UFC president Dana White found himself in a pickle situation after his $250,000 gift to the Nelk Boys’ Kyle Forgeard had tickled the nerves of both current and former UFC fighters as well as MMA journalists. Many questioned the validity of White’s donation to Forgeard amidst the ongoing fighter pay controversy.
The president himself is known to be a frequent guest to the Nelk Boys’ podcast in the past months and White appears unbothered that his birthday gift for Forgeard garnered more criticisms than what he expected. Both the UFC boss and MMA media are famous for their complicated relations — and this is not the first time White’s name hit major news headlines.
More on White’s birthday gift to Forgeard
In an interview on The Pat McAfee Show, White defended his move and said that he spends his money in ways he sees fit.
KYLE
2022-07-12 03:16
Uncle @danawhite just gave me $250,000 for my birthday.. https://t.co/noH34JF8zY
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“I’m glad you asked me that question. Let me set the record straight. First of all, all these people on the internet – go f**k yourself,” White said. “I’ll spend my money, however, the f**k I want to spend my money.”
The 52-year-old then praised the Nelk Boys and defended his birthday gift, saying that Forgeard “has done so many things” for him.
“No. 2, if you look at what Kyle and the Nelk Boys have done up to Howler Head and a lot of other things they’ve done, those kids have never asked me for anything,” White added.
“Never asked for anything, and they could better people Kyle has done so many things for me and believe me the $250,000 I got him for his birthday doesn’t cover the number of things that boy has done for me so don’t count on other people’s money, and meddle you with your own f****** business.”
The Nelk Boys is a Canadian-American group on YouTube known for posting videos such as pranks and vlogs. In addition, the group also has a podcast that White has attended quite frequently for some time now.
Pat McAfee
2022-07-26 18:38
“ALL THESE PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET GO FUCK YOURSELVES & I’LL SPEND MY MONEY HOWEVER THE FUCK I WANT” @danawhite on gifting Kyle from the Nelk Boys $250,000 for his birthday #PMSLive https://t.co/a0dF1sRGrW
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Led by Forgeard and Jesse Sebastiani, the group has reportedly promoted the UFC brand and at one time offered a sponsorship. Previously, White was gifted a van from the Howler Head, a whiskey company that he invested in December last year.
White returned the Nelk Boys’ kind gesture with a birthday gift wrapped with plastic to Forgeard and sure enough, it did not take long for both fans and fighters as well as the media to criticize the gift. The backlash came from those who argued that White had bad taste and some even compared it to how much the fighters are paid.
UFC’s fighters pay controversy
Two years ago, in a survey by The Athletic, 47 percent of fighters said that they received at or below $49,999 for their payday. Meanwhile, 92.5 percent said they were underpaid. Quite a number of fighters have also started to call out UFC’s pay structure and how it rewards the athletes.
White ended up blaming the MMA media, saying that the money he made was not taken straight out of the “fighter pay”. Instead, he earned every cent of it and it is up to him to spend it however he wants.
“A lot of this is powered by the bastards of MMA media,” White continued. “So what happens is they act like there’s a huge vault here at the UFC offices that says, ‘Fighter pay,’ and I just go in there and take what I want out of the fighter’s fee. No, you f ****** pieces of shit, this is money I’ve actually made over a whole career, and I’ll spend it however I want,” he continued.
