These folks have beef with the owners of the UFC due to labor disputes at the Fertitta-owned Station Casinos. They've allegedly played a major behind-the-scenes role in keeping MMA out of New York. Now their attacks on the UFC have been picked up by mega-gossip king Perez Hilton on his FitPerez.com site:
Ugh! We are not happy to hear about this.
While sports organizations like the NBA and MLB are working to end homophobia, others like the NHL seem to be tolerating it. Unfortunately, the UFC (Utlimate Fighting Championship) seems to be flat out endorsing anti-gay bigotry!
In recent incidents, not only have the athletes used gay slurs to taunt their opponents, but even the PRESIDENT of the organization, Dana White, is leading by poor example!
Hilton goes on to recap the 2009 youtube diatribe from Dana White attacking female MMA writer Loretta Hunt. While sports organizations like the NBA and MLB are working to end homophobia, others like the NHL seem to be tolerating it. Unfortunately, the UFC (Utlimate Fighting Championship) seems to be flat out endorsing anti-gay bigotry!
In recent incidents, not only have the athletes used gay slurs to taunt their opponents, but even the PRESIDENT of the organization, Dana White, is leading by poor example!
The UFC has been notably lax about curtailing homophobic remarks from fighters and announcer Joe Rogan for some time. Unfortunately it's coming back to haunt them at an awkward time. Whatever we may think of Hilton, his web sites reach an enormous audience that includes many many many writers and editors for more mainstream publications. Expect to see these charges of homophobia repeated ad nauseum as the build up to the UFC's Fox TV debut continues.
Hopefully Dana White and company can get out ahead of this stuff with some PR that will defuse these attacks before they get picked up by more major media outlets.
Also see this fanshot from killphil.
HT reciprocal