SUMMARY
- Shaquille O'Neal helped film TUF 1's commercial.
- Dana White claims Shaq is the most generous human being around.
Shaquille O’Neal is the type of friend everybody would want in their lives and it has nothing to do with his fame or fortune. Over the years, most of us have gotten to know a bit about O’Neal’s personality and what he believes is the right way of living life. The former NBA superstar is probably one of the most humble individuals we’ve seen coming from a background that we considered the American Dream.
Recently, Shaq released an episode of The Big Podcast featuring one of his dearest friends, Dana White. The latter is the president of one of the fastest-growing MMA promotions of the 2000s, the UFC. Both individuals have been good friends since the UFC initially started to kick off into the stratosphere. Turns out, White used to have Shaq help him promote various events and shows hosted by the UFC.
Shaquille O’Neal helped Dana White promote the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter Season 1
The UFC has a ton of projects that run under it which includes The Ultimate Fighter, Dana White’s Contender Series, Power Slap, and more. TUF was one of the first projects that the UFC began promoting which features two teams coached by ranked fighters. Fighters from each team compete to land a deal with the UFC. Shaq helped Dana with TUF Season 1’s commercial.
White highlighted it during the podcast episode saying, “Here is the story, he’s being Shaq, as usual. We didn’t say, ‘Hey, get Shaq here or whatever.’ Shaq did a lot of very good things for us early on when we trying to build the UFC, much like Joe Rogan [who did his first dozen fights for free]… So when we’re launching The Ultimate Fighter season 1, Shaq came in and laid down one of the baddest commercials for The Ultimate Fighter that you will ever see.”
He also spoke about Shaquille O’Neal’s willingness to help or be kind no matter what the circumstance might be. White added, “Shaq has always been an unbelievable friend, a big heart… Like I’m late as hell to this podcast, late as hell. And I came in and I said, ‘I’m sorry, I owe you big.’ And he’s like, ‘You owe me nothing, just friendship.'” Dana also praised Shaq over his ability to perform in front of the camera. O’Neal has acted in several commercials over the years to promote brands that he’s endorsed.
Big Diesel used to frequently tell Dana White he wanted to fight in the UFC
Shaquille O’Neal truly loves the UFC but not many people are aware of it. It turns out that The Big Diesel has a slight interest in fighting, but he probably would’ve had a chance to compete in the UFC had he trained in MMA at an early age like he did with basketball. White also agreed by saying, “100%, I mean this maniac used to call me all the time, ‘I’m telling you Dana, I’mma fight, I’m going to fight in the UFC. I’m training.’”
Shaq once sparred with former UFC Champion Forrest Griffin and the video is still on YouTube. O’Neal mentioned that Griffin was one of the strongest to ever do it. But the closest Shaq has ever been to fighting was when he made appearances on WWE and AEW. His rivalry with Paul Wright, also known as The Big Show is one fans will forever remember.