It’s not every day that Dana White gets starstruck by a celebrity. After all, the 56-year-old mogul has become one of the most recognizable figures in the world through his role in turning the UFC into a household name. However, veteran actor Mark Wahlberg revealed that White was actually awestruck after getting the opportunity to work with legendary actor Robert De Niro on an unreleased boxing movie called Out on My Feet, based on WBF super cruiserweight champion Vinnie Curto’s life story.

“Well, when Dana and I were working together on a boxing movie that never happened, Out on My Feet,” Wahlberg stated during an interview with Paramount+. “Dana was my boxing trainer. He was also, not only was he a boxing trainer, he was also managing fighters, and this was before he had gotten involved in the UFC. And we were making this movie.

“I was playing Vinnie Curto, Dana was playing… I mean, Robert De Niro was playing Angelo Dundee, and Dana was very excited to see De Niro. And I think he was freaking him out a little bit. And Bob was like, ‘Who’s this guy?’ But, you know, Dana’s been my guy for a long time.”

As Wahlberg pointed out, Dana White wasn’t actually playing a character in the movie. Instead, he was training the veteran actor in boxing for his role as protagonist Vinnie Curto. Their collaboration took place around 1997 to 1998, when White was still working as a trainer and had yet to purchase the UFC. To train Wahlberg, White traveled from Las Vegas to California just to prepare the actor for the movie.

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Alongside the Transformers star, Robert De Niro also took part, playing Curto’s trainer, Angelo Dundee. Because of this, the stars aligned for White to meet one of his favorite actors. In fact, the UFC CEO has previously talked about his surreal experience of meeting Robert De Niro for the first time, admitting that he couldn’t take his eyes off the legendary actor. 

”Mark grabs me and pulls me aside and says, ‘Dana, you got to stop staring at Bobby. You’re freaking him out,’” White told Sports Illustrated. “I’m like, ‘Mark, it’s f—ing Robert De Niro, man. I’m in a room with De Niro and I guess I was staring at him the whole time.’ He’s like, ‘I’m telling you man, if you don’t stop staring at him you’re not going to be able to go back in the room. You’re totally freaking him out!’”  

Even with such a star-studded cast, the movie never materialized. Some reports indicate that Vinnie Curto’s biographical film ran into budgeting issues and ultimately remained unreleased. However, it’s safe to say that Dana White might not regret the outcome too much, as it gave him the chance to meet the actor behind one of his favorite movies, Goodfellas.

Yet, this isn’t the only time Dana White has had a connection with Robert De Niro. He also helped one of his former UFC veterans land a role in one of De Niro’s movies. 

Dana White Helped Chael Sonnen Land Acting Role Alongside Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone

After White’s movie project with Robert De Niro fizzled out, another opportunity emerged years later. De Niro was starring in another movie called Grudge Match, this time alongside another legendary actor, Sylvester Stallone. Reportedly, the makers of the movie contacted Dana White about making a cameo. However, the UFC CEO wasn’t interested and instead handed the opportunity to Chael Sonnen.

The former UFC middleweight title challenger happily took the role and even thanked Dana White for making it possible for him to star alongside two world-famous actors, something Sonnen never thought would happen in his life.

“I never thought I would be in a movie, but I’m also not going to be standing with Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro,” Sonnen said in his YouTube video. “Let alone doing a scene with them that’s gonna drop Christmas day that I can take my whole family to and show off… All that happened is they called Dana [White], they said, ‘Dana, we want you.’ Dana said, ‘No you don’t, you want Chael.’ And Dana called and told me that.”

For Sonnen, the project was even more groundbreaking as he shared the screen with boxing legends Manny Pacquiao and Evander Holyfield. But all of that became possible because Dana White had no interest in acting alongside De Niro.