Dana White handed a UFC contract to one of his own employees Tuesday night. Salhahuddin Everett, White’s personal runner, knocked out unbeaten welterweight Ozzy Martin at 1:57 of Round 1 at Dana White’s Contender Series 95. He walked out of the Meta Apex as a signed fighter.
The job history is the good part. Yahoo Sports reported that Everett, 29, came into the company in April 2023 through a third-party agency as a graveyard-shift security guard. He worked his way up from there until he was running errands for the president of the company. One Yahoo headline credited him with stocking White’s fridge, which means he has now done both kinds of heavy lifting for the UFC.
Everett was 4-0 as a pro going in. His opponent was the one getting the respect. White said his Boston contacts were texting him during the night with warnings that his guy was in over his head against Martin, who they considered a legit prospect. That was over in less than two minutes.
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UFC on Paramount+ posted the moment between the two afterward. White, who doesn’t usually get sentimental on a Tuesday in an empty-ish TV studio, was laying it on thick.
“We’ve had title fights in here [at the Meta Apex], I don’t know if it’s ever been as loud as it was tonight for your fight,” White said. “Everybody at the UFC loves you. You’re a great kid, forget about the whole fighting and the contract, you’re a great human being, this could not happen to a better person.”
He also delivered the line of the night: “It’s kind of weird because you’re already at the UFC, but welcome to the UFC.”
Yes, the optics are funny. The boss signs his assistant on the show that has the boss’s name in the title. If that bugs you, take it up with the replay. Martin came in unbeaten, and Everett put him out in the first round. Sherdog wrote on X that Everett also had a warning for the welterweight division after the fight.
The twist is that Everett isn’t quitting the day job. He told reporters he plans to keep working as White’s runner rather than going all in on training.
“I want to stay in this building,” he said. “I love it here. I feel like don’t fix what’s not broken and we’ll just continue to keep working.”
I like this guy. He gave a straight answer to a question most fighters would turn into a speech about sacrifice and full-time camps. Whether keeping the day job holds up against UFC welterweights is a fair question for later, and he’ll find out soon enough. For now, the 170-pound division has a new signee who knows where White keeps the snacks, and he summed up his plan in seven words: “I’m here to work and here to fight.”
