UFC president Dana White has tested positive for Covid-19, revealing he has consulted close friend and longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan for advice on his recovery.
Speaking on the Jim Rome podcast, White said he is vaccinated but he and other members of his family had contracted the disease while traveling to Maine for the recent Thanksgiving holidays.
The UFC boss said he had immediately turned to Rogan after realizing he had lost his sense of smell, with the popular MMA pundit telling him to get tested right away the next morning.
“[Rogan] said get monoclonal antibodies in you as soon as possible. So I did. By noon, I had the monoclonal antibodies in me and then he told me to do an NAD drip. I did that right after,” White said of the advice from Rogan.
“The next day, I get up Tuesday, get ready to shave, cleaning my razor, I could smell the alcohol. My taste and smell were back the next day at 11 o’clock in the morning.
“Then I took a dose of ivermectin yesterday, then I did a vitamin drip and then today I did another NAD drip. Could not feel better. Feel like a million bucks.
“I’m doing two-a-day workouts for the next 10 days while I have Covid, I’m in quarantine. I got my smell and taste back in less than 24 hours.”
Rogan ignited widespread debate earlier during the pandemic after sharing his treatment methods for Covid, which featured a cocktail of drugs including ivermectin – an anti-parasitic medicine used to treat humans and animals.
In consulting Rogan, White follows in the footsteps of NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who revealed in November that he had also got in touch with the podcast king after testing positive for the illness.
“Listen, I'm vaccinated," said White. "It’s not like I’m some crazy anti-vax conspiracy theorist or some of that stuff, but Rogan is a very brilliant guy. Very smart guy who talks to the best and the brightest out there and I’m not a believer in the narrative…
“But at the end of the day.. this is a free country. Because what happens when you get this stuff, they tell you stay home for the next 10 days until you don’t test positive.
"That doesn’t seem smart to me. Just like when we went through Covid, I believe in finding solutions to problems and answers.
“Rogan has worked with over 30 or 40 people that have done this and he swears by it, and he’s a good friend of mine that I’ve known for over 20 years. So yeah, I believe in what he’s saying. I believe the way he explained to me on how this thing works made sense to me.”
White said he is waiting on a negative test result to see if he can attend UFC Vegas 44 this weekend, which is headlined by the bantamweight bout between Brazilian legend Jose Aldo and America's Rob Font.
“I’m going to keep testing every two days until I’m negative and then I’m going to get back to work ASAP… If I test negative, then absolutely positively I’ll be there [at UFC Vegas 44]," said White.
“I’m going to do the exact protocol that’s supposed to be done to make sure I’m clean and can go and be around people again. As soon as that’s 100% clear, then I’ll be back to work.”