UFC president Dana White has told critics of the $250,000 gift he gave to YouTube star Kyle Forgeard to “mind [their] own f**king business” after it again raised accusations that world's leading mixed martial arts promotion underpays its fighters.
White gave Forgeard the gift in cash and presented it in a plastic bag, in a clip which has since gone viral online on the occasion of his birthday.
Forgeard is a member of the YouTube crew the Nelk Boys - a group who have risen to prominence online for content showing their party lifestyles, as well as pulling off pranks online.
Guests on their show have included the likes of Donald Trump and Mike Tyson - with Dana White having been awarded the title of honorary member of the group.
And to show his appreciation, White handed over the eye-watering sum of money to one of Nelk's chief members - and speaking on The Pat McAfee Show this week, the UFC president had some words for his critics.
“Let me set this record straight,” White said. “First of all, all these people on the internet – go f**k yourselves. OK. I spend my money however the f**k I want to spend my money. Mind your own f**king business.
“No. 2, if you look at what Kyle and the Nelk Boys have done as far as how they’re handling and a lot of other things that they’ve done, those kids have never asked me for anything, ever. They’ve never asked me for anything, and they couldn’t be better people.
“Kyle has done so many things for me. Believe me, the $250,000 that I gave him for his birthday, it does not cover the amount of things that kid has done for me.
“Don’t count other people’s money and mind your own f**king business,” he added.
The video certainly caused a stir online, particularly among those who claim that White doesn't pay his roster of athletes nearly as much as he should - a claim which has led to high profile pay disputes with the likes of Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones and Nate Diaz.
But White says there is only one entity who deserves blame for the situation: the MMA media.
“A lot of this is driven by the scumbag MMA media,” White said, who added that the cash came from his personal bank account and not from UFC coffers.
“So what happens is, they act like there’s this massive safe here at the UFC offices that says ‘fighter pay’ on it and I just go in there and grab whatever I want out of fighter pay.
“No, you f**king pieces of s**t. This is money that I have actually made over an entire career, and I will spend it however the f**k I want.”