Dana White claims UFC fighters 'don't bounce back' from domestic abuse, but continues to promote Anthony Johnson

With the Ray Rice fiasco that currently has NFL and its top brass on the hot seat, the sports media has turned its attention to other notable organizations, like Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), who reinstated Thiago Silva at a time when domestic violence is making front page headlines.



Silva was cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this month and the Brazilian is once again a UFC fighter.



Legally, the burden of proof was not established, so it likely won't do much to poke holes in the promotion's stance on domestic violence. That's unlike the case involving top light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson, who was sentenced to three years probation and forced to undergo domestic violence counseling after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges back in 2009.



But according to UFC President Dana White (via FOX Sports), you don't get to bounce back from putting your hands on a woman, which is the reason Will Chope was cut earlier this year when reports surfaced that he was charged with a 2011 assault against his wife.



We've been like that since day one anyway. Obviously, when you're dealing with human beings, there's gonna be times where guys test positive for all different types of drugs. Guys are gonna do stupid things, say stupid things on social media, there's gonna be all these things that happen and we have a track record of getting rid of many people who have done bad things and we've been human beings letting other guys make up for what they've done and come back. There's one thing that you never bounce back from, and that's putting your hands on a woman. It's been that way in UFC since we started here. You don't bounce back from putting your hands on a woman."



In addition to Johnson, streaking lightweight contender Abel Trujillo plead guilty to domestic violence back in 2007.



The point is not to demonize Johnson or open a debate on the circumstances surrounding each case (like this one), but rather to look at the promotion's conflicting stance on domestic violence. Zero tolerance does not exist in UFC today. And the attempt to create distance between UFC and NFL for the purposes of public perception is irresponsible at best ... and very dangerous at its worst.



UFC was contacted regarding its current policy, but was unavailable for comment at this time.



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Statistics: Posted by JM Barrie — Sep 11. 2014, 16:56 — Replies 0 — Views 21

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