'I can't do this': Dana White admits walkout from Howie Mandel podcast was staged

UFC President Dana White revealed that a viral moment when he walked off the set of a podcast was staged and that it was discussed with the host beforehand.

White appeared on legendary comedian Howie Mandel's podcast in February 2024, and after Mandel praised the fight promoter, White declared he was done with podcasts and walked out of frame after just 30 seconds.

"Thank you for all the kind words; I appreciate it," White said. "I am so f***ing tired of doing podcasts. I am literally done with them. I am not doing any more podcasts," he added before walking off.

However, months later, White explained that events occurred during a promotional appearance that caused him to break his promise to Mandel and reveal that the walkout was staged.

The UFC president said that after he appeared on "The Sage Steele Show" — which had a viral moment of its own — he was approached by Mandel.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, I can't do this. Howie Mandel's the greatest f***ing dude ever. Sorry, Howie.'

"She was signed to Bill Maher's podcast company, and they're all done there in Howie Mandel's studio," White told comedians Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh on the "Flagrant" podcast.

"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 continued.

"He's like, 'Let me show you around the studio.' He's involved in all kinds of s***," White said of Mandel. "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.'"

White added that the timing worked out perfectly because he was indeed sick of doing podcasts.

"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.'"

Unfortunately, White was not able to keep the secret, but only because of his good nature. While doing a promotional tour with pranksters and entrepreneurs the Nelk Boys, White said a huge crowd of youngsters started chanting "f**k Howie Mandel!" over and over again. White said he couldn't let the fans go on thinking poorly of Mandel.

"I go, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, I can't do this,'" White recalled. "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."

Although White broke that promise, he soon made another before the end of the "Flagrant" podcast. White said that after appearing on the Tom Brady roast that saw him perform jokes, he promised he would never do stand-up comedy again.

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