Free Speech Against The UFC

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The UFC successfully challenged the maxim “no press is bad press” this past week.

Today we’re talking about the UFC’s free speech policy, what fighters can do and say that actually gets punished, and discuss a few fighters the UFC tried to silence. In the premium section we’ll highlight Randy Couture, one of the fighters the UFC tried to erase, and take a look at how we effortlessly took down men much younger and bigger than him.

Let’s get into it.

Just over 15 years ago Ariel Helwani interviewed legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum in Yankee Stadium. It was a big deal for Helwani and the sport he was rapidly coming to represent, MMA. Finally the fighting freak show that was the UFC was starting to be accepted next to boxing and some of its most famous personalities.

As Helwani asked Arum about the state of boxing and upcoming fights he decided to get Arum’s opinion on MMA. Arum took the reigns and ran off with the difference between the two sports.

When I first saw this interaction I couldn’t help but laugh.

What a silly thing to say! This old curmudgeon is trying to dismiss MMA so he can cling to whatever fading form of power he still has through boxing.

Last week, more than 15 years after this weird interview, Bryce Mitchell, the UFC’s number 13 ranked featherweight decided to use the first episode of his new podcast to explain that Hitler wasn’t really a bad guy before he did meth, he was just fighting to keep his country pure before the Jewish could turn everyone gay, and Mitchell wouldn’t have minded going fishing with Hitler before he did meth.

Before the day was done Dana White rightfully told anyone that would listen that Mitchell is one of the dumbest people he’s ever met. When White was asked about any potential punishment for Mitchell, he argued that the UFC is a company that values free speech so they’re not going to do anything.

Instead, White assured us we can cheer when Mitchell gets beat up in a future fight.

If the UFC expects their audience to buy that, I can’t help but think UFC management believes their fans are just as dumb as Mitchell.

The UFC has a history of punishing people for acting against their interests. They famously pushed Miguel Torres out of the UFC for the following tweet.

This tweet is actually an edited version. The original one said “rape van” instead of surprise van. That joke is a direct line from the sitcom Workaholics.

I don’t really think that joke is that funny but I do think Workaholics is a hilarious show. It’s the perfect encapsulation of the degenerate sitcom humor we got in the early 2000’s.

I don’t particularly care that anyone decided to tweet the line above. I also don’t mind that Dana White cut Torres for quoting a TV show while trying to be funny. He can do that. He’s largely in charge of the UFC.

I do care that Torres took his punishment like an adult and volunteered his time and money at local rape crisis centers without even being prompted. And I love that the UFC re-signed him for trying to make amends.

Clearly the UFC has a precedent for punishment and redemption. But what they don’t accept is those who speak and act in ways that disrupt their business.

On Saturday, November 16, 2013 Georges St-Pierre defended his welterweight title. He took a controversial decision win over surging contender Johnny Hendricks.

Many media members and fans were stunned. They were sure Hendricks had done enough damage to take the title. They were even more confused at St-Pierre’s announcement that he was stepping away from the sport even after winning.

White angrily took the microphone at the post fight press conference to say:

A the press conference, journalists continued to ask St-Pierre what he meant about taking time away. St-Pierre gave cryptic, unsatisfying answers. After several questions White said, “Don’t answer that question. Don’t ask him that question anymore.”

St-Pierre had leverage. He remains one of the best fighters ever. White could tell him he did not have the freedom to answer questions, but he could not be erased without the entire MMA world noticing.

That doesn’t mean people with less prominent positions have not been pushed out for far less.

A couple years after White’s spat with St-Pierre the UFC signed a major partnership with clothing company Reebok. The problem was, the deal forbade athletes from wearing their usual smattering of in-cage sponsors.

Many were unhappy with this new financial blow. Some took to the media to argue.

Famous cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran said the deal also eliminated his ability to have sponsors eventhough he was not a fighter. Unlike fighters, he was receiving zero compensation from Reebok.

Within 24 hours Duran was fired from the UFC. And he’s not the only person who’s financial complaints has cut him from history.

If you listen to any interview from White or his former business partners, the Fertitta Brothers, you’ll eventually hear them say that the finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 saved the company. That event’s surprisingly high ratings earned them TV deals that allowed them to continue operating.

The co-main event was contested between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. Those two were coached by Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture on the reality show.

You’ll often see Liddell in the stands of UFC fights. He rightly remains a fan favorite for his time in the Octagon. Sadly, Couture is not afforded the same privilege. He was even barred from cornering his son Ryan Couture when he was fighting in the UFC.

Couture and White suffered through an on and off relationship for years. Most of the arguments came down to Couture’s desire to earn more money and wanting to leave the company to fight Fedor Emelianenko. But what ultimately got him excommunicated from the company was his decision to terminate his broadcast contract with the UFC early in an attempt to work for rival TV networks.

This is just a shortlist of people who are on the UFC’s shit list. It doesn’t cover Ngannou’s name getting edited out of interviews, nor Frank Shamrock’s erasure from the promotion’s oral history. You could write an entire book on fighters, media members, and more who are all persona non-grata. The point is the UFC has no problem punishing people when they think they can still make money off of them.

"Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press". This concise statement forms the foundation of free speech protections in the United States. It prohibits the government from creating laws that restrict freedom of speech or press.

This brief text has evolved as it has been interpreted through numerous Supreme Court decisions. Today the protection extends to all levels of government to cover different types of expression, like symbolic speech and communication over the internet.

Free Speech is not absolute nor does it protect all types of expression. Specifically, it does not protect obscenity, defamation, true threats, nor incitement to imminent lawless action. It also says nothing about who a company employs.

So when Dana White says they’re not going to do anything to Bryce Mitchell it’s a cowardly way of saying, “We’re courting controversy. Keeping Mitchell around means we can sell the prospect of him getting beat up to audiences in the future.”

I’m definitely not someone that believes words are violence. And, I don’t think Mitchell should have his license to fight revoked either. Fighters are licensed by state governments. If he can’t get a license to fight based on what he said, that seems like a violation of free speech as it is interpreted.

Plus it’s not like MMA stands alone with athletes saying outlandish shit.

In 2020 DeSean Jackson posted an Instagram story of a quote (misattributed to Hitler) explaining that “white Jews knows that the Negroes are the real Children of Israel” and “The will to extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were.”

It’s insane. And the Eagles responded by fining Jackson and figuring out a way for him to work with a local Jewish organization in Philadelphia.

The NFL and the Eagles took action, made Jackson at least apologize before working to make amends, and then the story largely went away.

So when the UFC does nothing but say “You can watch Mitchell get beat up” they’re saying they don’t care what their athletes do. And while the UFC doesn’t have to punish their fighters, that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to bite them in the ass later.

Mixed martial arts as a whole has been fighting since its inception to say it’s a real sport. That it’s filled with real people with real brains doing something really impressive and they really deserve your respect, and dollars. But when the UFC doesn’t do anything to distance itself from its fighters, the company, and the industry it represents, gets lumped in with all of the bull shit that bad actors bring in.

A significant portion of the UFC’s revenue comes from various governments paying to bring the show to town. Saudi Arabia paid $20 million for an event last year. These governments want the circus around because it brings people and money to their local economy.

What government is going to pay to bring a show to town if the public sees it as a pre-game for a Klan rally? It doesn’t matter that that isn’t the reality. What matters is talking heads have been saying that the UFC is full of skinheads for 15 fucking years and it looks like they’re right. And if the UFC can’t continue putting on big shows the sport risks stagnating if not shrinking outright.

I teach jiujitsu for a living. I love training, teaching, and watching combat sports. Participation in mixed martial arts and jiujitsu remain one of the most valuable life experiences I have ever had. I want more people to access combat sports and benefit from them.

I don’t care when people are wrong about things that I like. When people ask me in 2025 if the UFC let’s their fighters fight to the death I roll my eyes. I laugh. I brush it off and go about my day.

But when people say, “I hear that MMA is full of skinheads, racists, and Nazis” I don’t know how to respond. I think it’s not true. I don’t associate with anyone advocating for a re-analysis of Hitler. But I know why people think that. And I guess I can’t blame them anymore.

Before I made jiujitsu my full time thing I worked for a health and wellness franchise. I was an internal consultant for our franchisees. One of the places that job brought me to was Rogers, Arkansas.

When I arrived in Rogers I had to ask my contact about our only non-work connection, “Do you know Bryce Mitchell?”

My client sighed and rolled her eyes before saying, “Yes I know Bryce. Everyone knows Bryce.”

I heard her words and felt embarrassment. She was disappointed and ashamed that the first person I thought of when I heard she lived in nearby Searcy was some jackass that accidentally took a power drill to his testicles.

That is not hyperbole.

At the time I thought it was funny. I mean the guy literally put a drill through his nuts.

Now I empathize with her. I share her embarrassment when people talk to me about “that guy that likes Hitler in the sport you wtch”. I understand exactly why she felt shame when people connected that man with her home.

It’s fucking embarrassing that idiots like Mitchell can be the first person someone thinks of when they think of MMA. It’s fucking embarrassing that I have to reassure my friends, their significant others, and their parents that the sport I live and work in is not run by neo Nazis fighting to the death. it’s fucking embarrassing.

I love combat sports. They’re the most incredible spectacle I’ve ever seen. They come from carnivals and that’s where we appear destined to end. Just another freak show attraction.

So when Dana White comes out to ask “What do you want me to say about it?” I say, tell us what you’re going to do about it. How are you going to tell the world MMA and the UFC is not a haven for idiots saying and doing the dumbest things imaginable day-in and day-out. What are you going to do to ensure the sport can keep growing?

If you don’t take the trash out, you’re just inviting pests into your home.

Before we get out of here today I want to do my part in highlighting fighters that no one should forget.