"Miguel Torres has been cut from the UFC, and his career with us now is over," White told SI.com.
On the horn:
Johnny Waugh
LEAD SR WRITER
The UFC confirmed yesterday, Dec. 8, that they released current bantamweight fighter, former WEC champion, Miguel Torres. Torres has been released because of a tweet the UFC felt was grossly inappropriate.
"If a rape van was called a surprise van more women wouldn't mind going for rides in them." Torres said according to SI.com.
Torres has since changed the tweet to say "If a windowless van was called a surprise van, more people wouldn't mind going for rides in them, Everyone likes surprises."
That is the tweet that the UFC apparently decided was the reason for releasing him from his contract.
"They are all smart guys. . . I cannot make sense if Miguel Torres's tweet," White said.
(CONTINUED)...
Although Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans have made unsavory comments about rape as well they both seemingly gave UFC President Dana White reasonable explanations as to why they made the comments they did.
"Rape is the new missionary," Griffin stated on twitter before removing the comment. Griffin explained to White the tweet was a social commentary about how much rape is used in media.
White said that Torres simply believed it was a joke and that didn't sit well with White.
"You can't tweet something like that and expect this not to happen," White said. "All these guys are smart, Use your common sense."
Torres has been interviewed by HeavyMMA since being cut and said he was simply referencing a show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on FX and wasn't intending to disrespect anyone.
White said he will be in contact with the management of Torres but sees no reason to continue communication with Torres himself.
Torres has since tweeted " Jokes on racism, {pedophiles}, terrorism, & other fucked up things is ok, but some are off limits. What a sensitive world we live in."
It would seem from outside fan perception that bigger named fighters are getting the benefit of special treatment since their name status is bigger than other fighters.
One fan commented on an mmafighting article "I love Dana but I think he really meant to say 'Look, here's how I handle these things: we sit down and say 'how important is this guy to the organization?'
The fan continued by saying "If he's not that big a star then lets cut him to show we care. If we need him, then we'll give him a slap on the wrist."
I tend to agree. White stated that both Evans and Griffin gave him suitable explanations for their particular slip of the mouth but the explanation for Evans is simply piss poor.
Evans made the comment "I guarantee you'll be the first one to take a shot cause I'm going to put my hands on you worse than that dude did them other kids at Penn State," at the UFC on FOX 2 press conference.
Evans took a jab at Phil Davis by joking about the sexual abuse of children controversy that is currently taking place at Penn State University. It just so happens that Penn State is where Phil Davis, Evans UFC on FOX 2 opponent, went to college.
White seemed okay with the explanation Evans gave of simply trying to take a jab at Davis which is apparently valid enough for UFC. That excuse isn't any better than quoting a TV show explanation or simply "It was a joke."
But White seemed hesitant to do anything at that moment to a bigger named star in Rashad Evans while cutting Miguel Torres after White himself apologized and came to the defense of Evans.
"What do you want me to do? You want me to have our lawyers draw something up and I'll come out and read it to you guys?," White said.
"You know, he said something stupid. It's probably one of the dumbest things you could say. He gets it, and he knows it was a stupid thing to say, and we'll see what happens."
See what happens? Nothing is what happens if your a big named headliner. Evans could have used the same judgment and discretion that Torres could have used yet one of them is gone and the other is headlining a television card.
Torres and Evans both shouldn't be cut and that's what I am advocating. It is true that people should use the common sense that White spoke of but at some point you can't punish people in your organization while not doing the same to others if you want to have a consistent credibility.
Making up excuses for one guy and firing another who made similar statements is just not the good business and PR relations that we are used to from the UFC but White has made it clear he doesn't answer to the fans or media. Except in the instance of Nick Diaz but that is a whole other story.
Honestly, Evans made a joke directly about a current topical sexual assault on children case and Torres made a distasteful comment in a more general sense by quoting a recent television episode based on fictitious concepts.
Rape comments and jokes in general should not be made without a real purpose or truly legitimate cause in public but the way the UFC is dishing out punishment has many questioning how the UFC determines punishment and what it deems ethical.
As of today it seems to be a bit askew.
Admin: JW
On the horn:
Johnny Waugh
LEAD SR WRITER
 |
| Miguel Torres |
"If a rape van was called a surprise van more women wouldn't mind going for rides in them." Torres said according to SI.com.
Torres has since changed the tweet to say "If a windowless van was called a surprise van, more people wouldn't mind going for rides in them, Everyone likes surprises."
That is the tweet that the UFC apparently decided was the reason for releasing him from his contract.
"They are all smart guys. . . I cannot make sense if Miguel Torres's tweet," White said.
(CONTINUED)...
Although Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans have made unsavory comments about rape as well they both seemingly gave UFC President Dana White reasonable explanations as to why they made the comments they did.
"Rape is the new missionary," Griffin stated on twitter before removing the comment. Griffin explained to White the tweet was a social commentary about how much rape is used in media.
White said that Torres simply believed it was a joke and that didn't sit well with White.
"You can't tweet something like that and expect this not to happen," White said. "All these guys are smart, Use your common sense."
Torres has been interviewed by HeavyMMA since being cut and said he was simply referencing a show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on FX and wasn't intending to disrespect anyone.
White said he will be in contact with the management of Torres but sees no reason to continue communication with Torres himself.
Torres has since tweeted " Jokes on racism, {pedophiles}, terrorism, & other fucked up things is ok, but some are off limits. What a sensitive world we live in."
It would seem from outside fan perception that bigger named fighters are getting the benefit of special treatment since their name status is bigger than other fighters.
One fan commented on an mmafighting article "I love Dana but I think he really meant to say 'Look, here's how I handle these things: we sit down and say 'how important is this guy to the organization?'
The fan continued by saying "If he's not that big a star then lets cut him to show we care. If we need him, then we'll give him a slap on the wrist."
I tend to agree. White stated that both Evans and Griffin gave him suitable explanations for their particular slip of the mouth but the explanation for Evans is simply piss poor.
Evans made the comment "I guarantee you'll be the first one to take a shot cause I'm going to put my hands on you worse than that dude did them other kids at Penn State," at the UFC on FOX 2 press conference.
Evans took a jab at Phil Davis by joking about the sexual abuse of children controversy that is currently taking place at Penn State University. It just so happens that Penn State is where Phil Davis, Evans UFC on FOX 2 opponent, went to college.
White seemed okay with the explanation Evans gave of simply trying to take a jab at Davis which is apparently valid enough for UFC. That excuse isn't any better than quoting a TV show explanation or simply "It was a joke."
But White seemed hesitant to do anything at that moment to a bigger named star in Rashad Evans while cutting Miguel Torres after White himself apologized and came to the defense of Evans.
"What do you want me to do? You want me to have our lawyers draw something up and I'll come out and read it to you guys?," White said.
"You know, he said something stupid. It's probably one of the dumbest things you could say. He gets it, and he knows it was a stupid thing to say, and we'll see what happens."
See what happens? Nothing is what happens if your a big named headliner. Evans could have used the same judgment and discretion that Torres could have used yet one of them is gone and the other is headlining a television card.
Torres and Evans both shouldn't be cut and that's what I am advocating. It is true that people should use the common sense that White spoke of but at some point you can't punish people in your organization while not doing the same to others if you want to have a consistent credibility.
Making up excuses for one guy and firing another who made similar statements is just not the good business and PR relations that we are used to from the UFC but White has made it clear he doesn't answer to the fans or media. Except in the instance of Nick Diaz but that is a whole other story.
Honestly, Evans made a joke directly about a current topical sexual assault on children case and Torres made a distasteful comment in a more general sense by quoting a recent television episode based on fictitious concepts.
Rape comments and jokes in general should not be made without a real purpose or truly legitimate cause in public but the way the UFC is dishing out punishment has many questioning how the UFC determines punishment and what it deems ethical.
As of today it seems to be a bit askew.
Contact Johnny:
Admin: JW
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