UFC CEO Dana White, speaking ahead of the promotion’s White House event, candidly addressed the issue of brain damage, or CTE, in MMA with NPR. He stated that it’s an “inevitable side effect of this business” and that participants are aware of the risks.
White emphasized that fighters accept these risks upon signing a contract, drawing from his own past involvement in boxing. He revealed in a 2024 interview with TIME magazine that a brain scan confirmed physical damage with “black spots all over my brain from what I did,” but he wouldn’t “take back one punch,” asserting that passion justifies the cost and adults have the right to make such choices.
When pressed by NPR’s Steve Inskeep about his own decision to stop fighting, White explained it was a realization that he “wasn’t it” and that many fighters stay in the sport too long, longer than they should. He likened it to minor league baseball or NFL hopefuls deciding when to “pull the rip cord,” stating his exit from boxing wasn’t due to fear of injury but the recognition he’d never be a title contender.
White acknowledged that informing fighters when their time is up is a regular part of his job, particularly for those who are “staying too long, past their prime.”
Inskeep also brought up the case of Spencer Fisher, a former UFC fighter who was diagnosed with brain lesions indicating CTE after retiring in 2012. Fisher reported memory loss, dizziness, depression, and difficulty maintaining employment. White’s past response to such cases, describing brain trauma as “part of the gig,” drew significant criticism for a perceived lack of empathy, though some defended his candor compared to other sports’ historical denial of CTE’s link to their sport.
In response to the suggestion that the UFC accepts the damage without addressing it, White asserted that “health and safety is more important than anything” and highlighted the UFC’s record of no in-Octagon deaths or serious injuries in its 30-year history. He pointed to the UFC’s ongoing partnership with the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and its contribution to the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, which has enrolled over 100 fighters and produced extensive research. This study has found correlations between professional fights and reduced brain volume, but also indicated potential for partial recovery in cognitive function and brain volume stabilization in retired fighters.
White’s stance in the NPR interview balances acknowledgment of inevitable damage with efforts to mitigate risk and study its effects. However, the article concludes that the science has yet to definitively answer where the line between acceptable career risk and irreversible harm lies, and whether fighters can recognize it before it’s too late.
English Translation:
UFC CEO Dana White, speaking ahead of the promotion’s White House event, candidly addressed the issue of brain damage, or CTE, in MMA with NPR. He stated that it’s an “inevitable side effect of this business” and that participants are aware of the risks.
White emphasized that fighters accept these risks upon signing a contract, drawing from his own past involvement in boxing. He revealed in a 2024 interview with TIME magazine that a brain scan confirmed physical damage with “black spots all over my brain from what I did,” but he wouldn’t “take back one punch,” asserting that passion justifies the cost and adults have the right to make such choices.
When pressed by NPR’s Steve Inskeep about his own decision to stop fighting, White explained it was a realization that he “wasn’t it” and that many fighters stay in the sport too long, longer than they should. He likened it to minor league baseball or NFL hopefuls deciding when to “pull the rip cord,” stating his exit from boxing wasn’t due to fear of injury but the recognition he’d never be a title contender.
White acknowledged that informing fighters when their time is up is a regular part of his job, particularly for those who are “staying too long, past their prime.”
Inskeep also brought up the case of Spencer Fisher, a former UFC fighter who was diagnosed with brain lesions indicating CTE after retiring in 2012. Fisher reported memory loss, dizziness, depression, and difficulty maintaining employment. White’s past response to such cases, describing brain trauma as “part of the gig,” drew significant criticism for a perceived lack of empathy, though some defended his candor compared to other sports’ historical denial of CTE’s link to their sport.
In response to the suggestion that the UFC accepts the damage without addressing it, White asserted that “health and safety is more important than anything” and highlighted the UFC’s record of no in-Octagon deaths or serious injuries in its 30-year history. He pointed to the UFC’s ongoing partnership with the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and its contribution to the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, which has enrolled over 100 fighters and produced extensive research. This study has found correlations between professional fights and reduced brain volume, but also indicated potential for partial recovery in cognitive function and brain volume stabilization in retired fighters.
White’s stance in the NPR interview balances acknowledgment of inevitable damage with efforts to mitigate risk and study its effects. However, the article concludes that the science has yet to definitively answer where the line between acceptable career risk and irreversible harm lies, and whether fighters can recognize it before it’s too late.
