Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Dana White was asked about Black Lives Matter protests after UFC 250, and he avoided answering the question.
UFC president Dana White had an opportunity to send a message to MMA fans about the Black Lives Matter movement and the rallies decrying systematic racism and police brutality that have occurred in the wake of the police killing George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
At the UFC 250 post-fight press conference, a member of the media served up a question that White could have used to make a pointed and clear statement. Instead, the UFC boss skirted the question for a few minutes before he looked confused and said, “I don’t even know how to answer that question,” after he was asked if he or the UFC would be “making a statement as an organization.”
Here’s a transcript of the back and forth:
Reporter: “Tonight, Devin Clark took a knee before his fight with [Alonzo] Menifield, whose father was killed by the LAPD. Earlier this week we had the NFL issue a statement about the protests, and it kind of ties back together because that’s where the kneeling started. What was your feeling watching the other leagues respond to the protests around the country and the world? And in light of some of your fighters speaking up, is the UFC prepared to make a statement or have you talked about it at all?
White: “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”
Reporter: “Yeah, so the NFL….”
White: “I haven’t seen anything that they’ve done. I haven’t watched any of the other leagues. I don’t look at what everybody else is doing. I do what we do. Our guys were — Israel Adesanya was very involved in his country, Jon Jones was out there doing his thing, other African-American fighters for the UFC called me and asked me for advice. I gave them the best advice that I could give them.
“I don’t know if you’re asking me about social media and stuff like that, but like I said, I would never tell — everybody is dealing with all of this madness going on in the world right now in different ways. Everybody’s gonna handle it differently. I would never try to tell somebody how to express themselves — whether it’s fear, anger, whatever it might be. The beautiful thing about America is everybody can and however they want to, so I would never do that.”
Reporter: “My question wasn’t if you were watching what the athletes were saying. My question is was the UFC, were you all considering making a statement as an organization?”
Dana White: About what?
Reporter: “About the protests, or about the reason why the athletes are kneeling in other organizations.”
White: “I don’t even know how to answer that question.”
Reporter: “So that’s a no.”
White: “Okay.”
The question could have been clearer and more blunt, but by the time the exchange ended, White should have known exactly what he was being asked. Instead of providing an answer, he evaded and moved on. It was a coward’s move.
White should have expected this question to arise, especially in the aftermath of statements made by the NFL and other sport leagues such as the NBA, where commissioner Adam Silver stated in part of an internal memo:
“I spent the weekend watching the protests around the country over the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. As a league, we share the outrage and offer our sincere condolences to their families and friends. Just as we are fighting a pandemic, which is impacting communities and people of color more than anyone else, we are being reminded that there are wounds in our country that have never healed.
“Racism, police brutality and racial injustice remain part of everyday life in America and cannot be ignored. At the same time, those who serve and protect our communities honorably and heroically are again left to answer for those who don’t.”
The NBA website also took the effort to publish the statements each of its teams made following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police.
White should have had a reply to the question about the protests at the ready, even if that answer was a vague one that merely pointed out that the UFC will not accept, condone or stand for racism. That should have been the least White did. He couldn’t even muster the energy or inspiration to do that.
Perhaps White avoided answering because he might have been called out on the fact that the UFC has ignored racism and bigotry in the past by not acknowledging the actions of its fighters.
Some examples of that behavior:
Alex Nicholson using racist taunts toward Hyun Gyu Lim
Signing a fighter who allegedly had neo-nazi ties
Doing nothing when Conor McGregor told Floyd Mayweather, “Dance for me, boy.”
Inaction on the xenophobia of Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Conor McGregor, Colby Covington and Chael Sonnen.
The UFC included a brief video tribute to Floyd during the lead up to the UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Burns fight card, but outside of that, some references to free speech for fighters and short mentions of Israel Adesanya being “involved in his country and Jon Jones “out there doing his thing,” White and the UFC have not made a statement about the protests that have swept not just the United States, but the world.
I’m not saying White needs to come out as an ally to Black Lives Matter or that he has to echo the words of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who said, “I think I’m just embarrassed as a white person to know that that could happen — to actually watch a lynching. What’s it going to take? Two more people with knees to their necks? I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s going to happen.” But for White to not offer a statement on racism could be seen as silent approval, and that’s something the UFC needs to avoid.