UFC CEO Dana White appeared on “This Past Weekend” with comedian Theo Von last Thursday, and a part of their dialog has led to a major change at the UFC Performance Institute.
During the show, Von revealed to White that Peloton, a New York-based company, had previously sponsored one of his episodes. However, when Peloton became aware that 2024 presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was the star guest of that show, the company demanded that Von remove the episode from his rotation and delete it off of social media.
White, who is close friends with former president Donald Trump, exploded when he learned of Peloton’s demand, taking specific aim at their CEO, Barry McCarthy.
“So Peloton, what do they sell f—–g stationary bikes?” White said. “Peloton sells stationary bikes and they’ve got a problem with Robert f—–g Kennedy? F–k you, Peloton. Who the f–k are they? Are you f—–g kidding me? F—–g Peloton calling and b——g about Robert Kennedy.
“Let’s see Barry McCarthy. Oh f—–g Barry McCarthy looks like that guy, 100 percent. He looks like a do—bag.”
After his expletive-laden rant, White called in UFC executive vice president of operations and productions, Craig Borsari, and demanded that Peloton be removed from all UFC-owned gyms and performance centers.
“Do we have Pelotons in the gym? Are those Pelotons? We’re getting rid of them,” White said. “We’re getting rid of the Pelotons. Pelotons are out of the gym. That’s what you do. You stop f—–g using their products and f–k them.
“I’m not bulls——g you, you can film us. My guys are going to take the Pelotons out of the gym today. We’re getting rid of them. We’re going to go throw them in the f—–g garbage today. We’re throwing the Pelotons in the garbage. We’re throwing them out of the UFC gym.”
This is not the first time White has taken a strong stance against the demands of a sponsor. A previous UFC sponsor had requested that White remove a post expressing support for Trump, which led White to telling them off as well.
“Imagine that f—–g dork f—–g picking up the phone and telling you that you can’t have Robert Kennedy, who is a Democrat by the way — you know that guy’s a f—–g Democrat — telling you, that you can’t f—–g have him on your show,” White added.
Peloton is a popular exercise/fitness company, but White doesn’t care. He won’t let advertisers tell him what to do.
