UFC Chief Dana White Reveals Howie Mandel's Interview Walkout Was Fake
UFC president Dana White stormed out of a podcast interview with America's Got Talent vet Howie Mandel. Now the chief is telling his side of how the scene went down and whether it was for real.
As previously reported on OutKick, White spearheaded a strange interaction with Mandel on the "Howie Mandel Knows Stuff" podcast, where the prez walked off the pod set in a fiery fashion after just 30 seconds on the microphone.
White joined another podcast this week, sharing that the whole exchange with Mandel was fake. After an interview with former ESPN personality Sage Steele, he shared the account of running into Mandel and concocting the fake beef.
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI - MAY 10: UFC CEO Dana White is seen on stage during the UFC Fight Night ceremonial weigh-in at Enterprise Center on May 10, 2024 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
"[Steele] was signed to Bill Maher’s podcast company, and they’re all done there in Howie Mandel’s studio," White said, relayed by Awful Announcing. "So we get done with the podcast and Howie Mandel walks in and he’s like, ‘100 podcasts a week happen here. I’ve never watched any of them. I watched the whole podcast. Love who you are, what you stand for’ and all this stuff. And we hit it off, started talking. Great dude."
White added,
"He’s like, ‘Let me show you around the studio.’ He’s involved in all kinds of s***. He owns social media companies and all this other stuff. Howie Mandel owns a lot of s*** that people don’t realize. Smart guy, great guy. So we’re walking through and stuff and he goes, ‘Would you do me a favor?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, what’s up?’ He’s like, ‘Would you come in and get up and walk off my podcast?’ I go, ‘I would be f***ing honored to walk off your podcast because I’m so f***ing sick of doing podcasts, it’s not even funny.’
"So we go in there and do it, right? He’s like, ‘Take this to the grave.’ I said, ‘Done, I’ll take it to the grave."
Though ready to keep the secret on the low down, White couldn't stomach the backlash that Mandel got from so-called Dana White fans.
After hearing the flack against Mandel, White stood up for his buddy Mandel.
"I go, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, timeout, I can’t do this,'" White said. "Howie Mandel’s the greatest f***ing dude ever. Sorry, Howie. It’s just when I go out and people just start f***ing s***ting on the guy. And I’m sure he could give a flying f*** — I couldn’t do it. So Howie Mandel’s f***ing awesome."
Good save, Dana.
HOLLYWOOD, CA - AUGUST 23: TV Personality Howie Mandel attends the "America's Got Talent" Season 11 Live Show at Dolby Theatre on August 23, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images)
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