UFC CEO Dana White is not a huge admirer of companies attempting to dictate what individuals say or do.
In a recent podcast appearance on Theo Von’s show at the UFC headquarters, Dana White shared his strong stance against corporate intervention in personal beliefs and expressions.
The conversation veered into the territory of sponsorships and business dynamics, highlighting an incident where a sponsor withdrew from an agreement due to an interview conducted by Von with Robert Kennedy Jr.
White firmly expressed his stance by saying: “I posted a video for Trump on my personal social media and one of our big sponsors called us and told us to take that down…you know what I said, go F yourself, you vote for whoever you want to vote for and I’ll vote for whoever I want to vote for. That’s how this all works, I don’t even care who you vote for, that’s none of my f’ing business, but F you, don’t ever call me and tell me who to vote for.”
When Von disclosed that Peloton had dropped their advertisements as a result of the RFK Jr. interview, it sparked a reaction from White. He promptly instructed the removal of all Peloton bikes from the UFC headquarters’ gym.
White said: “Peloton, what do they sell stationary bikes? Peloton, sells stationary bikes and they have a problem with Robert F’in Kennedy, F you Peloton, who the F are they? Are you F’ing kidding me?”
“Do we have Pelotons in the gym? We’re getting rid of them. We’re getting rid of the Pelotons. Pelotons are out of the gym.”
“Peloton sells stationary bikes and has an issue with Robert F’in Kennedy? Who are they to dictate terms? We’re getting rid of their products. Are they kidding me?”
Two weeks before, White retaliated against those who claimed that Bud Light was pressuring him to read a script as part of their sponsorship agreement.
White vehemently opposed any claims of corporate control. He said: “I saw some f**king a**hole today saying it sounds like they wrote a script on what to say. Nobody writes me a script. Nobody tells me what to say, ever…”
“If you look at every quote that I put out, every quote is me. Everything that’s posted on social media is me, and everything that comes out of this mouth is me. Nobody tells me what to say, nobody tells what to do, ever.”
“Everything I said about Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light is absolutely true, I am a big military and law enforcement guy. They have this folds of honor where they’ve spent $44 million over the last however many years. Fallen first responders and military people, their families get taken care of with this money, scholarships for their kids, that is right up my alley.”