- Dana White gifted YouTuber Kyle Forgeard $250,000 in a plastic bag for his birthday.
- Footage of the present generated backlash from a variety of people online.
UFC boss Dana White recently gave Nelk Boys creator Kyle Forgeard $250,000 in a plastic bag for his birthday.
Footage from Forgeard's birthday took the internet by storm and polarized opinion.
Some saw no issue with White's gift, opining that he can do whatever he likes with his own money.
Others — from former UFC athletes, analysts, and media — suggested it would have been more appropriate to send that money to MMA fighters who risk brain trauma to make the sport, and by extension, the UFC, a success.
"Retweet if you think Uncle Dana should give all of the UFC's top 15 ranked fighters $250,000 for their next birthday," former UFC contender and analyst Dan Hardy tweeted.
American MMA fighter Alan Jouban, who last competed in the UFC in 2020, tweeted: "I think everyone involved with the UFC would love a surprise $250k! But what Dana does with his personal money is up to him!"
—Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) July 12, 2022
Forgeard posted the footage on Twitter and appears stunned at the amount of cash in the bag.
"What the fuck?" Forgeard can be heard saying. "No. Holy fuck. That's fucked, bro."
At the end of the clip, Forgeard embraced White.
—KYLE (@KyleForgeard) July 12, 2022
White responded to his critics this week
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, White sent an NSFW message to his critics.
The 53-year-old said: "First of all, all these people on the internet — go fuck yourselves. Ok. I spend my money however the fuck I want to spend my money. Mind your own fucking business."
White then appeared to reference the UFC marketing that "Kyle and the Nelk Boys" do on YouTube with their vlogs.
"Kyle has done so many things for me. Believe me, the $250,000 that I gave him for his birthday, it does not cover the amount of things that kid has done for me."
There's a media agenda, according to White
White then targeted what he called "the scumbag MMA media" which, he believes, drives narratives like the one that saw him receive criticism for gifting YouTubers wads of cash.
"What happens is, they act like there's this massive safe here at the UFC offices that says 'fighter pay' on it, and I just go in there and grab whatever I want out of fighter pay," White said.
He added: "No, you fucking pieces of shit. This is money that I have actually made over an entire career, and I will spend it however the fuck I want."
UFC returns this weekend
White introduced the sixth season of Dana White's Contender Series earlier this week at the Apex in Las Vegas, and awarded one fighter with a full-time UFC contract.
The series will run for a total of 10 weeks and, in a message to other wannabe fighters on the show, White said they better compete like it could change their careers forever.
The UFC returns Saturday with an event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Julianna Pena defends her recently-won women's bantamweight belt against former queen Amanda Nunes in the UFC 277 main event.
Brandon Moreno, Derrick Lewis, and Anthony Smith compete in separate bouts earlier in the show.