Dana White Goes to Comic Con to Launch a Manga Called Martial War

Dana White spent part of his week at New York Comic Con, and for once the UFC CEO wasn't there to sell a fight card. He turned up to promote Martial War, the first manga from his son Aiden White and nephew Will Carter, sitting down with MMA Fighting's José Youngs on the Anything But Fighting podcast to talk the project up.

The pitch has more firepower behind it than your typical family side project. The book pairs the two first-timers with Hiroyuki Takei, the artist best known for Shaman King, and letterer Steve Dutro, an Eisner Award nominee whose credits include Monster, 21st Century Boys and I Am a Hero. That's genuine industry pedigree lined up behind a debut.

White's willingness to carve out time for this is its own story. The man runs a promotion that stays in headlines nonstop, and he chose a Comic Con panel to talk anime and manga rather than the usual fight-week noise.

Meanwhile, Back in the Cage

The sport didn't exactly go quiet while he was away. Alex Pereira, the No. 3 light heavyweight at 13-4 with 11 knockouts, is reportedly in line for a title eliminator after dropping his last outing to Ciryl Gane by second-round TKO, and coach Ray Longo has openly questioned whether he's big enough to survive at heavyweight.

Arman Tsarukyan, the No. 2 lightweight sitting at 24-3 with six submissions, is booked against Neiman Gracie on an upcoming Abu Dhabi card. And UFC Vegas 122 pits No. 4 middleweight Brendan Allen (27-7, 14 submissions) against surging No. 10 contender Christian Leroy Duncan (15-2), who's already talking about Dricus Du Plessis or a straight title shot if he gets the job done.

White, though, was working a different beat entirely for a day. Promoting a comic rather than a main event is an unusual look for him — and that's exactly why it's worth noting.