yes so there
was the kid in in Boston his name was
Peter Welsh and he’s actually like a
street fighting and boxing legend in
town and everybody had heard of them and
I literally sought this guy out I went
to him and I said I wanted I know this
is crazy you don’t know me but I want to
work with you you don’t have to pay me I
want to learn everything that you can
teach about the fight game and I worked
under this guy for like three years and
I did everything from you know from
boxing to corner work I was a referee
and fights I manage guys everything you
could possibly do in the fight business
I I did have done everything except
score a fight I’ve never been a judge
everything I learned from that guy can I
consider you know how in martial arts
you have a sensei this guy was my sensei
in the fight game yeah and and you know
he took me under his wing and you know
nothing bad was having a guy that works
for you that you don’t have to pay
either so you know I worked hard for
this guy learned everything and and then
I you know eventually moved out to Vegas
so all the Boston guys will remember
Whitey Bulger and other people too so
why do Bulger had a guy who worked under
him and his name was Kevin weeks and I
was actually teaching a boxing class
that at the club in town and these guys
walked right in the middle of my class
and they’re like hey we need to talk to
you
and I still have teaching a class here
and they’re like yeah we need to offer
something I don’t know who he was so we
walk outside and he’s like yeah you
won’t be money I don’t even know you
how do I owe you money he goes you don’t
know me and once he started talking like
that I was like oh no this this is not
good so yeah they wanted $2,500 from me
I was doing business in town and I
didn’t have it I told them I don’t have
the money he goes well you better come
up with it I went yeah so did he give
you a few days no I I never I didn’t
months went by Oh
months went by and one day I got a call
at my apartment and it was somebody on
the phone said you know stop money in yo
it to us tomorrow and it was a Saturday
I and they’re saying I owed it to him on
Sunday I said I don’t have it and they
said well you better come up with it and
I said or what he said are you gonna
find out I literally hung up the phone
picked it back up and called Delta and
got a one-way ticket to Vegas
I left my couch my stereo my TV I left
everything I left everything there I
flew out here and I’m like a couple
months later is when all that stuff had
they started digging up the bodies at
the beach he fled here the whole thing
came crumbling down like months later a
buddy of mine Lorenzo Fertitta we went
to school together and when I came back
to Vegas a mutual friend had a wedding
and we both went to the wedding we
bumped into each other and he had just
got on the Nevada State Athletic
Commission and he heard that I was doing
boxing out here and and he said I want
to hook up and start training so we got
together on that Monday which was in
1995 and we’ve been together ever since
the owner of the UFC at the time was the
guy named Bob meyerwitz out of New York
and I managed Chuck Liddell and Tito
working in Chuck here we got into a huge
battle over Tito Ortiz this contract and
through that one day on the phone it’s
just all erupted and he said you know
what there is no more money
it’s all over this this this thing’s in
trouble I don’t even know if I have
enough money to put on one more show
well I said interesting okay so we hung
up I called Frank and Lorenzo they were
and who’d become my partners and they
were in Florida at the time they own
station casinos here in Las Vegas local
casino and I said the UFC’s in trouble
and I think we should buy it
I think we could buy this thing we
started making some calls a month later
we bought the UFC for two million
dollars two million dollars and sold it
for 4.0 to five billion so we bought it
for two million you hear four billion
that sounds great but the burn of almost
40 million was not fun and it was
painful and it’s you know what a Lorenzo
and Frank say about that it was a
breakup yeah
Lorenzo called me one one day and said I
can’t keep doing this man I can’t keep
burning all this cash and I need you to
get out there and find out what you
could sell this thing for so that day I
made a bunch of calls that night I call
him when he’s on his way home and I said
you know what maybe six seven million
bucks
we’re in almost 40 I think I get six or
seven million and
he said okay I’ll call you tomorrow he
called me the next day you thinking that
night oh you know first the first thing
you think is man I just blew 40 million
dollars of my friends money yes first
thing yeah and that’s not fun
then I the fact that you’ve put all this
time and energy into it and and and it
just doesn’t work it you know it didn’t
work the way that you thought it would
yeah then he called me back the next day
and said it let’s keep going
first of all when you have a business
idea there’s always going to be
detractors some people that think you
know it won’t work you’re always gonna
have those people around you and in your
life even when you’re successful believe
me it gets worse when you’re successful
then you know you have to get to a point
where you don’t doubt yourself you’re so
into this thing and you know that it’s
gonna work
timing is everything in life timing is
everything and we ran toward regulation
you know when you
you’re never gonna you’re never gonna
beat the government okay let me tell you
this when you when you get involved in
your business and your business starts
to grow and everything else and the
things that come at you the government
came after us and called us a monopoly
we built we took this business from zero
to where it was we create zillions of
dollars and taxes but all these
different things you know all these
people that all the people that we
employ all over the world that when we
go into the economic impact we have on
cities when we go into their cities all
this stuff we’re monopoly now we’re
being looked at as monopoly so we’re
spending we’re spending you know seven
eight million dollars a year trying to
defend ourselves from the government as
monopolies that these type of things
happening and I could go on forever you
just you go in you do the right thing
and you just you pay your money and you
just take your lumps when you own a
business you don’t try to fight these
guys you just you just roll with the
punches and you do what you’re supposed
to do so we went in and we met with
California Nevada New York New Jersey
and the list goes on and on everywhere
that had a real strong you know
regulations regulations everybody that
had strong regulation we went in and met
with yeah educated them on the sport and
we started to open up and and and
getting this regulated in all the
different cities and and then we started
to go to other parts of the world and
get it regulated and the list goes on
and on then I had to fly from state to
state and meet with all the reporters
you start meeting with the you know from
the New York Times to the this that
local sports reporters who cover sports
every night in your hometown so I
literally flew around the whole country
doing this for years and nothing happens
overnight it’s it’s all just you just
have to keep grinding every day every
day you get up and it’s you know for us
to to make this happen with the UFC it
was really all about education yeah and
I always knew two things if I brought
these athletes
Madame you would realize the type of
people that they are not what you
expected them to be right and if I ever
got you to a live event nobody walks out
of a live event goes yeah I don’t ever
want to see one of these yeah that’s
true
so energy I believe I knew I knew if I
could get you at least again whether you
were a sponsor or a TV network executive
or whatever it was if I could get you to
the live event I got you you know it
when you think about when you talk about
manifesting your own destiny and you
know that is Ronda Rousey that is Conor
McGregor yeah is any of these successful
people that you meet that’s who they are
and that’s exactly what they do it’s a
fact then she sat there and laid out and
told me exactly how her career was gonna
go Conor McGregor laid out and told me
exactly how his career was gonna go
these type of people it’s it’s it’s it’s
real it’s absolutely real and and I’ve
seen it many many times in my life I
love when people doubt us I love when
people say no you know even even when we
just sold the company when we sold the
company it’s been 2 years now right we
sold the company and then everybody all
it’s always surrounded by anything you
do positive in your life and anything
that’s huge it will immediately be
surrounded by negativity right
immediately get ready for it because no
matter how successful you become one
thing never goes away
negativity haters whatever you want to
call it that’s always there and you have
to read it every day um how do you keep
that separate I separate myself from it
back in the old days we make it and we
started I used to read it to the point
where I was just nauseous you know yeah
I do not read any of that stuff because
one of the things that I have learned
over over my many years of doing this
their opinion doesn’t matter
their opinion means nothing give it
effect it is literally an opinion it’s
negative and it means nothing
to you it doesn’t mean anything it
doesn’t affect unless you’re the type of
sick twisted type of person like me that
likes to let it fool you you let it it’s
like you’re you know it’s like your fuel
and and and other than that it’s useless
it means nothing everything that the
reporters write everything that these
people say just don’t eat do your thing
stay on your course stay focused and
keep your eye on the prize and and and
everything comes together but but not
but I love that stiii so now I just tune
it out I do my thing when we first
bought the company when Ari bought the
company yes and and he overpaid for it
over paid for it these guys are in big
trouble now now they have so much debt
hanging over their head this too that
their TV deal is up with Fox you know
all this stuff’s going back and forth so
and and and a lot of these things are
true our TV deal is up with Fox we do
have a lot of debt but these are all
things we knew going into it you know
and then everybody keeps asking me why
did you stay you know when you make that
kind of money you know there’s always
this thing about you know you money
everybody knows that term oh man
I’m gonna tell the boss to kiss my ass
if I ever get that lottery or I hit this
or hit that problem is you’re the boss
you’re the wrong job if you’re looking
for you money you’re in the wrong
place already you already know you’re
not in the right place okay because
there’s no such thing I just made more
money than I ever dreamed I would make I
don’t want to leave what am I gonna do
where am I gonna go this I’ve been on
trips and stuff I can’t stand three-day
weekends I hate three-day weekends man
I’m like man I’m I want Monday to come
again that’s how much I love what I do
so that should be if that’s not your
mentality every weekend when you’re at
home like you’re dreading Monday man
stop stop and get another job cuz you’re
in the wrong place that that’s not
healthy for you so I keep veering off
here and going all over the place
already perfect so I made all this money
but arias gave me my ownership to stay
so I stayed and and now the cut we we
just did a deal with ESPN for 1.5
billion dollars five years now the
company’s worth seven billion dollars
first of all when you’re in that
position we didn’t need any money and
and everybody’s telling me oh my god you
made you know 360 million you made this
you made that I already had money I had
money I had bought a lot of stuff that
I’d always want you know how many people
grew up broke okay when you grow up
broken you make money you buy the
dumbest ever boring you get bored I
know it when you hear somebody say that
you’re like I won’t get bored you’ll get
bored you just get bored of buying stuff
and you already have everything and at
the end of the day it’s really about
that you love what you’re doing and it’s
about the journey
the people you’re doing with it that
you’re having fun you’re getting up
every day and and you’re all working
towards the same goal whatever it might
be it’s a very fulfilling feeling it
really is a very fulfilling feeling
because I’ve been where most people have
been I’ve been in the end the shitty job
that you’re just trying to pay your
bills and you’re trying to make ends
meet and you’re miserable you’re doing
it because you have to do it because you
have to pay your bills because you need
money once you break out of that you
find what it is you truly love to do
it’s really not work it’s it’s actually
fun and you enjoy every day of your life
and there were death
do this thing III was really bad
insomnia for a long time and I knew a
lot of people that would freak out and
go crazy I loved it I loved having
insomnia my wife was so good I didn’t
want to sleep and I embraced insomnia I
loved it I loved insomnia I slept for
two three hours a night and I had a
blast but but but when you get to that
point in your life
sleeping man no way I want to stay
up yeah because I think that you know I
talk about us as human beings how we’re
made up and we love fighting but every
one of us is a fighter every day you get
out of bed you when you get out of bed
every morning right you get up out of
bed life is standing right there to kick
you in the face
ready leg cocked ready to go to kick you
in the face because every day when you
get up bad shits coming at you right
forget about work your personal life
everything car don’t start – this – that
life is ready to get you you know and
you got to get up and you got to fight
through that every day you have
to you know if you don’t you can’t roll
over can’t roll over man you just get
you got to fight through all the
that life throws at you then you get to
a point where life’s throwing a bunch of
at you now works throwing a bunch
of at you know your business that
you have to fight for every day and you
have to get up and you have to have that
to get up and fight every day man and
once you get into it you start and you
start fighting it becomes addictive so
you actually like it yeah I’m so sick
and twisted that if my there’s no chaos
in my life I create chaos it’s very yeah
I love it I love I love competition I
love
I love things that I love adversity I
love when adversity comes at us I love
solving problems I love you know in
personal and professional life I really
do like we’re not when we bought this
company ESPN would not cover us would
not cover us wouldn’t talk to us
wouldn’t meet with us January 1st were
on ESPN was one of the biggest deals
they’ve ever tried to combat sports
history so it took 18 years when we
first started this thing you know you’re
talking 2001 right and you have all
these older guys that are in these
powerful positions yeah okay all these
older guys were in these and they’re set
in their ways they don’t want anything
new they’re not looking to rock the boat
I’m not messing with this stuff this
yeah I don’t get it I don’t like it I’m
never gonna like it yeah now if you can
figure out how to grind to keep growing
and everything else we finally got on TV
on a small little Network called spike
that yeah you know that it just started
at the time and what happens is younger
people start to see it yeah right and
then they start to take over then
exactly it starts the build and then
those younger people that grew up
watching that yeah are now in these
powerful positions whether it’s in the
media whether it’s in you know
television networks sponsorship or
whatever else might be its yeah see UFC
I grew up watching that you know not as
scary as it was to the older generation
that was on their way out
when we started when you think about it
we haven’t even scratched the surface of
how big this thing can be we’re still
going into countries September fifth
we’re in Russia we’re going Korea’s
building this huge arena we’re going
into Korea
I have a guy right now from China who is
really good and looks like this guy
could be a world champion Wow so Conor
McGregor I go over to Ireland and I you
know I like to go in all the pubs and
all that stuff and we had a pretty good
fan base there at that time and people
kept talking to me about Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor you got a signed Conor
McGregor so I come back and I talked to
my matchmakers I’m like who the hell is
this Conor McGregor kid now like I is a
kid he fights over there and the local
shows whatever I bring him out to Las
Vegas and I go to dinner with him right
and I hadn’t seen him fight nothing I
just wanted to meet him so we go to
dinner and I leave this dinner I call my
partner Lorenzo I said holy
now I don’t know if this kid can fight
but if he can even throw a punch he’s
gonna be the biggest star anybody’s ever
seen I can tell you that right now
my lady I knew the night that I met that
kid and he ended up being the bear
wasn’t what was there the qualities that
you saw in him in that we all see he
just has this unbelievable personality
as laughs his sense of humor his
everything he just certainty he has that
it factor that thing that you can’t
teach anybody he just had it he had it
in truckloads how do you manage you have
to be a leader you have to be a leader
and you have to get people to believe as
you believe and to want that the dream
as bad as you want the dream and you
have to you know it’s great to have a
bunch of people in your place working
you want enthusiastic people that love
what they’re doing as much as you know
those are the type of people you want
and that’s that’s I you know that’s the
type of shop we’ve run since the day we
opened and you have to you know it’s
great to have a bunch of people in your
place working but you want you want
enthusiastic people that love what
they’re doing as much as you know those
are the type of people you want and
that’s that’s you know that’s the type
of shop we’ve run since the day we
opened what makes somebody a great
leader well I think I think part of it
is setting by example I think that they
have to see that you’re out there
willing you know don’t just come up here
and tell us a bunch of and you
know they have to believe that you truly
believe and that’s truly your your as in
love and is passionate about what you’re
talking to do whatever it takes
exactly and do you go out and and if you
hire right you’re hiring the same type
of people in Jewess you have to be able
to talk to people you have to be able to
motivate people you have to be able to
get people to believe if you believe in
what they’re doing to love it as much as
you do yeah you know in my experience
that that’s what that’s what it takes
it’s worked for me when you continually
give a good product people are going to
cut you some slack when there are a
couple of bad ones they know that listen
every Super Bowl you’ve ever watched
isn’t the best football game you’ve ever
seen you know it’s like you can’t
guarantee that that’s always gonna be
the best but you try try art earlier I
like authenticity well I don’t need
everybody to listen if you show up and
you’re Conor McGregor you can fight and
you can talk you’re really funny and all
that stuff home run incredible I love it
I’ll take it all day but I want you to
be you I don’t ever want you to act like
somebody else because it’s not genuine
it’s not authentic crazy I think that I
from what I’ve learned and as I look
back on my life everything in life is
about timing yeah really is about timing
the right time the right place the right
everything and and I also believe that
you create your own timing in life – I’m
really lucky when you work your ass off
yeah exactly it’s the thing is everybody
what’s the worst thing that can happen
if you try if the day that I walked out
of that hotel right and I went to do
this it doesn’t work out I can go back
and be a bellman again whenever I want
to you can always go back and do that
the worst part is not trying you have to
try nobody’s ever gonna do anything
without trying that’s last wish what
it’s never the right time it’s never the
right time it’s like I can’t now I got
the truck I just bought I got payments
on this friggin thing you know I got
this if you do that to yourself you’ll
never do anything
forget the truck forget this forget that
go for it
just go for it believe me I’m living proof that it can happen
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