Bryce Mitchell’s first episode of Arkansanity was a memorable one as the UFC fighter showed his support for Hitler stating that he was a “good guy.” Dana White denounced the statement but offered no other punitive measure for the Featherweight.
At a post-event press conference for Power Slap being held in Saudi Arabia, White made a statement calling out Mitchell labeling his opinion of Hitler to be “dumb” and “ignorant.”
However, White claimed Mitchell’s opinion was “free speech” and he would not be facing punishment from the UFC.
Despite Dana’s ability to wield power to keep fighters in line, he goes back to the “free speech” argument in allowing Mitchell to continue to represent the company. And even though White talked to Mitchell about his comments, its clear that the lack of punitive measures is a sign that he will not stand in the way of any further statements he may make on Arkansanity. One might see this as a tacit acceptance of Mitchell’s viewpoint. But, as a private company, White does not have to stand for it.
The company has the ability to punish when it deems it acceptable.
In 2011, Miguel Torres was released for making an inappropriate joke on twitter. 2013, it suspended Nate Diaz for homophobic slurs in tweets he made about Brian Carraway.
The UFC used to have a “code of conduct” in which fighters had to abide by a set of rules or else be fined. In 2015, Jon Jones was the most famous (if not only) athlete to be fined under the code of conduct when a drug test found traces of cocaine in his sample. The test occurred prior to his January 2015 fight with Daniel Cormier.
Also of note, in 2010 Paul Daley was cut from the UFC after he suckerpunched Josh Koscheck after the bell. More recently, last year Igor Severino bit his opponent Andre Lima. Severino was banished from the UFC after the fight.
This (mostly) ancient history of punishment in the UFC shows that the company attempted to address behavior for its contracted athletes. But its clear that in the early 2010s, the UFC did not wield as much cache (and cash) as it does now. Also, the Fertittas still in charge of the UFC with White. Moreover, with Dana more in line with right-wing conservatives in the U.S. and with his buddy as President he is more emboldened to run the UFC the way he wants. With a hefty list of “anti-woke” sponsors, its unlikely there will not be any backlash from them appalled by Mitchell’s comments.
The overarching problem with the lack of punishment for Mitchell is that it normalizes this type of speech. I would argue Mitchell’s speech is more “hate speech” than anything else. While Dana recognizes how dumb and ignorant the comments were, the lack of punishment shows that any UFC competitor with a podcast can project racist and homophobic lies to people. And some, who are as dumb as Mitchell, will think they are true.
Leave a Reply