Dana White
Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, says that fighters and fans of the sport would embrace an openly gay fighter. This is the same Dana White who apologized recently for using an anti-gay slur. In an interview (video below) following the May 23 UFC card, White was asked about how an openly gay fighter would be accepted. Said White:
“Any guy involved in grappling is the furthest thing from homophobic in the world. I honestly think it would have no impact whatsoever with not only our fighters or our fan base. The guys in the UFC, everybody is so cool, it’s great sportsmanship, everybody has respect for each other. I honestly, it wouldn’t be a big deal to me and most of the guys I know in this sport, it wouldn’t be a big deal for them either.”
Steve Cofield, who writes Yahoo Sports’ Cagewriter blog, was skeptical of White’s claim:
In a rough, violent sport where you have to be a “man” to survive and there is so much contact, MMA [mixed martial arts] may be the single toughest professional sport to live openly as a gay male. As far as the fanbase. Is White serious? A following made up of mostly 18-to-34 year old males is not going to be most understanding.
While I applaud White’s direct and unequivocal stand, I agree with Cofield that it would probably be very tough for anyone to come out openly as a gay fighter, for the same reasons almost no one has ever been out in pro sports (MMA fighter Shad Smith did come out last year). I don’t know if I would also feel more convinced if this wasn’t the same Dana White who apologized recently after calling a journalist a “faggot.”
But maybe White learned his lesson and his answer on gay fighters was sincere; if so, I applaud him. There is no doubt that the sport is homoerotic and anecdotally I know more and more gay men who are big fans. Maybe it would be a great marketing coup for White to convince a gay fighter to come out and he could milk that angle for a lucrative PPV show. To all the MMA fans out there, do you agree with White that an openly gay fighter would be accepted?
Video of White discussing the gay issue appears starting at the 7:55 mark:
on May 26th, 2009 at 2:27 am
It would be such a great sight to see an openly gay fighter steam roll through the competition inside the octogon. Talk about shattering stereotypes!
Though I seem to recall in some MMA event (or maybe it was just kickboxing) that during a staredown, one guy tried to kiss the other and got knocked out or somethin like that. Anyone else vaguely remember that?
on May 26th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Yeah sure they would.
on May 26th, 2009 at 8:13 am
I would think an openly gay MMA fighter could happen before another professional sport, precisely because it’s mano-a-mano…you don’t have the team dynamic and “off-field” complications you have in other sports.
Plus, it’s kind of hard to imagine how being openly gay would put a gay fighter in any more precarious position than anyone else in a sport where virtually everything is fair play.
In baseball you could argue that a John Rocker could pitch at a gay player’s head…in MMA the whole point is to go for the head!
on May 26th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I think it was Keith Herring who got kissed and knocked the other guy out. It was at a Pride fight in Japan.
on May 26th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I fully believe Dana White in what he says. He has several problems but homophobia isn’t one of them, he just says really really really really stupid stuff sometimes, but don’t we all.
And combat sports like mma and boxing and others would seemingly be MOST tolerant of gays because, like Mike said, it wouldn’t put them in more dangerous situations. Its not like someone would hit a gay fighter harder than he would hit anyone else with so much money on the line in both cases.
And if that damn TUF show they have, having dudes eating each others semen and doing all of that other crazy stuff didn’t win gay fans I don’t know what else the man has to do!
on May 26th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
How about this from a regular old-fashioned boxing match?
http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2008/11/08/the-kissing-boxer/
on May 26th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
This topic is retarded. Being gay does not effect your skills therefore should not matter. Who cares what the fans think. MMA is not getting any less popular any time soon. Anyone who doesn’t know what it’s like to be in a fight should not have the right to criticise anyone with the balls to.
on May 27th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Hey David,
You make a lot of good points. When are you coming to the west coast so we can be boyfriends?
on Sep 12th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
FACT: Dana White is actually a closet homosexual, this is why he helped found MMA tournaments to find an outlet for his repressed homosexual yearnings. How else can you express your desires with a man aside from sex but with wrestling with another man in his speedos. The next step of course is coming right around the corner, he also helped the creation of this sport: nakedkombat.com
on Nov 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 am
If Dana White is looking for a mma fighter who is gay I’m his man!
on Nov 23rd, 2009 at 12:06 pm
In reading the article, I was not surprised to hear Dana’s comments regarding a gay slur. This is how the majority of hetero men feel. Did he have an epiphany? Maybe. He seems like he’s balancing a tough act–trying to appease his young, straight male base and his burgeoning gay following.
I have had a friend who was involved in MMA for years and I would go to his practices and matches and I love it. I’m gay but I did not enjoy it for the hot studs. I love the artistry, the technique of the combatants to get a guy to the ground, the strategy, the mind games involved in the ring/octagon.
Yes, the men’s good looks help (esp George St. Pierre :)) but let’s face it–sex sells in sports, whether it’s intentional or not. It helps make Dana, and MMA itself, money.
on Feb 2nd, 2010 at 6:50 pm
I think he makes a lot of sense. As for the homo-erotics of it, I kid my straight buds that are UFC fans (as am I) that the only difference between gay sex and UFC is 2 mils of Lycra - at least if you’re doing it right.
I applaud this guy, and hey I’ve thrown the “other f-bomb” a few times lately myself - regretted it, but it happens.