Coming off of a First Round TKO Saturday, Matt Mitrione was feeling good as he returned to The MMA Hour for his “Mitrione Minute.” However, his “jokes” and then commentary on transgender fighter Fallon Fox got him suspended by the UFC.
The UFC suspended Mitrione from his UFC contract based upon a violation of the Code of Conduct included in each fighter’s contract.
Mitrione’s controversial comments came after a Lloyd Irvin “rape joke” which he actually had written down. Mitrone is a regular guest on Ariel Helwani’s show and a part of his schtick is jokes or thoughts he’s written down. Mitrione called Fox a “disgusting freak” and referred to her as “he”.
Mitrone stated that Fox is someone that wants to beat on women. He analogized Fallon Fox beating women to the Chris Brown and Rihanna situation.
Zuffa acted swiftly by suspending Mitrione and calling for an investigation:
“The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione today in an interview on the ‘MMA Hour.’
“The organization finds Mr. Mitrione’s comments offensive and wholly unacceptable and — as a direct result of this significant breach of the UFC’s code of conduct – Mr. Mitrione’s UFC contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated.
“The UFC is a friend and ally of the LGBT community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect.”
Payout Perspective:
According to a Bleacher Report (via Bloody Elbow) article, the UFC Code of Conduct may include a financial penalty and community service. The community service may include working in the community for which the fighter made disparaging comments. This may mean Mitrione working with a transgender organization. Although less publicized as a violation of the Code of Conduct, you might recall tweets made by Forrest Griffin about rape and then Griffin appearing and making a donation at a women’s shelter.
For the UFC, Mitrione’s comments go beyond Fox. His comments may offend a whole community of people that may be fans of the UFC. If the UFC did not respond, it could have faced a storm of bad publicity. Moreover, the silence could be seen as an endorsement of Mitrone’s comments.
Maybe the “Mitrione Minute” on The MMA Hour should have been more like 45 seconds. Mitrone usually is off color and uncensored on the show but for him to have a great fight and then do something so foolish just to put himself over was unnecessary. What was ironic is that he said he was going to do whatever the UFC wanted him to do with respect to who he would fight next. Now, he’s going to have to hope the UFC lets him fight in the organization again.
I think he’ll fight for the UFC again and hopefully this suspension is a lesson for him and all the other UFC fighters. Although considering how often things like this seems to happen I don’t think the lesson is being learned.
How long is he suspended for? Because if it’s only a few months, than it’s effectively just for show.
* then
@MV
I think it may be the community service that will be the true punitive thing here as you point out suspending him for a couple months really does nothing.
Mitrione is right. And Joe Rogan said the exact same thing two weeks ago. Fallon is a man who likes to beat up women. Which is disgusting. Fallon is a man who chopped off his manhood. That’s his business. But he should not be allowed to beat up women. That’s sick.
Transphobic comments?
And the lexicon for social sins grows.
I am sure UFC fans are appalled by Mittrione’s very insensitive and disempowering comments.
I don’t watch women’s MMA and this whole transgender side-show is silly.
A big fat yawn.
I’ll lay odds that if Fox can make 135, then he/she/it will get an invite to the Rousey/TBD season of TUF. Maybe it’s all a conspiracy, and Mitrione will be a guest host?
The process of how one becomes “transgendered” is disgusting. It is scare how society just looks at it as a label and nothing more and tries to force each other to accept it. The people who do this have serious problems and society shouldn’t be encouraging them and supporting this. Now we are going to witch hunt Mittrione for saying it is disgusting? Look into the detail of the process and their maintenance and tell me that isn’t disgusting! Whats next? We cant call Pedophiles disgusting? Cannibals? Rapist? Necrophilia? Bestiality? It is Disgusting and has always been disgusting all through human history. Now if HE wants to do it then that’s his own problem. But no one else should have to accept it.
I find all forms of self-mutilation disgusting. Knew a girl in high school who was a cutter. Thankfully she got psychiatric help and overcame that.
But the real issue is whether men who cut off their manhood should be allowed to pummel women. The answer is no.
It’s simply wrong for men to beat on women.
A decent society doesn’t let men beat on women.
A decent society definitely does not allow scumbags to sell tickets to watch a man beat on a woman.
BS,
Of all the BS you have ever put forth on this site this is by far the most ignorant. Comparing a transgendered person to pedophiles, cannibals, rapists, etc. is ludicrous and shows what a small minded man you are.
The real debate here is whether a transgendered athlete (and specifically one that transitions from male to female) has an unfair advantage due to years of what essentially amounts to elevated testosterone levels from her prior life as a man. If Mitrione had kept his comments on the issue he would have been OK. Rogan’s makes the point that Fox is still essentially a man, despite the sex change and hence shouldn’t be allowed to fight women. I agree with that. But Mitrione’s comments were ignorant and bigoted and purely meant to insult Fox. That’s inappropriate.
Jose,
I agree with you that Fox shouldn’t be allowed to fight women. But I don’t know that I would categorize a sex change as self-mutilation. It’s far more complex than cutting. Is plastic surgery self-mutilation and hence disgusting? Because I can tell you that having had my hands on fake breasts once or twice in my life, they are not disgusting at all – at least when done by a good plastic surgeon and not in some strip mall clinic. How about tattoos? Piercings?
Does plastic surgery leave you with an open wound “vagina” that you have to keep medicine on to prevent it from healing and closing up? Yes what they call a vagina is really an open wound. I heard about some guy who had his penis sliced down the middle. Do you not think that is disgusting? First of all the term disgusting is a relative term. Just because you might have the stomach for this stuff doesnt mean every else does or and it does t make us abnormal to not have the stomach for it. There for it is disgusting, sick, and disturbing. Just because you are used to it and desensitized to it. Doesn’t make it right. Every excuse you use to support this you can use to support the actions of pedos and all those other things you think are so much different.
I agree with Mitrione the the Fallon is a freak now he wants to beat up women freak couldnt make as a man so he cuts his junk off I would luv to knock that freak out.
From what I understand the guy didn’t even fight MMA as a male. Sounds to me since he was training in some type of martial arts. He knew it would be easy pickens after the “change”. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if him going into MMA in his mid to late 30’s was a result of knowing he had a huge advantage other other females. Anyone who has seen his fights and how dominant he is at his advanced age see that’s advantage. This isn’t someone who just has a desire to compete and loves the sport. If that was the case he would have got into MMA before 35 and before the change. This guy deserved everything Mittirone called him.
“Yes what they call a vagina is really an open wound. ”
My God. I think we’ve reached new depths of ignorance.
“First of all the term disgusting is a relative term. ”
That’s exactly my point. And that’s labeling things as disgusting in a serious discussion is tantamount to an ad hominem attack.
“Every excuse you use to support this you can use to support the actions of pedos and all those other things you think are so much different.”
No you can’t. There is one enormous difference.
A sex change operation, plastic surgery, or that guy you heard who had his penis sliced through the middle aren’t hurting anyone else. The latter actions may be considered by someone as disgusting, but in the end are individual choices.
Pedophilia, rape and the other examples you used hurt others. That makes them entirely different.
My point is that the only discussion we should be engaging in is whether an athlete who spent 30 years as a male and now has a few years of estrogen therapy should be allowed to compete in a combat sport against women. My answer is no, because said athlete has an unfair advantage due to essential still being a man.
However, that is not what Mitrione said. Or at least not all he said.
“That is a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak” goes beyond an opinion on whether or not Fallon should be allowed to fight and becomes a gratuitously insulting opinion the nature of being transgendered. If you’re Zuffa, you can’t have that when you have a deal worth $100M/year with Fox.
Cannibalism isn’t hurting anyone else. They are already dead. So is it disgusting or now. Why should anyone be forced to accept that? Sex with a minor is only a relatively recent man made law that was acceptable for pretty much all of human history. Why is something like that now not accepted? We change the age society think makes you an adult and then a lot of people sexual preference become “disgusting”. What im getting at is people can be made to accept and deny anything. You may not think acceptance of these opens the doors for other abnormal issues. But it does.
I would also like to add that being a pedophile isn’t hurting anyone either and isn’t against the law. Only acting it out does. But anyone who professes to being one even though they have never broken the law or acted it out would still be viewed as “disgusting” by society and im sure you would think the same thing. Yet they have the same argument that they cant help who they are attracted to as gays. See how slippery a slope it is? Are you going to now accept pedophiles?
I think it be complete crap he got suspended at all it’s one man’s perspective on the subject and I hate it when this bs is allowed to happen. Although one might say his comments were not all that tastefully chosen they weren’t t up totally without merit. I mean, like it’s not currently allowed for a man to fight a woman in a MMA competition
for obvious reason mostly because of advantage men have in the physical strength department. Before anyone screams at me over equality and how woman can do anything men can do and I’m a sexist pig, let me say it is true there are some woman who could be just enough of a monster to rip some dudes to pieces. It could happen you maybe could find a few woman like that! But back in the real world where I live if you put in the UFC’s top male fighters against its top female fighters it would be a fight I would find completely horrifying and plain old wrong to allow to go on because of the fact it could very easily lead to severe and potentially fatal injuries to the woman. Men and women are just built with different abilities for the intended roles that either God or Evolution designed them to fulfill. So when a dude goes and get his junk turned inside out or what ever they do and then he gets breast implants does that mean the he (she if you really drink the Kool Aid) is now on equal terms with the female competition? Did his male strength leave him too.it’s obvious to me that this Fox should be barred from being allowed to compete as a woman. Cuz there are plenty of sick people out there who believe that winning is all that is important and will start going to get snipped and boob s if they think it will mean they are achieving greatness in their sport. And I too don’t think anything was wrong with him saying he she or it is a sick freak. It is sad that we now find ourselves in a world where the prevailing belief is that the normal are no longer normal and that we aren’t even allowed to say our opinion about this subject without risking your career. 50 years ago The majority of people would have me never have imagined a twisted act deciding to play God and change your sex because you think you should have a choice. It is still wrong in my book as you shouldn’t go destroying what you were so miraculously given.
I think it be complete crap he got suspended at all it’s one man’s perspective on the subject and I hate it when this bs is allowed to happen. Although one might say his comments were not all that tastefully chosen they weren’t t up totally without merit. I mean, like it’s not currently allowed for a man to fight a woman in a MMA competition
for obvious reason mostly because of advantage men have in the physical strength department. Before anyone screams at me over equality and how woman can do anything men can do and I’m a sexist pig, let me say it is true there are some woman who could be just enough of a monster to rip some dudes to pieces. It could happen you maybe could find a few woman like that! But back in the real world where I live if you put in the UFC’s top male fighters against its top female fighters it would be a fight I would find completely horrifying and plain old wrong to allow to go on because of the fact it could very easily lead to severe and potentially fatal injuries to the woman. Men and women are just built with different abilities for the intended roles that either God or Evolution designed them to fulfill. So when a dude goes and get his junk turned inside out or what ever they do and then he gets breast implants does that mean the he (she if you really drink the Kool Aid) is now on equal terms with the female competition? Did his male strength leave him too.it’s obvious to me that this Fox should be barred from being allowed to compete as a woman. Cuz there are plenty of sick people out there who believe that winning is all that is important and will start going to get snipped and breasts
if they think it will mean they are achieving greatness in their sport. And I too don’t think anything was wrong with him saying he she or it is a sick freak. It is sad that we now find ourselves in a world where the prevailing belief is that the normal are no longer normal and that we aren’t even allowed to say our opinion about this subject without risking your career. 50 years ago The majority of people would have me never have imagined a twisted act deciding to play God and change your sex because you think you should have a choice. It is still wrong in my book as you shouldn’t go destroying what you were so miraculously given.