Dana White announces new charity contest, winner gets to matchmake UFC fight

UFC President Dana White has announced an exciting new contest to raise money for four great charities during the coronavirus pandemic: Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen, and No Kid Hungry.

White has organized this contest in partnership with Hollywood star and UFC fan Halle Berry. The contest will be organized like a raffle, and the prizes are pretty interesting.

The winner will receive a “VIP UFC Experience” a dinner with Halle Berry, and perhaps most interestingly of all, the chance to sit in on a UFC matchmaking meeting with White and several other UFC executives.

“(The winner) will sit in in a matchmaking meeting, and I’m actually going to let them make a fight,” White told TMZ of this contest (transcript via MMA Junkie).

White continued, explaining that, while the winner will have some say in the fight that gets made, they’ll have to contend with the likes of matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard and UFC general counsel Hunter Campbell.

“There’s a process to the matchmaking,” White explained. “What happens is there are four of us: Sean Shelby, Mick Maynard, Hunter Campbell, and me. So it’s not this (thing where) I walk in and go ‘We’re doing this, that, and the other thing.’ It’s a process. We argue. We fight. ‘This ain’t gonna happen. We can’t do this. We can’t do that.’

“It’s a long drawn-out process that goes on,” White added. “They’ll be part of the bickering and the arguing and we’ll see where he comes out in the end and what he gets.”

https://youtu.be/9yHldWCBi58

Dana White and the UFC are gearing up for three events in an eight-day span, starting on May 9. While fans are excited to enjoy some fights again, the promotion has received some criticisms for operating during a global health crisis.

If you win this new contest announced by Dana White, what match-up will you try to make?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/29/2020.