BOSTON — He grew up a boxing fan, and as a young man spent many a sweaty hour training to be a fighter.
When he wasn’t throwing leather in the gym, he worked a straight job at the Boston Harbor Hotel. Over time he became a fan of a different form of hand-to-hand combat, one seen on the occasional pay-per-view cable telecast but little known to mainstream sports followers. His burgeoning interest led him to meet several of these mixed martial artists, and he began managing some. Eventually he was putting on MMA fights as a promoter.
That is the story of Dana White.
That is the story of Joe Cavallaro, too.
“Yeah, Dana and I go way back,” Cavallaro said of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s audacious president, who spent many years in Boston before moving to Las Vegas. The rest is a billion dollars worth of UFC history — a history that writes its next chapter Saturday night, when White fulfills a dream with the debut of his fight promotion, UFC 118, in his former state.
“I’m excited that he’s bringing the UFC to Boston,” Cavallaro said, “and I know Dana’s excited to be here. Finally.”
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