UFC CEO Dana White Recalls When He Got Drunk & Lost $3 Million Through Gambling: 'I Never Drank Again When I Was Playing Cards!'

UFC CEO Dana White recently shared a disastrous, personal gambling story. 

During an interview with Lex Fridman, White revealed he went with some friends to the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The group had some drinks that night, and by the time he went to do some gambling, White was already on the drunker side of life. 

"So, one night I'm over at the Rio, and they got big suites over there, so I go over there with some buddies," White said. "We got one of those suites, and we have some dinner, and we start drinking, right? So we're having some drinks at dinner and blah, blah, blah, starts to ramp up, having a good time. And I make my way down to the Thai Limit Room."

'Dead F***ing Silence' - Dana White

White revealed that at work the next day, he was reminded of just how reckless he'd gotten the night before. A presumably hungover White thought he'd lost just $80,000. However, he soon discovered the horrifying truth. 

"So I'm at work the next day and the host over there calls me and he says, 'Hey Dana, are you coming back? Do you still need the room that you guys had "where you ate and all the s**t you used?"

"And I said, "No, I don't need the room, but don't get too comfortable with my f***ing 80 grand. I'm coming back for it.' Dead f***ng silence. And he's like, "Dana, you lost $3 million last night." I said, 'What the f**k are you talking about? I only have a million and a half dollar credit line.'"

It turned out that a drunken White demanded they call the GM of the hotel to increase his credit line, eventually leading to his catastrophic financial losses. Despite booze playing a key part in his error, White pointed out that people must hold accountability for their mistakes, regardless of alcohol or other such factors. 

"Alcohol is free, but you don't have to f***ing drink it. You know what I mean? And this was a huge learning lesson for me. So I never drank again when I was playing cards after that night."