UFC President Dana White is not one to beat around the bush and he doesn’t expect his fighters to be any different.
Colby Covington came under fire this week for comments he made towards fighters Kamaru Usman and Tyron Woodley following a big win at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Several prominent Black fighters jumped to their defense and called out the UFC for its handling of Covington’s remarks.
“I’m kind of surprised he’s allowed to talk free like that. You know everyone’s allowed to talk freely, but I took offense to it,” featherweight Hakeem Dawodu told MMA Fighting on Wednesday. “It’s crazy that it’s comments like that causing more and more of a divide among the people.”
But White apparently disagrees, and on Thursday he came out to defend all of his fighters and their right to say what they want.
"These guys all have their own causes, things, their own beliefs. We don't muzzle anybody here," White told reporters, according to ESPN. "We let everybody speak their mind. I don't know what he said that was racist. I don't know if I heard anything racist that he said."
When asked if he would condemn racist comments from his fighters, White replied “of course” but he doesn’t believe that’s the case with Covington.