Did fighter's 'terrorist' taunt toward Afghan opponent go too far? UFC president Dana White says no
According to UFC president Dana White, bigotry is an acceptable form of trash talk amongst fighters. At least that was his response to a situation that unfolded during Mondayâs Contender Series weigh-ins.
After Israelâs Oron Kahlon and Afghanistanâs Javid Basharat stepped on the scale for Tuesday nightâs fight â Kahlon missed by three pounds â the two men came together for a ceremonial faceoff in which Basharat declined his opponentâs handshake. With UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby between them, Kahlon was heard calling Basharat a âterrorist.â
Asked Tuesday if Kahlonâs bigoted remark might have gone too far, even by MMA trash talk standards, White was clear that he didnât have a problem with it.
âNo, not in this business I donât (worry that itâs too far),â White told reporters at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. âIf you look, you can add that to the pile of some pretty nasty things that have been said in this sport. And not just this sport â boxing, Iâm sure muay Thai, kickboxing, you name it. Mean things are said.
âIn this insanely politically correct world that weâre living in, this is one place that is not.â
Basharat went on to dominate Kahlon for nearly all three rounds at Dana Whiteâs Contender Series 45 before submitting him with a guillotine choke with 48 seconds remaining. The performance was good enough to earn undefeated Basharat (11-0) a UFC contract.
As far as White is concerned, what happened to Kahlon in the cage is comeuppance enough for the UFC to not take any action.
âAre we gonna do anything? It got done tonight,â White said. âYou know what I mean? Itâs the beautiful thing about this sport. I say it all the time: This is not a nice sport. This is a very rough sport. We say a lot of mean things to each other, you know, and justice gets served at the end of the day.
âListen, when you have a situation like that, the best way to solve the problem is you fight, and you fight legally. You get paid legally, and thatâs what happened tonight.â