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UFC President Dana White may be missing in action from UFC Vegas 44 this weekend after testing positive for COVID-19.
According to White, he and his family contracted the potentially deadly disease after traveling during the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We went up to my place in Maine for Thanksgiving; it’s tradition we go up there every Thanksgiving,” White explained Wednesday on The Jim Rome podcast. “Somebody up there had it, and we get back and we all tested positive for COVID. Literally the whole family and my family up in Maine, too.
“We got back on Saturday. On Sunday – I cold plunge and steam everyday – I get out of the cold plunge and I get in the steam, and I spray the eucalyptus and I couldn’t smell anything. So I open the bottle, I start sniffing the bottle of eucalyptus, and I’m like yeah, I got no smell. So you know what this means. I literally got out of the steam, picked up my phone and called Joe Rogan.”
In recent months, Rogan has become a controversial figure when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic after he tested positive and then detailed the cocktail of drugs he took for treatment.
Among them was ivermectin, a drug originally developed as a de-wormer for horses before being adapted for use in humans to treat similar conditions caused by parasites such as worms or head lice. Despite saying he was prescribed the medication, the Food and Drug Administration has stated they have not “authorized or approved ivermectin” as an actual treatment for COVID-19.
Then just a few weeks ago, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed that he was unvaccinated for COVID-19. But after testing positive, he sought out Rogan for advice on potential treatments.
Now, it appears White has done the same.
“[Joe] said as soon as you get up in the morning, get tested,” White said when recounting his conversation with Rogan. “So I get up 9 o’clock Monday morning, get tested, I test positive. He 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.
“I get up Tuesday, getting ready to shave, cleaning my razor, I could smell the alcohol. My taste and smell were back the next day by 11 o’clock in the morning. Then I took a dose of ivermectin yesterday and 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 by the way 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.”
While the UFC president has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and apparently didn’t exhibit any other symptoms other than the loss of taste and smell, he still trusted Rogan to offer him the best possible advice for treatment.
“Listen, I’m vaccinated,” White said. “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. Cause 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 is currently quarantined along with his family. It’s recommended that he stays in isolation for at least 10 days, but he plans on getting tested as frequently as possible until he returns a negative result and hopes that he can still attend UFC Vegas 44 on Saturday night.
“I’m attacking this thing with the methods that Rogan has learned from very smart people,” White said. “I’m going to keep testing every two days until I’m negative and then I’m going to get back to work ASAP. I hope [I’ll be at UFC Vegas 44].
“If I test negative, then absolutely positively I’ll be there. 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 percent clear, then I’ll be back to work.”