• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, October 6, 2010

Industry organization PromaxBDA's first sports marketing award will go to an executive who, among many things, has partly altered the perception of mixed martial arts -- once tabbed as "human cockfighting" by Sen. John McCain.

Dana White, head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, will get the Promax "Game Changer Award" in November.

UFC is the preeminent MMA organization, and White has turned it into a global operation with live events. He's made liberal use of pay per view, while a reality show on Spike has been a hit.

Of course, the livewire White's own public commentary is strong marketing by itself. Moreover, McCain has since recanted on his charges about MMA.

Promax, which focuses on promotion and design, is launching a series of Sports Media Marketing Awards, where the White honor is the top-liner. The organization said the "Game Changer Award recognizes a cultural innovator who, through the development of new technologies, applications, business models ... has transformed the business" of sports marketing.

Jonathan Block-Verk, president of Promax, credited White with the "evolution of the UFC brand," saying "its meteoric rise under his watch perfectly exemplify what it means to be a game changer in the sports marketing arena."