UFC president Dana White recently revealed that he nearly dropped a jaw-dropping sum in an attempt to acquire a rare baseball card of Shohei Ohtani. According to White, he offered $4 million* for the 1-of-1 card. But after Ohtani’s team took home the championship, the seller reportedly raised the asking price to $10 million plus a car — a demand that made White step back.
White admitted that he isn’t usually much of a baseball fan. Yet the moment he saw what the card represented — a truly unique piece of memorabilia linked to one of the sport’s biggest stars — he was ready to pull the trigger.
“We offered four million … looked like we were gonna get it,” he said.
The bidding spree coincided with a skyrocketing interest in Ohtani-related collectibles, reflecting how his on-field achievements have turned card auctions into a heated frenzy.
It’s not hard to see why the market exploded. A different 1-of-1 Ohtani card — one featuring relic material from the pants he wore during a historic 50-home-run / 50-steal season — recently fetched over $1 million at auction. The fact that White was willing to consider paying multiples of that tells you just how extreme the demand for Ohtani memorabilia has become.
For White, the bid wasn’t just about owning a card — it was about owning a piece of sports history. But the steep increase in asking price after the championship win proved a bridge too far, even for someone used to high stakes.
In the end, the episode underlined two things: the dizzying valuations modern collectors are willing to entertain for elite memorabilia, and Shohei Ohtani’s ever-growing status as not only a generational player, but a cultural and collectible icon.
If you want, I can also list other recent record-setting Ohtani card sales to show how steep the market has climbed recently.
