White on Torres firing: 'I don't care what anybody thinks'

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source: mmajunkie.com

The UFC has embraced twitter like no other sport's franchise, offering over a quarter million dollars in bonuses to boost adoption of the technology. Among the more compelling, sometimes strange tweets were those from Banatamweight Miguel Torres.

Last week Torres posted the following on his twitter account. "If a rape van was called a surprise van more women wouldn't mind going for rides in them." He later removed the tweet above, and replaced it with "If a windowless van was called a surprise van more people wouldn't mind going for rides in them. Everyone likes surprises."

"There's no explanation for that," said White in response. "There's absolutely nothing I could say to make any sense of that. And the fact that he even thinks that's funny or that's a joke, it disturbs me. It bothers me.

"Again, you're dealing with a guy (who's) a smart guy, that owns his own business, that's been one of the top fighters in the world forever. And I cut him today. He's no longer with the UFC."

Torres' firing comes after both Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans were taken to task for innappropriate jests related to rape. Griffin referred to rape as "the new missionary" in commenting on the crime's prevalence in the media. And Evans told Pen State alum Phil Davis he was going to put his hands on him worse than Jerry Sandusky, who has been charged with rape of a child.

Torres told HeavyMMA's Matt Erickson that the tweet was a reference to a line from the FX sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Episode No. 2, Season 4, titled "The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis" takes place largely in a van with tinted windows that the characters repeatedly refer to as a "rape van."

Torres has worked tirelessly with underprivileged children, and is known respected in MMA as a decent and caring man. While the twitter post plainly shows an unfathomable lack of judgement for an athlete in the public eye, no one thought the tweet was an accurate reflection of Torres' character generally.

However, at the UFC 140 post fight press con, White did not budge on the firing.

"You can agree or disagree with me, and if you want to see if anybody disagrees with me, go on my Twitter," White told MMAjunkie.com. "I've been getting my head kicked in for two days on Twitter. But the bottom line is nobody has any business making jokes about rape. We're in the fight business."

"I'm a pretty fair guy. I've been a very fair guy through all kinds of crazy stuff. If you can't explain yourself, if you can't give me an explanation on why you did something? There's no explanation for that."

"You didn't see Miguel Torres come out – all the fans were behind him, and I love it. I love that all the fans were supporting him and everything else. It's cool. I like to see that, but you didn't see him come out with his explanation on why he said it. There is no explanation for it. And tweets like, 'Your mouth says no, but my roofies say yes,' I don't think that's funny, either – at all. It's not funny to me. Agree with me or disagree with me, it is what it is. I make those decisions, and that's what I chose to do."

"Let me tell you what – you want to see consistency, let's see if anybody does that again. Let's see if anybody does it again. I double dare you. I double dare you to send another tweet like that again.

"It is what it is. It's unfortunate. He's a good guy. But it made no sense. It came out of left field. 'It was from a TV show.' I don't give a s---. This isn't a TV show. This is a sport. And the thing is about sending things like that out on Twitter, it's not like you have some forum to explain yourself and to discuss what you meant. There's 100-and-something characters, you know what I mean?

"It's bad news, and it is what it is. People can agree with me or disagree with me. I don't care what anybody thinks. I don't care. It is what it is. It won't happen again."

"I think it's pretty clear," White said of how fighters should proceed going forward?. "We're dealing with smart guys. Let common sense prevail."

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12/13/11 5:50 PM by nrallen

ttt

12/12/11 2:54 PM by nrallen

i've no idea what you're referring to but i never called anyone a shill. furthermore, your comment on star power is noted but unnecessary as you agreed with my assertion that a double-standard exists here.if this were to happen outside the ufc the employee would be taking their employer to court for wrongful dismissal. i recognise the fact that torres is unable to do that though, as he cannot burn bridges with the one employer that monopolizes the sport he competes in.

12/12/11 10:23 AM by JackTheCon

As a long time fan of NHB, I must first recognize that Dana's contribution to the sports lift off back in 2005 here in the U.S. can never be matched. But now he is on different playing field. I really do not think that he will make it to see the end of completion of the FOX contract. Fox is a major network, and someone with Dana's personality, will not make it in that business world.The entertainment business is already filled with individuals who have short fuses, but it is all held behind closed doors. These top executives lash out on everyone from other associates, to the janitor, from the stars of their shows to the stupid fans. But you will never see it done publicly. If they do lash out publicly, they choose their words carefully. Dana does not have the intelligence to think that far ahead. He jumps at what he sees as the first potential attack or criticism aimed at the UFC. He lacks some education, and it is shown. This deal with Fox brings in a new audience, and what the UFC represents could also fall on Fox Sports. He behaves himself in the press conferences, and pre-fight interviews, but verbally abuses his critics via online videos and Twitter. Look at the commissioners of two popular sports, David Stern of the NBA, and Roger Goodell of the NFL. I am sure both had to deal with a lot this year in regard to both lockouts. I am sure they threw chairs, and cursed out many in their offices, but publicly you would never know. Dana White was never taught or conditioned to maintain a certain compusure in the business world of this magnitude. Who knows if he can even learn.Last, he made a huge mistake by not discussing the issue at hand with Miguel Torres first. All that he had to do was ask Torres why the comments were made, and he would have realized that it was a quote from a show. Now, I have never watched it is 'Always Sunny in Philadelphia,' but the quote from the show can be seen as a free plug for Fox. Maybe, Torres could have thought about what to say, or he could have started his comment, "As they say in 'It's Always Sunny........'" If I was a Fox executive, I would tell myself, that it is great to see an actual UFC fighter as a fan of a show on one of their channels. If Dana, would have asked Miguel Torres what happened, he would have found out, but again he does not think that far ahead.This situation, and others past, have shown who is the real broker of these major deals, Lorenzo Fertitta. I could be wrong, but I believe that Lorenzo is the real power broker. Dana White might present the ideas, but the man to close the deal is Lorenzo Fertitta. White has a friendly personality up front, but become Napoleonistic when he even feels he will be put into a corner. I do not know when, short or long term, but Dana White's days are numbered.

12/12/11 6:37 AM by xtrordinaire

I won't be buying either. If you check my cable bill I was a very loyal fan and recently there's been more fights every month so you know I'm spending money. I'm with dude, I will not be paying to see these fights until Dana budges which I don't see it happening since he's such an egomaniac

12/12/11 1:58 AM by McSurly

Just admit you're a cheap pos and you have no moral outrage about the topic at hand. You're like an ows supporter who hangs out because its "something to do" and has no idea what the real issues are. Lol at you determining when anyone "deserves" your money for a quality product. I hope you get caught and slapped with one of those outragous fines you hear about in the media every once in a while. Douchebag.

12/11/11 9:59 PM by HOLLYWOOD-MO

No, it depends on the leverage you have as an athlete in the UFC. Just like real life, you have more leverage if you have star power. Rashad has much more power than Torres. Is it a double standard? Yes. Does the same shit happen in real life outside of UFC? Yes. Lol at calling anyone who disagrees with you a shill. Yes, Dana is paying people to support him over the Internet

12/11/11 9:16 PM by feds2000

I just torrented UFC 140, (OMG WHAT AN EVENT), im just torrenting UCCs now on, FUCK UFC ill hang onto my cash, didnt know theyw were released so early, pretty much watch em live, ill start buyin them again once i believe there worth my dosh, no point spendin money on some company like that when i can get it for free, they dont need my support anymore and fankly dont ddeserve it..PIRATEBAY.ORGFUK U UFC

12/11/11 6:55 PM by inf0

I hope Dana gets face raped.

12/11/11 6:55 PM by SleepBomb

fuck dana. miguel seems like a good dude and was just enjoying Workaholics.

12/11/11 6:50 PM by nrallen

it's a terrible double-standard and seems to depend entirely on whether dana thought the 'rape' joke was funny or not. i suppose rashad's comment was funnier.what's worse is that the ufc is essentially you're one and only choice if mma is your profession and the contracts are completely one-sided.the athlete is expected to fight on the ufc's terms but has zero rights as an employee. yet the ufc can cancel their employment at any time and without proper consultation.

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