Here’s the Reason Why Israel Adesanya, Dominick Cruz, and Many Other UFC Fighters Don’t Like Monster Energy
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Dominick Cruz recently caused some noise when he called out Monster Energy’s Hans Molenkamp in his post-fight interview at UFC 259 after winning his first fight in almost 5 years against a young lion in Casey Kenney.
Many expected him to call out a big-name opponent for his next fight. However, ‘The Dominator’ went for Hans Molenkamp instead.
Many fans were unaware of Molenkamp and were puzzled as they couldn’t understand the reason behind Cruz’s bizarre call out. However, Cruz is not the first fighter historically to have expressed his discontent against him.
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Molenkamp happens to hold a very powerful position in Monster Energy.
Dominick Cruz explains the situation with Hans Molenkamp and why he called him out. He says, in reference, “you can’t use me to get clout”. He comments on Hans texting & forcing to comment on his post or threatens to withhold what pays his bills… #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/rf1lNFP8lR
— Helen Yee (@HelenYeeSports) March 7, 2021
UFC’s middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is also another person who doesn’t want to promote the brand Monster Energy. At the UFC 259 pre-fight press conference, Adesanya dropped his water bottle, labeled with the company’s name, from the table. He has also thrown out Monster Energy cans from his table before at the UFC 243 press-conference.
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Somethings money can’t buy.
Like actual friends, integrity or real skills.#freeplug 🥫 pic.twitter.com/RYDerkAZUA— Israel Adesanya (@stylebender) October 25, 2019
Monster Energy has been a long-time sponsor of the UFC. And they pay good amounts to the company and especially its fighters.
But some individuals of the company use this as an opportunity to use the fighters for their self promotion. UFC President Dana White has also had some tense moments in the Molenkamp in the past.
Dana White is conflicted in his reaction to @DominickCruz's callout of Monster Energy's Hans Molenkamp: "It's a privilege to get money with a sponsor."#UFC259 | Full interview: https://t.co/ZCAVM4iAmv pic.twitter.com/rMDgXAylsg
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) March 7, 2021
UFC fighters and Hans Molenkamp
Molenkamp is an official of Monster Energy. According to some fighters, he forces UFC fighters to comment, like, and more on his Instagram page.
Fighters like Jorge Masvidal, Tony Ferguson, even Dominick Cruz, and more regularly interact with Molenkamp on his social media posts.
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Molenkamp often shares clips of him training with Jon Jones. However, according to some fighters, Molenkamp forces them to do so.
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He is the one that decides who gets the bonuses from Monster and who doesn’t. And Monster pay a hefty sum to fighters as bonuses. So, nobody wants to miss out on that.
Whether this saga takes any major turns remains to be seen. However, it’s unlikely that the UFC will allow it to proceed any further considering the relationship they share with Monster. So, eventually one might expect it to be sorted out.