In the business world, timing is often more important than the amount. UFC President Dana White recently vividly illustrated this truth through an anecdote.
According to a post by X platform user @CptDankkk, White made what he calls his “first big mistake in business” when acquiring the UFC.com domain. The story begins in the early days of the UFC, when White called the owner of “User Friendly Computers” to try and buy the UFC.com domain. The offer was around $20,000, to which White responded with a tirade: “You bastard! $20,000!” The other party retorted with “Fuck you” and hung up.
This outburst came at a high price.
In the following years, UFC grew rapidly, and the domain’s price skyrocketed. Ultimately, White had to pay “a huge sum”—he revealed the amount to be between $150,000 and $200,000, but refused to disclose the exact figure. Compared to the initial offer of $20,000, this deal represented a nearly tenfold premium.
White later admitted that it was entirely his fault. The other party was not a domain speculator, but a legitimately operating company with the legal right to use the domain. White’s hardline stance and short-sighted judgment cost the UFC dearly in terms of time and money.
The core lesson of this story is simple yet profound: at the negotiating table, emotional arrogance is often the biggest enemy. $20,000 might have been a significant expense at the time, but compared to the later $200,000, it was undoubtedly a highly cost-effective choice. White paid nearly ten times the premium for a domain that could have been acquired for much less, and for a business lesson that he still regrets to this day.
Today, the UFC is a multi-billion dollar sports empire; $200,000 is a drop in the ocean. But as White said—he should have settled for $20,000. Some mistakes have nothing to do with the amount of money involved, but only with judgment.
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