UFC President Dana White Rips Fans Who Say Bud Light Sponsorship Was a Cash Grab

UFC president Dana White fired back at critics who condemned the organization for accepting Bud Light’s endorsement after April’s Dylan Mulvaney controversy. Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, was met with unprecedented criticism in April after the brand briefly partnered with the transgender influencer for an ad campaign.

When the brand was announced earlier this week as the UFC’s official sponsor for the first time since 2019, some fans called the move a cash grab. At a press conference following Power Slap 5 on Wednesday, White sat in front of a Monster energy drink backdrop, with a branded water bottle strategically aimed at the camera, as he lashed out at the “dummies” who don’t realize that “all sponsorships are about money.” But he assured everyone that this was hardly the reason they went with Bud Light.

"Everybody on every side of this deal that were involved—other beer companies and everything else—absolutely, positively knows that this was not about money for me," White told the press. "We were going to end up with money no matter who we ended up with."

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He continued: “I said this yesterday, and I’ll say it again: Everybody on every side of this deal absolutely, positively know that this was not about money for me.”

White then listed off Bud Light’s various charitable efforts benefitting law enforcement and military families, saying their ideologies are “right up my alley…I am more aligned with Anheuser-Busch than any of the other beer companies that we’re offering to pay us money.”

He seemed to take particular issue with those who accused him of being the company’s mouthpiece. "I saw some other fucking asshole today saying, 'Oh, it sounds like they wrote him a script on what to say.' Nobody writes me a script,” White promised. “Nobody tells me what to say, ever. Everything that comes out of his mouth is me"

Duly noted.