Dana White responds to Dominick Cruz’s UFC 259 post-fight comments about Monster Energy’s Hans Molenkamp

UFC president Dana White responded to Dominick Cruz’s UFC 259 unusual post-fight comments about Monster Energy’s Hans Molenkamp.

Cruz defeated Casey Kenney via a split decision on the UFC 259 preliminary card, then called out Molenkamp, a Monster Energy drink executive, for a charity MMA fight.  Speaking to reporters following UFC 259, White spoke about the UFC’s relationship with Monster and praised the brand for giving the fighters financially-lucrative sponsorships.

“Yeah, listen, it’s all weird. Is Hans a goofy dude? Yeah, he’s a very goofy dude. But they’re a sponsor. I mean, these guys are great sponsors and pay these guys a lot of money. Monster is one of these companies that really, really takes care of people, and it’s their company. They can sponsor whoever they want. They can run their business however they want. This isn’t like a work situation where you’re working for somebody and you’re not happy about how you’re being treated. This is a sponsorship deal. These guys can spend their money and run their company however they want to,” Dana White said.

White actually had some choice words for Molenkamp himself a few years ago, but on Saturday night, the UFC executive was singing the praises of the Monster Energy brand.

“Nobody’s guaranteed money from a sponsor. It’s a privilege to get money from a sponsor. So if you don’t like the way they do business, don’t do business what them, you know? But they’ve been good to us, they’ve been good to the sport, and they’ve definitely been good to the fighters. I get it, he doesn’t like him, and some guys have a problem with him. They need to figure that one out. But Monster as a company? They’ve been solid, man. They couldn’t be any better. I remember the first time I ever talked to the owner about a deal, we had talked about numbers, and he said yeah no, I want to give the fighters an extra $25,000. We take care of people. They’re a damn good company, solid, and they care of people. Everybody needs to realize when you get a sponsorship deal and you get the money it’s a privilege. It’s not something that you’re owed. That’s my two cents,” White said.