UFC & Dana White Plan to Stay In the Bryce Mitchell Business

How will the King of Hollywood handle this? Cut his ass or push a fake & phony performance "rehab"?

In January 2024, Dana White declared himself a free speech absolutist in response to some controversial comments made by former UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland regarding homosexuals, transexuals, and then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"First of all, I don’t give anybody a leash. A leash? Free speech," White said. "To control what people say and to tell people what to believe – I don’t tell any other fucking human being what to say, what to think and there’s no leashes on any of them.”

Today, that policy was tested when UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell came out with some positive comments about Adolf Hitler.

The soundbite from Mitchell getting the most play is as follows: “I honestly think that Hitler was a good guy. He fought for his country, he wanted to purify it by kicking the greedy Jews out that were destroying his country that were turning them all into gays.”

Regrettably, the crazy part is not that Bryce Mitchell said this. It’s that he thought it was a brilliant idea to launch a new podcast with this as a content pitch.

Mitchell’s comments about Japanese internment camps were, somehow, even worse, and it’s also an odd twist that he started the whole rant because he wanted to defend Elon Musk (whom he hates and describes as evil) against charges of being a Nazi.

Dana White took time from a Power Slap press conference in Saudi Arabia to comment on Mitchell’s statement, which he condemned in strong terms. Dana’s made a lengthy statement condemning Mitchell, but the key point was made in response to the first question he was asked.

Reporter: “Will Bryce Mitch face a punishment from the UFC for saying…”

Dana White: “That's what everybody wants to hear about: punishments. Free speech. I don't have to love it. You don't have to love it. You know I agree with the free speech sentiment.

Reporter: “Is there a concern though if he goes out and wins a fight and gets a mic?”

Dana White: “Well that's the beautiful thing about this business for all of you that hate Bryce Mitchell. You get to see him hopefully get his ass whooped on global television. I mean what what do you want me to say about it? You know where I am with free speech.”

So, in short, Dana White is sticking with his new-found free speech absolutism even in the face of a fighter endorsing the most vilified figure of the 20th Century.

Or is this really Dana’s call to make? Luckily for TKO, they have the Royal Rumble mega-event this weekend in Indianapolis to bury this story in the news cycle.

We’ve come a long way since 2012 when former WEC featherweight champ Miguel Torres was dropped from the UFC for making a tasteless rape joke on Twitter. Torres was cut simultaneously with former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans getting an official warning for making a joke about child molesting.

The most interesting contrast: Dana’s comments on Bryce Mitchell versus the way he used to speak about fighters thirteen years ago.

Today: “(Bryce Mitchell is) probably one of the dumbest human beings. Let's not forget that this is a guy who took a drill through his nut sack then had to reverse it and pulled the drill back out. That's the that's the level of stupid that we're talking about here.”

Back in 2012: “With my fighters, there’s no excuses like, ‘Hey, listen, he’s a dumb guy. Came from the mean streets of somewhere. He’s just not all that bright.’ These are educated guys, most of them went to college, they have families, children, etc. These are smart, rational people I’m dealing with.”

Clearly, the Zuffa era of UFC in 2012 felt it was important that they presented their fighters as intelligent people who would be held responsible for their public statements.

In 2025, Dana White no longer feels that is the case.

What remains to be seen is what TKO CEO Ari Emanuel will say about this, if anything.

We just did a podcast discussing the complicated geopolitical situation TKO is in with the center of gravity of combat sports being inexorably pulled toward the Middle East by the power of oil money.

We shouldn’t have to point out that there is no such thing as freedom of speech in Saudi Arabia. In fact, Turki Alalshikh sentenced an Egyptian man to prison for 19 years in 2024 for posting a tweet critical of “His Excellency.”

Compare the mess UFC got themselves into here after protecting Conor McGregor.

The outrage game

It’s easy to shake your head and dismiss what Bryce Mitchell said as beyond stupid.

What can’t be dismissed is that Bryce Mitchell has a megaphone that’s louder than yours because his branding power is derived from UFC. Otherwise, he’s just another random Rumble ranter.

The volume of his message is amplified because of his UFC ties.

Dismissing Mitchell’s commentary as that “of a dumb fighter” misses the point. You don’t have to be screaming or frothing to understand that the public being numbed down to be ambivalent about this garbage is an erosion of civics and discourse.

Your ambivalence helps UFC become richer while the culture becomes poorer.

If you’re outraged, get ready to be accused of engaging in fake and performance theater. That, or being accused of being a “Karen” on SSRIs.

If you’re not outraged, get ready to be accused of contributing to corporations profiting off of moral decay and debasement.

What’s a fan to do?

This is the fruit of the poisonous tree for UFC’s cynical political turn. Now we have Groypers online defending Bryce Mitchell.

Dana White’s prepared remarks are drawing heat because they’re somehow antithetical to the kind of Gab-flavored free speech sales pitch. By playing the free speech card, the rest of society thinks Dana’s remarks are dog shit. Endeavor is trying to walk a fine line here and baffle people with enough bluster to mask the antisemitic stench.

Endeavor long ago calculated that the people who are critical of UFC aren’t the ones buying TKO content. They’re not watching UFC anyway, so who cares… right?

That’s the crazy part about this silo effect on geopolitics in 2025. It’s all about maximizing value extraction on certain demographics and mitigating the reach & power of opposing economic and political forces.

Bryce Mitchell’s comments shouldn’t be treated as a fart in the wind. He skunked everyone. People who are fans or cover this spectacle are embarrassed but the powers that be have determined that healthy criticism and analysis don’t matter. All that matters is what the Elites think will generate cash.

Is Bryce Mitchell worthy of Ari Emanuel’s public relations protection? In Mark Shapiro’s eyes, does he think Bryce Mitchell is exploitable enough to make a quick buck before snuffing him out for good?

And where does Ari Emanuel stand on all of this? We shouldn’t give The King of Hollywood a free pass.

Ari Emanuel loves the spotlight when he’s telling the world about how much power he has and how responsibility comes with power. He used his visit in Aspen with Tina Brown last year to throw Joe Biden under the bus with Hollywood and force him off the Democratic presidential ticket.

Ari was more than happy to allow Bloomberg to profile him as the king of combat sports.

Ari Emanuel knows what is going on with Bryce Mitchell and should be held to account for platforming a fighter who is openly pro-Hitler.

This is such a stupid story yet it’s a perfect case test of where we are with UFC, WWE, and TKO in 2025. Fan sentiment is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what Hollywood, Wall Street, and world governments think.

Nate Wilcox is Editor-in-Chief of The MMA Draw newsletter on Substack.

Zach Arnold is a lead opinion writer for The MMA Draw on Substack. His archives can be read at FightOpinion.com.