UFC's Dana White On His Latest Business Venture And Why He's Investing In Phorm Energy
TORONTO, ONTARIO - JANUARY 18: UFC CEO Dana White is seen on stage during the UFC 297 press ... More conference at The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre on January 18, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Dana White may be known as the CEO and president of UFC, but he's looking to make an impact in the energy drink business world.
The 55-year-old is investing in the partnership between Anheuser-Busch and 1st Phorm. The two Missouri-based companies are releasing Phorm Energy, with the prominent alcohol brand (Anheuser-Busch) getting involved in the energy drink world. 1st Phorm is a nutrition and supplment company led by CEO Sal Frisella
White details how talks began after Anheuser-Busch became the official beer sponsor of UFC in 2024.
'It began with our new beer sponsorship,' says White in a one-on-one interview. "With that, we started talking, I flew out here (to St. Louis), walked the halls, met a lot of people, and I'm at a point in my life and in my career where I only want to be with people that I'm aligned with and I'm very aligned with Anheuser-Busch.
'He – Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth – hit me up with this opportunity for the energy drink and I was like, 'I'm an energy drink guy, I drink it literally every day.' That was exciting for me and I love building brands. So perfect, perfect fit for me.'
There are four flavors that are on shelves, which includes Screamin' Freedom, Orange Fury, Grape Smash and Blue Blitz.
It's no secret that the energy drink marketplace is a packed one, with the United States being the largest market for the beverage. Red Bull has the largest global market share with Monster not far behind. Other energy drinks such as Rockstar Energy, Amp and NOS follow with much smaller shares.
Frisella details what will make Phorm Energy stand out from the other energy drinks in the marketplace.
'It's a combination of the skill set, we have over 20 years of experience in the sports nutrition business and we combined with America's best brewer,' says Frisella of partnering with Anheuser-Busch. "The innovation and the ability for us to bring a tremendous product to the market -- a superior product -- to market was just a natural fit.
'It tastes fantastic, the innovation team put almost 400 different flavors of different renditions of this drink to the market,' Frisella continues to say. 'We all got the opportunity to taste it. We now have a tremendous formula, tremendous flavor lineup. We have a tremendous network being able to push things into the market.'
Phorm Energy — the UFC's Dana White is an owner in the brand — has four different flavors.
White details how there's more 'natural caffeine' in the drink, which is one of the big traits that makes Phorm Energy stand out from other drinks that they're competing with.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth details how everything came together late last year when he reached out to Frisella and then a day after that, reached out to White about partnering up to release this energy drink.
'What we saw was an opportunity,' says Whitworth. "We had a much better chance of being successful by becoming partners. I reached out to Sal, who's the founder and CEO of 1st Phorm, the country's largest private sports nutrition company and talked to him about wanting to do this thing.
'That was 207 days ago and then a day after that, I called Dana and said, 'Hey man, this is what we're thinking about doing. You want to be a part of it?' And he said, 'Hell Yeah,'" Whitworth continues to say. "Then we just put it together over the last 207 days and here we are."
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth is partnering with UFC's Dana White and 1st Phorm's Sal ... More Frisella to release Phorm Energy. (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Whitworth makes it clear that White , who is a prominent figure due to UFC's popularity, is not a brand ambassador and Phorm Energy is not sponsoring him. White is an owner and an investor in the brand.
'Dana and I first met around Anheuser-Busch and our beer brands and sponsoring his business with the UFC with Bud Light,' says Whitworth. 'That's how our relationship started and that's how our partnership started. This is different. Dana is an owner in Phorm Energy. We're not sponsoring Dana White. Dana White is a partner in our business as well as 1st Phorm.'
Anheuser-Busch previously engaged in partnerships and distribution of energy drinks such as Hiball Energy and Alta Palla. Whitworth details how that previous experience has prepared them for the release of Phorm Energy as they fully dip into the energy drink market.
'We had a brand that we probably had since 2018 and good partners of ours, and it turned out it was a good opportunity for them to to exit that business,' says Whitworth. 'That was fine for us, and we were excited to kind of use what we learned. We made it here, we made spirits and that was the first foray. We learned a lot, and we're using those capabilities, that knowledge, that expertise for our team and pointed it towards what we think is a really cool opportunity for Phorm Energy.'
UFC has a well-known partnership with Monster which began in 2015. They recently announced their third consecutive partnership renewal, with the latest agreement being the largest sponsorship deal in the history of both companies.
White says Monster remains the energy drink sponsor of UFC and says they are "cool" with him becoming an owner in Phorm Energy.
'Monster is our sponsor with the UFC,' says White when asked if Phorm Energy will be involved with UFC. 'They've been an incredible sponsor to us for a very long time. They're great to do business with. To show you how great they are to do business with, they were cool with me owning my own energy drink.'
The partnership between these three prominent figures will also include a multi-year deal with Hendrick Motorsports, which is considered the No. 1 team in NASCAR. William Byron – who won the Dayton 500 for the second consecutive year and is near the top of NASCAR Cup Series standings – will sport Phorm Energy for six races across the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Phorm Energy branding will be seen on fire suits, helmets and fueler gear across Hendrick's top teams and there will also be brand integration into Hendrick Motorsports' new 35,000 square foot facility, which will open next year.
Hendrick Motorsports also features its former longtime driver and NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon as its vice chairman. Whitworth's connection with Gordon resulted in the partnership between Anheuser-Busch and NASCAR.
'We also wanted to make sure that we struck some pretty interesting sponsorships, ones that we thought would be relevant to our consumers, our future consumers, and that put us into the world of NASCAR,' details Whitowrth. 'They're an amazing team, one of the most winning teams in NASCAR is Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon is a friend of mine. Called him up, I said, 'What do you think about doing a sponsorship?' He said, 'Love to do it.' We kind of put the relationship together that way, and it will be with William Byron.'
Whitworth further details that the partnership will showcase the pit crew of Hendrick Motorsports, which is an often overlooked component of the success of a NASCAR driver.
'What we think is a very interesting way in is also be very clear in telling the stories with the pit crew,' says Whitworth. 'One of the first-ever NASCAR races I went to was with Jeff and he introduced me to his pit crew. These guys are athletes and that's where the idea generation started. We're partnering across Hendrick Motorsports with William Byron, but also across all of their pit crews. They have an amazing athletic training facility down in Charlotte. We'll be a part of that, which really is a nice fit for Phorm Energy.'
Whitworth says the long-term objective of Phorm Energy is to 'compete' in the energy drink marketplace. White says it's to 'get up every day and win.'
'Get out every day and win,' says White of the objective. 'That's what we all like to do. I'm not one of these guys that just looks at the brand and says, 'Oh, let's get this region.' I like to take things global. Everything that I'm involved in is global."
White points towards the long history of Anheuser-Busch – it started in the 1850s – and how its emerged as one of the most iconic brands in American history.
'These are the type of business people that I like to be aligned with,' says White. 'When you think about the history of Anheuser-Busch and how big it is – this thing doesn't move like an old, stuffy company. These guys move like this, they get s*** done. Those are the kind of people that I like to be in business with. This is going to be fun. If you look at what has happened in 207 days, wait to see what happens in three years.'
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