Today marks 24 years since Dana White appeared at his first UFC event sporting a head of hair and a slimmer build.
UFC 30 was headlined by former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz who knocked out Evan Turner in 32 seconds.
In 2001, White co-purchased the fight promotion for $2million with casino owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta who he met while practicing jiu-jitsu.
Mixed martial arts was a sport with a bad reputation for unnecessary violence, a sentiment held by former New York governor George Pataki who banned MMA in 1997.
Nevada, the state where the UFC now have their headquarters, did not authorise it until 2001.
Despite the many hurdles White had to face, he remained positive as reflected by his first interview at a UFC event.
“We’re very excited,” said White in a throwback video posted by the UFC on Tuesday.
“We got a sellout crowd here. 5,000 people revved and ready to go.”
When asked about the future of his promotion, White responded: “We want to make this the Super Bowl of mixed martial arts.
“We want to make it more fan friendly. We want to get the crowd involved in it and we want to bring back the best fighters in the world.”
The video has already been watched more than 500,000 times – and fans have all been left stunned by the same thing: White looks completely different.
Having since gone bald and bulked up significantly, even the most die-hard MMA fans would have a hard time recognising the UFC president from back in 2001.
One fan said: “Boss man looks a little different here.”
Another wrote: “Hardly recognised him!”
A third put: “I never realised Dana had a Jeff Bezos level glow up!”
White oversaw the surge in popularity with stars such as Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones and Conor McGregor.
His business partners sold the UFC to WME-IMG – now named Endeavor – in 2016 for more than $4billion, but White chose to stay on as president.
And in 2019, the New York State Assembly voted 113-25 in favour of sanctioning MMA.
According to the UFC website, they broadcast events in over 165 countries and territories to more than 1.1 billion TV households.
However, the rise of the UFC and subsequently MMA did not come without controversy.
Many fighters signed to the promotion claimed they were underpaid, an issue that remains unsolved.
White fell out with former champions Tyron Woodley, Demetrious Johnson and Francis Ngannou.
He also signed convicted criminal Greg Hardy to the UFC in 2019 after being found guilty of domestic violence toward his ex-girlfriend.
She testified he threw her on a futon filled with guns, placed his hands on her throat and threatened to kill her.
White is a longstanding supporter of President Donald Trump, opening the doors to him at events and also speaking at Republican rallies.