Woke Dana? UFC president addresses possibility of trans fighters in UFC

Dana White suprised everyone when he opted to appear on the Logan Paul podcast Impaulsive. White appeared on the podcast despite being the frequent object of mockery from Logan’s brother Jake.

White delivered a variety of interesting takes – including that he would be open to signing Logan if and when he proves himself as a fighter.

“Who would you want to fight?” White replied to Paul on his podcast. “You have wrestling and boxing. Do you ever do jiu-jitsu?”

“Of course, yeah.” Paul responded. “I could get it done, Dana. Dana, sign me. Dana, sign me.”

“I’m not saying no.” White replied with a sly smile. “I’m not saying no.”

Of course UFC is not immune to publicity stunts. CM Punk aka Phil Brooks was given a lucrative UFC contract. For his professional MMA debut he reportedly made half a million dollars. Punk had promptly lost the debut in round one. What followed was another fight with a UFC newcomer. In order to find Punk an appropriate opponent UFC had resigned a fighter turned journalist Mike Jackson. The Jackson fight went to a draw after going the duration. Both Punk and Mike Jackson were left with MMA records consisting of one loss and and one draw after the fact. Still Punk had effectively made a million dollars. A mark many longtime professionals struggle to hit.

But pro wrestlers aside, Logan Paul got White to address another interesting issue in Mixed Martial arts – the idea of trans individuals competing. When White was asked if we could ever see a trans competitor competing in the UFC, White responded:

 “It happened in our sport,” White said. “There was a fighter named Fallon Fox, who was a male fighter who became a woman. He was a male fighter who became a woman. He was out there beating the sh*t out of women, left and right. And then he finally ran into the wrong woman and she beat his ass. ” (h/t middle easy)

Paul here tried to correct White on his pronoun use. White allowed for the correction but continued in a similar fashion. Previously White expressed similar attitudes however he did discipline Matt Mitrione at one point for transphobic comments.

The podcast is available on Paul’s youtube channel.
White was previously similarly dismissive about the idea in the past. It will be interesting to watch how White’s attitudes on the issue adapt considering Joe Rogan recently significantly softened his stance on male to female fighters fighting in the women’s division.