Dana White has been making the rounds, partaking in several interviews in the build up to the Noche UFC, set to go down this Saturday as the first ever sporting event inside the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Earlier this week, the promotion’s CEO sat down with TIME in New York City, where he shared some honest views on multiple subjects.
Most interestingly, White was asked about the influence of male masculinity in politics, referencing happenings at the 2024 Republican National Convention, such as Donald Trump walking out to ‘It’s a Man’s World’ by James Brown.
“It’s a great question. This friend of mine was telling me, she’s got a girlfriend who was saying, “You know what, I’m way more attracted to Trump’s supporters. I like real men.” It’s funny, it’s fascinating, and interesting that there is so much emphasis on, what is a real man? What’s he supposed to do? I don’t really know what to make of it. But I think that you are who you are.
I f-cking love Kid Rock and his music. But you know what? I don’t hunt. I don’t kill animals. If there’s f-cking a Big Rack deer in my backyard, I want to see it, not f-cking shoot it.
Everybody is different, and women are attracted to different types of men. Can’t we all just get along and do our thing?”
(h/t TIME.com)
This segued into White being asked to share what he feels a real man is, and the long time fight promoter did not hold back.
“That I can answer. In my world, I run a company. I am the leader of that company. You lead by example. Do you really care about your employees? Do you really care about who they are and what’s going on with them in their life? I would say most don’t. I definitely care about my people.
Every Christmas party, I would stand up and say, “I love you guys. You’re the best.” UFC is this rocket ship of success. Then we go into the scariest time in our lifetime. We didn’t lay off one employee, we fought through COVID, we did it together. And we became a much stronger company. Number one.
Number two, I believe that, as a man, there’s all this talk about men’s mental health—I can’t stand that sh-t. Yes, guess what? Life is hard. It’s a nasty, ugly world out there. It’s not perfect. And you can’t afford to be a man and talk publicly about, “Oh, my mental health.” We all have bad days and good days. And I believe that as a man, you suck that sh-t up. Usually, if you’re a man, you have a lot of people relying on you to deliver: your wife, your kids, possibly other family members.
If you run a business, every one of your employees. Yeah, there’s no time for men’s mental health. You’re a f-cking man. Get up, put your f-cking shoes on, and get out there and be a man. “
(h/t TIME.com)
While many will be rubbed the wrong way by White’s very direct feelings on men’s mental health, it is quite typical for the UFC’s CEO to respond with this type of direct opinion. Similar to his good friend Donald Trump, White has never been known to hold back when it comes to press conferences, interviews, or even speeches.