Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White announced to Sports Illustrated on Thursday night that former WEC bantamweight Miguel Torres (39-4) had been released from the promotion due to a controversial Tweet posted by the fighter on Wednesday.
Torres Tweeted (@MiguelTorresMMA) a joke about “rape vans” on Wednesday, the message has since been deleted.
– If a windowless van was called a surprise van more people wouldn’t mind going for rides in them. Everyone likes surprises.
White was informed of the Tweet during an interview on “Off The Record”, a sports talk show on The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada. The UFC President felt their was “no explanation” for Torres comment and he cut the former WEC champ on Thursday.
Check out some of White’s comments about Torres at SI.com
SI.com: And what about Miguel Torres’ tweet from yesterday?
White: This morning I’m on [Michael] Landsburg’s show, up here in Canada, and he hits me with the quote of what he tweeted. 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. Again, you’re dealing with a guy that’s a smart guy, that owns his own business, that’s been one of the top fighters in the world forever. And I cut him today. He’s no longer with the UFC.
SI.com: Was that announced today?
White: It’s being announced right now to you. You’re the only one that knows. Miguel Torres has been cut from the UFC and his career with us now is over.
SI.com: Was this the first time something’s happened with Torres? Or was it a second offense?
White: No, this was the first time. And then he said he hadn’t heard what happened to Forrest [Griffin, who drew fire for tweeting “Rape is the new missionary” last month]. Really? Where do you live? What business are you in? How do you not hear about these things? You should have paid more attention. It’s to the point now where, there’s going be times when things happen and mistakes are made. I cannot defend Miguel Torres. I cannot defend what he said. What he said makes no sense other than when he says, “It was a joke.” Well, I don’t think that’s a funny joke. I think it’s disturbing.
SI.com: So many of the major sports leagues have been curtailing their athletes’ involvement on Twitter, but the UFC has been praised for being so progressive and forward-thinking with social media. Are we now seeing the perils of that?
White: No. I’m a firm believer in … just because these guys are professional athletes or whatever, everybody’s going to have an opinion on something, and not everybody’s going to get along. I’ve had my words with fans on Twitter too. When people come on Twitter and say dumb s— to you, expect to get some dumb s— back. But for a guy to go out and talk about a “rape van” being a “surprise van,” there’s no defense for that.