EXCLUSIVE
Simon Jordan was firmly in Dana White’s camp as he took aim at brands and ‘virtual signalling twits’ who try to force their agendas and causes onto the companies they sponsor.
It comes after the UFC chairman let rip in an expletive-laden rant about major sponsors of the MMA promotion company who asked him to tone down his political views online.
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The American supremo revealed he told the sponsor to, ‘Go f*** yourself’, after they demanded he delete a video on his personal social media in support of Donald Trump.
He also vowed to throw out all Peloton training bikes out of his UFC gyms, after podcast host and comedian Theo Von revealed the company has pulled sponsorship of an episode that featured Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
White exploded: "Peloton, what do they sell, f***ing stationary bikes and they've got a problem with Robert f***ing Kennedy? F*** you Peloton! Who the f*** are they? Are you f***ing kidding me?"
The rant was brought up on Thursday’s White and Jordan show, and the former Crystal Palace owner couldn’t agree more with the UFC boss.
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And he even had a rant of his own, aimed at a particular household brand…
talkSPORT pundit Jordan said: “Well, he's absolutely right! These sponsors aren't indexing themselves to UFC out of charity. They're not doing it for goodwill.
"They're doing it because the sponsorship revenue that they put into the industry has some sort of commercial benefit to them.
“So get back in your box, mind your own bleeding business and don't sponsor it if you don't want to. It's absolutely preposterous!
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“I'm tired of this nonsense in this world where we have to watch everybody attaching every single cause to their marketing campaign in the pursuit of telling people how they should think.
“Absolutely well done to Dana White. Maybe the language is a bit more robust than it needed to be, but he can express himself in a more articulate fashion. But quite frankly, chapeau!
“Whether you like Donald Trump and other people don't like Donald Trump, that's fine, but Dana White can do what he wants to do and reap the consequences of it. If that sponsor doesn't like it, then they should go and sponsor something else.”
Asked by co-host Jim White what he would say if a sponsor of talkSPORT called him to say they weren’t comfortable about something he had posted on social media, he replied: “Would I say, ‘Go and do one’? Absolutely.
"I would say exactly the same thing [as Dana White]. I don't think UFC is short of opportunities right now. I don't think it's craving its next dime.
"It's a huge, successful format owned by Dana White. It has a massive growth potential. These sponsors aren't doing it through charity, and precisely and concisely, Dana White is absolutely right to say it.
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“And if that sponsor says, ‘I don't want to sponsor you anymore’, then I'm sure Dana White will take the consequences of that and he will get on with it.”
But Mr Jordan wasn’t done there, and it appeared he had a bit of a bee in his bonnet with Mr Ben and Mr Jerry, as he then turned his anger towards the famous American ice cream floggers.
“I don't know who people think they are,” he continued. “I genuinely don't know who people think they are.
“You have to listen to Ben and Jerry's telling us what we should be doing in the world - get on with making bleeding ice cream!
“Virtual signalling twits!
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“Every time you go in a supermarket, you've got to have some particular projection onto you as to what viewpoint you should have, and I'm tired of it!
“And I think, well, more people like Dana White and less people like those sponsors.”