UFC Pleased with How Matt Mitrione Handled Fallon Fox Fallout, but He’s Still Sidelined

Matt Mitrione recently weighed in on the Fallon Fox transgender controversy that has captured headlines across the United States, and especially within mixed martial arts circles. The only problem with that was how he expressed his opinion.

Mitrione ranted and raved, not exactly putting forth a cerebral argument.

Aside from insinuating that Fox had “mental problems” for fighting in the women’s MMA division, Mitrione also joked that Fox’s fights were akin to infamous rapper Chris Brown beating up his current girlfriend, Barbadian pop star Rihanna:

He’s chromosomally a man. He had a gender change, not a sex change. He’s still a man. He was a man for 31 years. Thirty-one years. That’s a couple years younger than I am. He’s a man. Six years of taking performance de-hancing drugs, you think is going to change all that? That’s ridiculous.

That is a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak. And I mean that. Because you lied on your license to beat up women. That’s disgusting. You should be embarrassed yourself. And the fact that Florida licensed him because California licensed him or whoever the hell did it, it’s an embarrassment to us as fighters, as a sport, and we all should protest that. The woman that’s fighting him, props to you. I hope you beat his ass, and I hope he gets blackballed and never fights again, because that’s disgusting and I’m appalled by that.

The UFC cited Mitrione for “breach of contract,” which lead to the suspension of his contract and a hefty fine, although UFC president Dana White has declined to reveal the amount of the fine.  The suspension is currently ongoing, and White, at a Thursday media scrum, was just as evasive about when Mitrione’s suspension will conclude.

It’s not that White has it in for Mitrione. It’s actually quite the opposite. White says he was pleased with the way Mitrione handled the fallout from his comments and the subsequent fine and suspension.

“From the first day we talked, he handled the whole thing like a man,” said White. “He said some ignorant comments that made him sound like a complete jackass and a bigot. He knew what he said wrong.

“If he was standing in front of a panel or a judge and was arguing why somebody who used to be a man shouldn’t be allowed to fight a woman, he wouldn’t have said it the way that he said it.

“He could have done it the right way and nobody would have said anything to him. He can have an opinion; it’s just how you state your opinion.”

Unfortunately for Mitrione, none of that entered his mind before he stated his case in the manner he did. And for that he’s left wondering when he’ll be allowed to fight in the Octagon again.

“I’m sure that’s what he wants to know too,” White responded when asked what the duration of Mitrione’s suspension. “We’ll let him know when we decide.”