Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White gave a no-holds-barred interview to “Unfiltered” host Dan Bongino, attributing the sport’s massive growth to their response to the Covid lockdowns and not capitulating to the woke mob. White was recently spotted with former president Donald Trump and Bud Light critic Kid Rock at a recent event, also a success with the brand’s fans.
First speaking with Bongino about the sport’s rapid rise in popularity, he directly gave credit to their early opening when most sports arenas were empty and seasons were canceled.
“When all the COVID bans were being lifted, it grew our business, I don’t know, like 70% or something like that, because we were the only thing to watch,” White said to Bongino. The influx of fans has largely stayed with the sport after their initial exposure.
White also spoke about the resistance to go “woke” and pander and virtue signal to a very vocal majority. Recent backlash against Nike and Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch are just two of the latest examples of companies going broke after going woke.
The heart of the interview, though, was to capitalize on White’s recent appearance alongside Donald Trump at UFC 287 in Miami the other week. White was asked about the crowd’s reaction to the former president walking in.
“It’s insane, you know, if you think about this, I’ve been doing this for, like, 23 years. When you’re walking with Trump, it’s a whole ‘nother level, man. The entire place erupted. Everybody was going crazy, and it was fun,” he said.
That video circulated widely; check it below if you haven’t seen it yet.
BREAKING: UFC crowd in Miami goes wild as Trump enters arena with Kid Rock and Mike Tyson pic.twitter.com/Msf4TGoE1d
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 9, 2023
The American Tribune covered the wild fan reaction, writing:
Commenting on the video, people said that Trump is “the people’s president” and that neither President Joe Biden nor Trump competitor Ron DeSantis receive such outpourings of love and support from crowds of normal people.
That came when Trump was already seated alongside Mike Tyson, Dana White, and Kid Rock. When he entered the arena, the crowd went wild as well. Showing up alongside former boxer Mike Tyson and current rock star Kid Rock, who recently opened fire on Bud Light (literally) over its transgender marketing approach, Trump got the crowd going…
In another amazing moment from the Florida matches, after one 38-year-old fighter accepted his latest loss and announced his retirement, he got the crowd going one more time.
Fighter Jorge Masvidal went out with a bang after leading the sell-out crowd in a “Let’s Go Brandon” chant.
Masvidal first yelled “Let’s Go Brandon (expletive)” needs to be removed from power. He then led the crowd in an epic “Let’s Go Brandon” chant. He repeated it twice on the mic before exiting the octagon for the final time.
Check that awesome moment out:
Wow. Jorge Masvidal retires and leads a chant of “Let’s go Brandon!” pic.twitter.com/ftpeJ8IhTJ
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 9, 2023
“The 38-year-old UFC star fighter had lost the fight to Gilbert Burns, and speaking to UFC commenter and podcast host Joe Rogan after the fight, announced his retirement,” The American Tribune said of Masvidal. “Saying that he “just doesn’t feel the same” when he steps into the octagon now, he pulled the curtain on his career, which has spanned more than 50 fights (his record is 36-15).”
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