Dana White out as UFC president after $21bn WWE merger — says 'I am f***king old'

Dana White has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UFC following the official $21 billion merger with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) earlier this week, which has both organisations operating under the TKO Group Holdings, Inc (TKO) umbrella.

White is no longer the president of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Dana White asserts that he has no plans to leave the UFC anytime soon.

The seasoned promoter has over 22 years of experience running the leading promotion in mixed martial arts.

Under the leadership of White, the UFC has grown from a once-struggling organisation to a multi-billion dollar organisation. White received assistance from his lifelong friends Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta.

Due to the promotion's successful merger with the WWE, White was this week moved from UFC president to Chief Executive.

But for several more years to come, he intends to keep charting the company's direction and exploring uncharted territory.

"I'm 54 years old," the American said on Tuesday night. "I never said my time was up when I was 40."

"When I look at some of these posts and everybody is talking about how old I f***ing look."

"I am f***ing old - that's how this works. I'm older today than I f***ing was yesterday. That's how this works."

"I feel like I'm f***ing 25 again. I've been taking my health seriously [and] I feel great."

"When you start talking about my time is up here, the last 20 years have gone by like this [clicks his finger and thumb]."

"How fast are the next 20 years gonna go? There is still a lot of work to do."

"Today was a really, really big day for the sport."

The merging of the UFC and WWE, which was made possible by the parent company Endeavour and led to the creation of TKO Holdings, has reportedly given White even more hope for the future of the organisation, The Sun reported.

"I'm excited about the future and what we're going to do," he said. "I always am, regardless."

"But after this merger, we're so much more powerful than we were yesterday."

Although White's appointment as CEO is unquestionably significant, he will continue to be active in day-to-day operations and matchmaking.

He insisted: "It's a lateral move for me. I run everything that happens here.

"Everything that goes on here, I determine.

"Nothing has changed, it's just three letters. But I'm the CEO and president of the UFC.

"But nothing changes. We're just going to continue to kick ass like we do every single year.

"When you think about all the things that I wanna do before my time is up here, today made that a lot easier and a lot more doable."

This weekend, the UFC will resume competition with a special Noche show in Las Vegas to honour Mexican Independence Day.