UFC President Dana White has no problem with Colby Covington's recent tirade.
Former UFC interim welterweight champion Covington made some pretty controversial comments after UFC Vegas 11. His racist remarks were directed toward the Black Lives Matter movement, opponent Tyron Woodley and UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. White heard the controversial statement but argued he didn't hear anything racist.
“This is the 10th time you guys have asked me this,” White said at the UFC 253 pre-fight press conference (via Mike Bohn and John Morgan of MMA Junkie). “These guys all have their own causes, things – all their own beliefs. We don’t muzzle anybody here. 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. I don’t know.”
Some have spoken out against Covington’s comments, including UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Leon Edwards, Sijara Eubanks and Hakeem Dawodu. While White is willing to question the potential racism found in Covington’s comments, one thing he doesn’t want is racism in the UFC.
“Yeah, of course,” White said. “Come on. I’m not going to play these games with you guys. Come on. If it’s racist? Yes. Of course (we don’t want that).”
There were some sponsors that work with the UFC that spoke out as well against Covington’s comments, including Reebok, Monster Energy and DoorDash.
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