Ex-UFC veteran answers if he'd like to replace Dana White as UFC president

Dana White became the president and public face of the UFC in 2001, soon after Zuffa bought the promotion for $2 million, and stayed steadfast in his post even after the UFC was sold to a consortium of investors led by Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. The 53-year-old could be credited with the UFC's exponential growth since its takeover.

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While White has no immediate plans to retire, the MMA community has long debated who could be a possible successor to the UFC supremo.

In a recent interview with Mype Sports, Ben Askren was asked if he would be interested in being the one to run the UFC after White's retirement. The former UFC welterweight vehemently refused, saying:

"I would never want a job like that. I mean, I'm sure you make a lot of money, but good God. I love the life I live and so maybe in another life I'm sure I would have some fun like that."

Catch Ben Askren's remarks [5:25 onwards] below:

Dana White can be seen at almost every UFC event, often flanked by his trusted matchmakers, Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby. He even hosts various MMA shows such as Dana White: Lookin' for a Fight and Dana White's Contender Series (DWCS).

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Dana White recalls the UFC's humble beginnings before the takeover in 2001

The UFC has certainly come a long way since operating on wooden octagons and a handful of contracted fighters to become the world's largest and most popular MMA promotion. The lion's share of the credit undoubtedly goes to its president, Dana White.

In a recent interview with Grant Cardone, White gave some insight into what the UFC looked like more than a decade ago. While discussing the exponential growth of the promotion since its takeover, White stated:

"I never told this story before but at the time, this guy Bob Meyers had stripped this thing down to all we bought were those three letters [UFC], which the trademark wasn't even that strong at the time, old wooden octagon and 10 or 12 contracts. That's all we owned."

White further spoke about how the company had to buy back the DVD and video game rights from Lionsgate:

"All the rights, the DVD rights - which ended up being massive - the video game rights and all the old library was owned by Lionsgate. We had to go back and negotiate those rights from Lionsgate... They sold it back to us for $2 million."

Watch Grant Cardone's full interview with White below:

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