MMA’s controversial influencer Dillon Danis has highlighted what he perceives as inconsistency in Dana White’s handling of controversial statements by UFC athletes.
Danis shared a screenshot of an old article detailing the release of bantamweight contender Miguel Torres from the UFC following a controversial social media post. In that instance, White had taken immediate action, stating to SI.com at the time: “Now there’s no explanation for that. There’s absolutely nothing I could say to make any sense of that. And the fact that he even thinks that’s funny or that’s a joke, it disturbs me. It bothers me… I cut him today. He’s no longer with the UFC.”
Torres famously said ” “If a r*pe van was called a surprise van more women wouldn’t mind going for rides in them. Everyone like surprises.””
UFC ultimately reversed on this position and ‘re-signed’ Torres after he apologized for r*pe van comments.
This stands in contrast to White’s recent handling of Bryce Mitchell’s controversial comments about World War II. While White strongly condemned Mitchell’s statements during the Power Slap 11 post-match press conference, he opted not to impose any disciplinary measures.
“That’s what everybody wants to hear about, punishment, it’s free speech. I don’t have to love it. You don’t have to love it… That’s the beautiful thing about this business. For all of you that hate Bryce Mitchell, you get to see him, hopefully, get his a** whooped on global television,” White explained.
White did express his disgust with Mitchell’s statements, saying, “I think he’s probably one of the dumbest – literally, one of the dumbest – human beings.” He added that Mitchell’s comments were “probably the worst” among the many “dumb, ignorant” statements he had heard.
The UFC CEO also mentioned that the promotion had reached out to Mitchell to express their disapproval of his comments, but stopped short of taking any punitive action, citing free speech as the reasoning behind his decision.
By sharing the Torres incident alongside White’s recent response to Mitchell, Danis has drawn attention to what appears to be different approaches to handling controversial statements from UFC athletes over the years. Danis has since deleted the tweet in a sign he’s still looking to sign with the UFC.
https://x.com/dillondanis/status/1885078522676318629
