Dana White explains why UFC doesn’t have Pride Night amid Giants Bible verse controversy

Dana White has never been much about corporate virtue signaling.

White, the UFC’s president and CEO, appeared on “Tomi Lahren Is Fearless” and was asked why the promotion didn’t host a Pride Night. The question comes as Pride-themed events have once again sparked controversy in sports; The latest is what happened with the San Francisco Giants.

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“I don’t care at all. I don’t care what you are or who you are or what you’ve done. We don’t talk about this or anything like that,” White told Lahren. “I’m not interested in that.”

White’s claim is not that gay fighters, fans or employees are not welcome in the UFC. The UFC doesn’t need a theme night, a special logo or a PR campaign to prove that it treats people with respect.

And it’s not hard to understand why White doesn’t want to take part in this game.

Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker recently wrote Bible verse references on their rainbow-logo Pride hats during San Francisco’s June 12 game. Roupp wrote “Genesis 9:12-16,” referring to the biblical passage that describes the rainbow as a sign of God’s covenant after the flood. Reliever Sam Hentges wore the team’s standard cap instead of the Pride-themed version.

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MLB responded by issuing what Commissioner Rob Manfred later described as a “routine verbal warning” because league rules prohibit players from writing or displaying personal messages on jerseys or equipment. However, Manfred later told Senator Josh Hawley that the players would not be penalized or disciplined, saying the warning was about the league’s uniform policy, not the religious content of the Bible verses. He also acknowledged that MLB had warned before learning that the Giants had not explicitly told players they could wear regular caps instead.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp wrote “Genesis 9:12-16” on his Pride Night-themed hat. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

This is exactly the kind of mess White seems uninterested in creating in the UFC.

Manfred also said the purpose of the rule is to prevent players from reporting on political or social issues while in uniform.

This is interesting because that’s basically what White means.

For the UFC president, it’s bigger than Pride. This is the idea that a sports organization pushes athletes, employees, or fans toward an approved public message, then punishes or shames anyone who takes that message differently.

His response to Lahren was rooted in a broader philosophy of free speech. White said he doesn’t want the UFC to force fighters to say the right thing and doesn’t want to start punishing people when someone says the wrong thing.

That doesn’t mean he enjoys everything that comes out of fighters’ mouths.

White said, “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” After saying this, he pointed to Josh Hokit, who reacted. During the post-fight interview at UFC Freedom 250.

“You think I’m happy with what Josh Hokit said?” White said. “I’m trying to unite the country and he goes out and says something completely stupid like he did that night, but I believe in free speech too.”

This is what makes Hokit relevant to the Pride Night discussion. White is not arguing that every controversial interpretation is wise, useful, or essentially defensible. He argues that the UFC should not become a speech policing operation.

Josh Hokit celebrates his victory over Derrick Lewis in their heavyweight bout at UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

White may believe that Hokit said something stupid and still believe that the warriors should be allowed to speak for themselves. The same logic explains why he doesn’t want to stage UFC-themed nights, which inevitably become tests of public loyalty.

“I let everyone be themselves, do their own thing,” White said. “There’s a lot of things some of my guys say I don’t like.”

The same idea goes for Pride Night.

White’s view is not that people should be treated badly. To treat people well, the UFC doesn’t need to mount a public campaign to prove it.

“I stay in my lane, man,” White said. “Whatever the others are doing, good luck to them. I do my own thing. We don’t just go out and play drums.”

Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson made a similar point when defending Giants players. Thompson said Roupp writing a Bible verse on his hat did not mean he was “against” anyone, but rather what the rainbow meant to him as a Christian.

That’s the problem with these corporate sports campaigns.

The message had to be included. But when a Christian athlete expresses his or her own opinion or refuses to subscribe to the approved message, the scope suddenly becomes very narrow.

White wants the UFC to stay out of this altogether. And he doesn’t believe every good job should be a PR event.

“First of all, we donate a lot of money to a lot of different charities, and that’s what I personally do,” White said. “You know what you’ll never see me do, I’m standing somewhere with a big check in my hand, a bunch of little kids around.”

President Donald J. Trump and UFC President Dana White watch the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Motivation is more important than the photo op, White said.

“We do it because we have to. We do it because we can,” he said. “We’re not doing this to get attention.”

He then brought the answer to the actual Pride Night question.

“When it comes to certain groups of people, whether it’s the gay community, the lesbian community, the African-American community, we do what we have to do, we do the right thing,” White said. “As long as you’re doing the right thing, you don’t need to go around proving to everyone that you’re doing the right thing.”

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This will not satisfy people who believe that every sports organization should publicly celebrate all sanctioned cases. But White’s stance is consistent.

Do the right thing.

Treat people right.

Why is it so hard for so many people to understand?