Dana White tells anti-AI UFC fans to ‘shut the f—k up and watch the fights’

Dana White doesn’t want to hear any whining about the UFC’s growing use of artificial intelligence to create promotional material for fights.

Since the Paramount+ deal kicked off at the start of 2026, fans have been noticing occasional UFC promos being aired on broadcasts that were clearly made with A.I. video generation tools. A recent example of this was a UFC Fight Night Seattle ad aired during UFC 326 that ended with a logo that everyone clocked as obvious A.I. slop.

Following the Seattle card, a reporter at the post-fight press conference asked Dana White about the use of A.I. by UFC and the negative fan reaction.

“Give me a f–kin’ break,” White replied. “A.I. is coming and if we’re using A.I., who gives a s–t? People are upset about it? We should use artists? Who gives a s–t.”

White initially cleared CBS / Paramount of having anything to do with the videos before admitting the network partner did occasionally make their own fight promos.

“It has nothing to do with Paramount,” White said. “Paramount’s not telling us how to run our production. We run production. Every time we change, we go from FOX to ESPN and then we go to Paramount, people are like ‘Ah, ESPN’s doing this and FOX is doing that and Paramount—,’ they’re not doing anything. They have nothing to do with our production.”

“They do create some of their own spots for fights,” he added. “But we do all our own — everything from the artwork to production to music, everything is done internally and always has been at UFC.”

“How bout this?” he concluded. “Shut the f–k up and watch the fights.”

That may be White’s official line on the subject but there is one sign that the promotion may not be as confident in its A.I. generated work as it is the stellar human-made promos for events. The amazing UFC 326 B.M.F. Belt promo that was made by UFC staff? It was prominently displayed on UFC’s YouTube channel. The A.I. generated UFC Seattle promo and all other previous A.I. promos? Those are nowhere to be found online. You’ll only find them through social media posts from angry fans.