Last week, Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light’s parent company, signed a $100 million deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in a move that many are calling “damage control” after the brand’s Dylan Mulvaney marketing fiasco. The multi-year deal is set to begin in January 2024. The campaign will include the Bud Light branding being heavily included in the online and broadcasting presence of the UFC.
While many were quick to condemn the UFC for partnering with the “woke” company, Sean Strickland, the UFC’s current middleweight champion, praised the company’s decision to support athletes like himself who actively oppose transgender ideology.
In a newly released video, Strickland, applauded the beer company for signing the multiyear contract, in a move he sarcastically called “supporting his platform,” which he has used to advocate for biological women’s rights in sports. “If I said my view on transgenders, I’d get kicked off Instagram.”
“I’m on my way to training and I just found out that Bud Light is a sponsor,” Strickland said in a video posted to Instagram. “I applaud you guys, I am so proud of you guys for doing the right thing after that f**k up,” he added, in reference to the company’s previous partnership with transgender-activist Dylan Mulvaney, which cost the company millions in lost revenue.
Thousands took part in the wildly successful boycott of Bud Light, which influenced the company to course-correct and revert to previous and successful marketing tactics.
“I Sean Strickland, a representation of the American people, are going to fix you Bud Light … Thank you for giving me money, thank you for supporting my platform, I’m going to help you guys,” Strickland added. In the video, the fighter also said that he has been a vocal opponent of transgender ideology, and he even labeled himself as “the biggest advocate of biological females.”
During an interview with Sean Hannity, UFC President Dana White said that he has chosen to work with Anheuser-Busch because the company “employs 65,000 Americans,” works with veterans, and buys their product supplies from U.S. farmers.
“This is an American company. And I love this country and this is more about me being aligned with somebody who is a sponsor of the UFC and somebody I’m going to work with every day,” White stated during the interview.
