Bryce Mitchell‘s controversial takes on Adolf Hitler received an almost instant reaction from Dana White. It didn’t take netizens much time to bash ‘Thug Nasty’ for his comments either. Many even believed that Dana White and Co. would let the featherweight go. But White did no such thing even though he was utterly disappointed with Mitchell’s statements. And it was all because he wanted to respect free speech. But Ariel Helwani has now exposed the hypocrisy in White’s words.
During a recent episode of Ariel Helwani’s YouTube talk show, the famed MMA reporter stumbled across a post by Jed I. Goodman, where he posted a clip from the conversation between White and Piers Morgan. Therein, White claimed that people had to protect free speech. But when Morgan asked him if there was any limit to that protection, White said, “No. I think probably the most important free speech to protect is hate speech. I mean, because when a government or a certain person can come out and determine, say, ‘this is hate speech,’ it’s a very slippery slope and it’s dangerous, in my opinion.”
Helwani claimed that it was weird that people like Morgan were propping White as the “arbiter of free speech.” Well, White was a fight promoter who has now become a pretty good businessman. But looking up to him as a moral compass was what Helwani couldn’t seem to digest. After all, there were flaws in White’s claims too.
Helwani said, “And by the way, this being an individual who bans media from covering their events because he doesn’t like the things that they write, or doesn’t like the things that they report on, or doesn’t like information they have. Like, come on! The hypocrisy there is outlandish! It’s crazy! This has become this sort of bastion of free speech in society. This guy has become the bastion ‘You can’t punish’, ‘You can’t police’, you can’t do this, that, or the other. When that’s, you know, that’s what he has been doing for the last 20 something years.”
Ariel Helwani reacts to Dana White’s interview with Piers Morgan. pic.twitter.com/z3TR1xFeQY
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) February 3, 2025
Needless to say, the success UFC has experienced because of Dana White is nothing short of phenomenal. But instead of asking direct questions to define or iterate things like free speech, Helwani had a suggestion for the interviewers. He continued, “At the very least, just ask, ‘Okay, so how do you feel about this and that?’” However, there was a change that the MMA journalist pointed out. A decade ago, people got fired or suspended for saying or doing things like what Mitchell did. Helwani concluded, “So, maybe that stance has changed as well, towards the media. I don’t know. But there’s a hypocrisy there, in my opinion.” But there was more to what the UFC CEO had to say.
Dana White tells Piers Morgan the real reason why he didn’t punish Bryce Mitchell
As the conversation between White and Morgan continued, the UFC boss claimed that he was in a position where he had to stand up for what was right and fight the woke culture at the same time. And according to Morgan, the woke culture was nothing but a contagious set of ideas that weren’t backed by anything. He pointed out the repercussions that many faced for not using personal pronouns, for example. And the repercussions were nothing kind.
To this, White added, “I’m American. I was born and grew up in America. I believe in the American dream, I believe in free speech, I believe in all these things. You can’t just say it and not live it. You have to- I believed we have to battle through Covid and figure out ways to not lay off all my employees, not destroy people’s lives, and not destroy this business that I’ve built for the last 30 years. But on the other side, even though guys that pop up, like Bryce Mitchell, that say ignorant, stupid things. And I will exercise my right of free speech to say that I don’t agree with what he says. But he can say what he wants to say. We don’t have to agree with it or believe in what he says.”
Morgan had no choice but to agree. He pointed out that free speech actually meant the ability to tolerate hateful speech. And that’s exactly what the UFC head honcho did. He tolerated Mitchell’s speech and the lashings that the public threw at him for not punishing the featherweight.
What are your thoughts on White’s concept of free speech? Do you agree with what he did to tackle the Bryce Mitchell controversy? What do you think of Helwani’s perspective? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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