The UFC’s value has increased by almost 2.5million per cent since it was purchased for $2m in 2001.That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White, who now values his company at $50billion based on the reported sale of the Los Angeles Lakers for a record-breaking $12.5bn.Exponential growth has led the UFC to put on massive shows, such as the Freedom 250 event with US President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White HouseGettyWhite bought the UFC alongside school friends Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta after moving from South Boston to Las Vegas because of a $2,500 threat from Irish mob boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger.The UFC has since grown into one of the most recognisable brands in the world, which White says places his company as ‘part of the four major sport organisations’ in America.In December 2025, White valued the UFC ‘at around £23bn,’ but after a monumental broadcast deal with Paramount+, he claims his promotion is now worth even more.Speaking on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett this week, White opened up on the inner workings of his business in a rare, long-form conversation.He cited being ‘addicted to chaos’ as a main driver behind his motivation aged 57 and said his main competitors are now outside the MMA world.White says UFC worth $50bn“When I got into this business, not a lot of people believed in it,” White said.“That’s why we bought the UFC for $2m. Right? Let’s be honest here.“The UFC was purchased for $2m, and if the Lakers sold for $12.5bn, then the UFC is worth 50bn.”Speaking on his competitors, White continued: “Nobody’s nipping at my heels.“All these other guys that are out there, we are not the same. This thing has gotten to a level now where my competitors are: the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NHL and the NBA.”The Paramount era means the UFC no longer operate under a pay-per-view model, meaning fans can watch every event as part of one subscriptionGettyWhite wants $10bn after Paramount eraThe UFC’s broadcast deal with Paramount and CBS began on January 1, 2026.The promotion is getting an average of $1.1bn per year for seven years for US rights.White hinted that the historic deal put major organisations like the NFL on red alert, and he wants $10bn next.“I have the only global television deal on Paramount,” he explained.“All these other guys are on a streaming service, literally, every promoter.“What they’ve done is: they’ve chased everybody out of the business. Television networks don’t want to deal with it anymore. Sponsors don’t want to be a part of it anymore.White said other MMA promotions putting on events ‘don’t matter’ due to how big his organisation has becomeGetty“We did an $8bn deal with Paramount. Now I don’t know this for a fact, but I know this for a fact…“The NFL are a bunch of animals. As soon as that deal was announced, all the powers that be at the NFL got in a room and said, ‘There was $8bn out there that we didn’t get? We’ll do games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.’“If you look at me now, we’re sitting in my arena. Next door, I have the Performance Institute and our headquarters. We have everything that the NFL and the MLB have.“We are part of the four major sport organisations in the United States.“We have gotten to a level now where we are one of the top four majors. All these other promoters and all these other guys putting on fights and all this s***, they don’t matter.”White said his job over the next five years is to make sure the UFC impacts Paramount’s business to get the most out of their rights partnership.“Because guess what I want?” he added.“I want $10bn after we get out of this deal. The way that you do that is by adding value to their company.”Asked if being the frontman of the UFC ever gets tiring, White concluded: “I am addicted to chaos.“And if there isn’t any, I create it. It’s a weird thing, but I’m definitely an addict.”talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankingstalkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out.