Want to help soldiers in need? Donate to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund by visiting the official UFC/IFH site.

So this UFC thing. People sort of like it, huh?
Yeah. [Laughs] A little bit.

The UFC is putting together a special night on December 10, Fight for the Troops. Three hours of free MMA live on Spike TV with audience members being able to call in and donate to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. How did the UFC and the IFH get together to make this happen?
The Fertitas Bros., owners of the UFC,  are friends with one of the guys who's involved in that organization and they asked me to come down to their facility in Texas, a hospital for burn victims and troops who have lost limbs. He's building a place for soldiers coming back with traumatic brain injuries and their families. I went down there and met the troops and I was fucking blown away by these kids.

This is how crazy it was: I brought Mandy Moore with me and every time we'd walk out of a room, she'd start crying. That is how much it affects you. It really touches you. When you do something like this, and you get a goofy celebrity like that people want to meet, and they want to take your picture—I love meeting the fans. It was the first time ever that I felt like I actually went somewhere and it actually made a difference.

 

Were there any inspirational stories that you found there?
Totally—you think about these kids and how bad they are. They are 19-, 20-, 21-years old and they're laying there in a hospital bed for the rest of their lives. And what you don't think about: How does that impact their families? Their families live in Nashville, Tennessee, Florida, and they have jobs too. So, what do you do when your 19-year old son comes back like that? You quit your job and you go sit next to your son in the hospital every day—that's what you do. So now you're not paying your bills. You're not taking care of the things you have to do in your life because you're sitting in the hospital room with your kid. The facility that these guys built, they're big huge houses, all handicapped accessible. The families live there—the mothers, the fathers, the sisters, the brothers. All these people live in the same house with all the bills paid. It's the most touching thing I've ever been a part of and I will spend every moment of my time that I'm not working helping this cause. 

Listen, these kids are fighting a war that nobody in this country wants to be in. You know, everybody bitches about the war but there is nothing we can fucking do about it. It's happening! It's happening! We just have to take care of our troops, whether you believe in the war or you don't believe in the war. You can't blame the kids who are fighting it. They're doing what they're fucking told to do.

Let's say Dana White, for some reason, signed up to go to Iraq and—God (or Allah) help them if he did because the war would be over quite soon—you're fighting in the trenches. Who on your UFC roster would you want protecting your back over there?
I'd want every fucking guy that fights of the UFC roster except for Tito Ortiz. That pussy would run the other way.

We're at a time of giving and receiving. You came from nothing and now you can get whatever you want basically. What kind of things does Dana White ask for during the holidays?
You know what? I really don't ask for anything. There really isn't too much I need. What I like doing is I like spending time with the people I care about. But we're going to be working through Christmas this year because of the pay-per-view on December 27. It will actually be fun to have a lot of the fighters who are on that card be around.

Can anyone else in the world do what you do?
They're trying. Listen, I'm not some arrogant fucking idiot that thinks I'm the only guy that can do anything in the world. I can tell you this: I believed in this thing and the Fertitas believed in it too. I think that them and I have been an amazing team. We went out and built a great company with a great infrastructure. The employees in this building work just as hard as I do and are just as passionate about this sport as I am. I think I've done a good job of laying out the vision, following the game plan, and putting together the right team. But nothing happens overnight. We built this business over the past nine years and there are still so many things that need to be accomplished. I don't ever pop my head up look around and go, "Look at this: We're the greatest." To me, there is always so much more work to do.

We are seeing the softer side, for lack of a better phrase, of Dana White with this Fight For the Troops event, but you seem to hit your stride as a promoter when you're angry. Who's pissed you off the most in your years at the helm?
Ah, that's a coinflipper there. I would have to say, as much of a fuckhead Tito [Ortiz] is and for all the stupid things he's done and dumb things he's said, all the things he didn't deliver on, I would have to say, the Elite XC thing was the worst. I think they set us back years…years!  The deal that they cut with CBS, the way that they went out and promoted, the Kimbo Slice fucking shit. It's brutal, man. Everybody thinks that I'm anti-competition, but I'm not. There are lots of people out there that do MMA. But, it's about how you do it. I just don't want dirty, bad people involved.

Yahoo! Buzz just released this thing that shows you what has been searched the most on the Internet. In 2008, the fifth most searched girl on it was Gina Carano, right next to Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey.  Are we ever going to see her or any other women in the UFC?
In a perfect world, I would want her in there. It's easier said than done, though. It's never easy to do a deal, and I have to do deals with so many people. It's not as easy as it looks.

In a perfect world with Fedor in the UFC, is it more logical now that he fight Randy Couture, the man who's called him out before, or Brock Lesnar, the UFC's new heavyweight champion?
Well, you know, obviously Randy doesn't have the title. If he wanted to come in and fight Randy, I'd be up for that fight. You know, do that fight first and then fight Brock after. Any which way, I'd like to see him come in and consistently fight all the best fighters in the world.

Last question:  I've heard you're trying to expand the UFC in more states, like New York, and overseas. How can I convince you to arrange a show in whatever is left of Athens, Greece?
Athens? Fuck, dude—I can't wait for that one. I'd love to go there.