I originally wrote this at Fightlinker.com. As this topic has been covered in detail at this web site, I thought it would be beneficial to post it here as well to get a sort of different view on the matter.

Dana White’s rant against Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt has been all the talk of the MMA community as of late. Since the video was posted, seemingly everyone within earshot has written an angry internet post bashing White for his supposed anti-gay and anti-female comments. Whether you think White went too far or whether you think someone of his stature shouldn’t be making comments like that in public is irrelevant. I am writing this simply to say that the criticism and backlash has been over the top.

Put as delicately as possible, people need to lighten up and cut the politically correct bullshit. Were White’s comments harsh? Yes, without a doubt. Were they meant to be hurtful to the gay community or to women? Absolutely not. They were meant to be insulting to Loretta Hunt and to whomever offered her the anonymous comment. Whether you or I agree with White’s sentiment does not matter; the man was expressing his anger towards a few select individuals, not towards two huge portions of the population who no doubt make up a percentage of his company’s fan base.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not attempting to make this point because of any insensitivity. I have never and will never be personally subject to the social problems that females and members of the gay community endure on a daily basis; I am a straight white male. But at the same time I have been around long enough to see legitimate instances of discriminatory hatred as well as instances of “bad words” getting misconstrued as discriminatory hatred. This is the latter.

The fact of the matter is that White referred to Loretta Hunt as a “dumb bitch” because he felt as though she made him and his company look very bad with some “creative” reporting. Whether or not that was actually the case is irrelevant — that is simply what caused his anger. If a male member of the Sherdog staff was the object of White’s ire and White called that male writer a “dickhead” or an “asshole” there would have been no uproar. While women are a big part of this sport as fighters, fans, and journalists, the fact is that the fight world is and has always been a male dominated place. And when we men get angry, we tend to express ourselves in different ways than women do. It’s not sexist; it’s simply a fact of biology that men and women are wired differently and respond to stimulants in our environment in different ways.

For example, if a young boy falls off of his bike and scrapes his knee, the first reaction of the majority of females — but not all — would be to help him up, clean his wounds, and tell him it will all be all right. A large portion of men — but not all — might instead help him up, tell him to tough out the pain, and get back on the bike. Both reactions serve their parental purpose in different but beneficial ways. This is simply an example of how the sexes are different, despite the fact that many people would like to say we are all the same. We are not. Being “equal” does not mean that we have to be exactly the “same.”

My point is that Loretta is a successful journalist in a male dominated industry and she received the same backlash from White that a male writer would have received — nothing more, nothing less. If we are to live in a society where we are all truly treated equally, double standards like this need to be limited. Again, I am not advocating the unbridled rage White delivered; I am leaving my opinion out of it. What I am advocating is the deterioration of the political correctness currently seen in this country. It seems any time that someone makes an off-color remark they are labeled a “racist” or a “sexist” when, in many cases, it’s simply not the case. Frankly, it’s bullshit.

There also exists a contingent of critics out there who understand exactly what I am saying but still think it’s somehow “bad for the sport” when the face of the largest organization makes such comments. You are completely entitled to your opinion, but I would have to say I think you are wrong. The comparisons to the commissioners of the NFL, NBA, or MLB need to stop. This sport — and the UFC specifically — has always run differently than those other leagues and for good reason. People who are going to tune in to MMA are going to watch no matter what. No one is going to ban it because the president of the company used some offensive language on an internet video. (Hell, the President of the country just made a joke about retarded kids. It wasn’t done in bad taste and it was actually pretty funny.) Big time sponsors will simply say “offer an apology and try not to let it happen again” because its all about the money. If Don Imus was pulling in UFC ratings on his MSNBC show he would have never been cancelled.

On top of that, how often do we see news headlines about powerful politicians involved in extremely hairy situations — Rod Blagojevich and Larry Craig come to mind. These are the people running our country who are doing things behind the scenes that wouldn’t be shown on Cinemax at three in the morning. Love him or hate him, Dana White doesn’t try to hide who he is. Even if you don’t agree with his opinions, you have to respect a guy whose not afraid to tell you what he thinks.

As for the “faggot” comment, I’ll let the best stand-up comic working today, Louis C.K., make my point for me:

Louis C.K. on the word "faggot"

Again, this is simply a plea to the society we live in to lighten up and cut the politically correct bullshit. Hateful language aimed at a person or persons for the purpose of spewing hate based on sex, race, or religion is and always will be wrong (except against the Scientologists; Fuck them).

Plus, its not as though White was appearing on Dateline or ESPN or 20/20 or any legitimate media outlet. He was posting a video on goddamn YouTube.