Dana White Dishes On Transgender MMA Fighters, Updates Matt Mitrione Suspension
Dana White tackled the transgender MMA issue of whether men, who become women, should be allowed to compete against their new gender in a media session on Thursday, where he also provided an update on the Matt Mitrione suspension.
The two talking points went hand-in-hand due to recent comments from Mitrione that transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox was a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak.”
White immediately issued a suspension to Mitrione, which the UFC president admitted was still in effect, though he did not exactly disagree.
“It’s not that I don’t necessarily agree with what [Mitrione] was saying because I have the same issue with a man who becomes a woman,” White said in comments reported by MMA Junkie. “You have different bone structure. You have a different jawline. You have all the things of a man. It’s completely different.”
White indicated that should the time come when he has to make a decision on a transgender MMA fighter, he will probably defer to the International Olympic Committee policy for transgender combatants.
“My thought was that running, pole vaulting and doing all these things is whatever, but when you actually get physical and you start punching? … If this thing happens at an Olympic level, and I mean an Olympic level where there’s a combat sport that accepts it, I’m sure they’re going to do the homework, and smarter people than me will make that decision,” he added.
While White may see eye-to-eye with Matt Mitrione on his issue with transgender MMA fighters, he wasn’t ready to give the heavyweight a pass.
“Everybody’s crying, ‘Oh, it’s freedom of speech.’ Yeah, okay. Work at any company in the world, okay, and give your opinion where you come off sounding like an ignorant bigot and see how long you last with that company.”
White continued: “He could have done it the right way, and nobody would have said anything to him. He can have an opinion. It’s just how you state your opinion.”
Dana White has established that he has no problems with his fighters taking issue with Fallon Fox and the whole transgender MMA matter. He recently allowed both Miesha Tate and Cain Velasquez to do just that.
But the issues Tate and Velasquez cited were more about safety and concerns over the male bone structure — same as White’s — leaving Fox with an advantage over her competition. Mitrione’s vitriol wasn’t there.
As for Matt Mitrione, we can expect to see him in the octagon again, but White isn’t ready to say when that will be.
Referring to a phone conversation in which Mitrione said he understood the suspension, White said, “He did he right thing … If he got on the phone and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got my freedom of speech, and I can say what I want,’ I guess to a point he’s right. You just can’t work here if you want to say stupid stuff like that. You can say whatever you want. Not in here though.”
As for Fallon Fox, White doesn’t believe the transgender MMA star has beaten anyone of note to warrant addressing specifics of a possible UFC contract in Fox’s future, but the fighter definitely wants that shot:
If as White stated in recent comments reported by MMA Fightingthat more women’s divisions are down the road, he won’t be able to avoid the subject forever.
Do you agree with Dana White on his transgender MMA thoughts, and do you think he was justified in suspending Matt Mitrione?
[Image via Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]
