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ABU DHABI – UFC President Dana White is adamant that he is not here to censor his fighters, no matter how controversial or outlandish his comments may be.
Colby Covington found himself under the microscope of the MMA world again in recent days for his comments following his main event win over Tyron Woodley at UFC on ESPN + 36 last weekend. Covington had a heated exchange with reigning UFC champion Kamaru Usman on ESPN’s post-fight show, telling the Nigerian-born fighter that he was getting “smoke signals” from his “tribe.”
Additionally, Covington (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) proceeded to the post-fight press conference, where he made some divisive statements about rival Woodley and the Black Lives Matter movement. Since then, several black UFC fighters, from Israel Adesanya to Leon Edwards, Sijara Eubanks and Hakeem Dawodu, have condemned “Chaos” for being racist. UFC apparel sponsor Reebok also released a statement distancing itself from Covington’s comments.
However, White did not appear interested in taking any action towards Covington for his post-fight behavior, reiterating at Thursday’s UFC 253 pre-fight press conference that he is not in favor of filtering his athletes.
“This is the 10th time I’ve been asked this,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “All these guys have their own causes, things, all their own beliefs. We don’t gag anyone here. We let everyone say what they think. I don’t know what he said was racist. I don’t know if I heard anything racist he said. I do not know.”
According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, White was not fully informed about Covington’s specific comments on his interaction with Usman. That back and forth, in particular, has been singled out by many as his most racist comments, but it took place on the ESPN + post-fight broadcast and not in White’s presence.
However, when asked directly if the UFC opposes racism, White said the promotion does.
“Yes, of course,” White said. “Come on. I’m not going to play these games with you. Come on. Is he racist? Yes. Of course (we don’t want that).”
