Sports fans have no interest in politics, according to UFC president Dana White, who ripped woke athletes as out of touch in an interview this week.
“They don’t want to hear that,” White said on Fox’s “Hannity” Monday night. “They don’t want to hear what your opinions are or who you’re voting for, what you’re doing, they want to get away from everything in their life and they want to focus on two, three, four hours, however long the sport is when you turned it on.”
Show host Sean Hannity cited Lakers superstar LeBron James, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the MLB’s recent decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta to Colorado as recent examples of jocks flexing their political muscle — and getting burned.
“You look at the ratings of the finals in the NBA: 5.6 million viewers is a disaster,” Hannity said. “If you look around the stadium, I don’t care what the sport is, I see people of all backgrounds, all races, all coming together because they love and have to share a passion for that sport, right?”
Dana White (seen here with Conor McGregor) said, “When you tune in to UFC, you are there to see fights.” Anthony J CausiWhite, who endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2016 and 2020, claimed his athletes aren’t muzzled.
“If you want to listen to that stuff, turn on any other station, you will hear all of that stuff you want to hear. When you tune in to UFC, you are there to see fights,” he said.
White also addressed the UFC’s decision to run the first major indoor sporting event at full capacity this past weekend. UFC 261 drew a sold-out crowd of 15,259 fans in Jacksonville, Florida, and the organization has two more sold-out events on the horizon in Houston, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to UFC president Dana White, sports fans don’t want to hear about whom athletes are voting for or what they’re doing politically. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLCThe UFC head honcho was recently jabbed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal for planning a full-capacity event in July — too soon amid the pandemic, some critics warned.
White slammed the outlet as a “piece of s–t” and advised the newspaper not to cover the show.
Aaron Judge wears a Black Lives Matter shirt during team batting practice. AP/Alex Brandon“People are done, people are done,” White said. “They are done being told where they can go, what they can do. They are ready to get back out there and start enjoying their lives again.”
