UFC President Dana White told a sponsor “go f*** yourself” when asked to take down a social media post he made about former President Donald Trump.
In a recent interview on Theo Von’s podcast “This Past Weekend,” the mixed martial arts boss explained that the company, which he did not name, requested that he delete a post about Trump on his personal social media page.
“One of our big sponsors called and said, take that down,” White detailed. “You know what I said? Go f*** yourself.”
White is a longtime Trump supporter who endorsed the 45th president at the Republican National Convention in both 2016 and 2020.
NEW: UFC’s Dana White says he told a big sponsor to “go f*** yourself” after they told him to delete a social media post that he shared of Donald Trump.
Amazing 🔥🔥🔥
“One of our big sponsors called and said, take that down.”
“I said, go f*** yourself. You vote for whoever… pic.twitter.com/Ay9yqmmyXh
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 14, 2023
In his initial appearance at the convention in 2016, he credited Trump with being the first person to recognize the potential in the UFC during a time where arenas world wide refused to host their events.
“I’ve been in the fight business my whole life. I know fighters,” White said at the time. “Ladies and gentlemen, Donald Trump is a fighter, and I know he’ll fight for this country.”
In prerecorded speech played at RNC 2020, the UFC CEO defended the former president’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need President Trump’s leadership now more than ever,” he began in the video. “Let’s talk about COVID, and let’s be very honest about it.” White said.
“No one person and no one place could have anticipated the challenges that COVID would bring, but President Trump has faced all of these obstacles head on.”
Since then Trump has appeared at numerous fight nights held by White’s organization, most recently attending UFC 295 on Saturday.
Trump was greeted by cheers as he walked through the tunnel at Madison Square Garden to his ringside seats, flanked by musician Kid Rock, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and White himself.
“You vote for whoever you want to vote for, and I’ll vote for whoever I want to vote for,” White told Von on his podcast.
“That’s how this works. I don’t even care who you’re voting for. It’s none of my f***ing business,” he continued. “F*** you. Don’t ever f***ing call me and tell me who to vote for.”
White went on to explain that his friendships and business deals are based on values rather than getting ahead.
“I’m at a point now in my life and my career where I want to be with people that I’m aligned with,” the UFC CEO said.
“It’s not just about the money. It is about the money because it’s a sponsorship deal, but it’s not just [about the money],” he detailed.
“I’m not going to take a bigger offer if it’s not something that I am aligned with and I don’t 100 percent believe in.”
Dana White explains why he partnered with Bud Light & says he’s the furthest thing from a sell out pic.twitter.com/d4huJ904mi
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) November 14, 2023
“When you do a sponsorship deal with somebody, you have to look deep into who they are and who’s running the company, who’s making the decisions, and are you aligned?”
White pointed towards his recent multi-year partnership with Anheuser-Busch, which has elevated Bud Light to the organization’s official beer brand, over previous partner Modelo, which has become the nation’s best selling beer this year.
“It’s like this whole Bud Light deal — people are talking s*** now, sellout and all this s*** they f***ing say,” he commented.
“Believe me, I’m the furthest f***ing thing from a sellout. Bud Light is the right move for me.”
He noted that the deal was “the right move” for him, and that the beer brand was “exactly” who he wants to be working with, as both companies are “very aligned as far as core values go.”
White pointed out that the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco that cost Anheuser-Busch billions when they sent the transgender influencer a can with their face on it, was part of a larger marketing move.
“They had 2,500 influencers that day and gave everybody their own can,” he detailed.
“I look deeper than just f***ing “oh you know, they did this can with whoever”. I don’t give a s***,” White concluded.
“You guys think you’re all looking for an apology, they ain’t going to f***ing apologize to you.”