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UFC President Dana White fired back at criticism following the announcement of the company's new partnership with Anheuser-Busch, despite recent boycotts from conservatives after the company partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney earlier this year.
White addressed the situation during his 'Power Slap 5' post-match press conference on Wednesday (October 25) following news that the beer company would once again serve as UFC's "official beer partner" as part of a new, multiyear deal that would go into effect on January 1, 2024. White admitted that he anticipated potential backlash from some fans and compared the move to his previous decision for UFC to be one of the first sports to return to action during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When it comes to Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, everybody talks about, 'oh, you did it for money.' Hey dummies, all sponsorship deals are about money, OK? So when you talk about being a sellout, I had multiple deals in front of me," White said. "So it's not like, 'oh, Bud Light showed up and they were the only option I had to get money.' Do you know how f*****g stupid that is to think that.
"This was all about everybody on every side of this deal that were involved, other beer companies and everything else, absolutely positively know this was not about money to me. We were going to end up with money with no matter who we ended up with."
Terms of the deal have not yet been revealed publcily, however, Bloomberg reported that it was UFC's "biggest-ever sponsorship," surpassing its $175 million deal with Crypto.com. White, a friend and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, doubled-down on his initial statement in a news release that the partnership was based on Anheuser-Busch's core values.
"The things that I said about Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light yesterday are absolutely true," White said during the press conference. "I am a big military/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, etc. That is right up my alley.
"Almost a billion dollars a year goes to U.S. farmers for their crops for their products. That is right up my alley, that is exactly who I am. Sixty-five million Americans are employed by Anheuser-Busch and thousands of them are vets. Right up my alley and I can keep going on and on forever and tell you why I am more aligned with Anheuser-Busch than any of the other beer companies that were offering to pay us money."
Anheuser-Busch had previously served as UFC's official beer sponsor until 2017 and will replace Modelo, which surpassed Bud Light as the top-selling beer in the U.S. amid the mass boycott earlier this year.