Despite his absurd comments,
Ultimate Fighting Championship 145-pound contender Bryce
Mitchell will still be on the roster going forward.
In the first episode of his “Arkansanity”
podcast along with former UFC talent Roli Delgado
on Friday, the Arkansan went on a tangent about Adolf Hitler and
Germany in the early 1900s during a discussion of Elon Musk’s
salute some considered reminiscent of a Nazi salute. His comments
ranged from praising Hitler to complete Holocaust denial. Since
then, UFC chief Dana White weighed in on what Mitchell had to say,
and explained that Mitchell will face no punishment from his
organization due to “free speech.”
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“I really don’t think that [Musk] was [hailing the Nazis], because
I honestly think that was a good guy based upon my own research,”
Mitchell spouted. “Not my public education—indoctrination—I really
do think before Hitler got on meth, he was a guy to go fishing
with. He fought for his country, he wanted to purify it by kicking
the greedy Jews out that were destroying his country and turning
them all into gays.”
The ranked UFC fighter continued, “They were gaying out the kids,
they were queering out the women, they were queering out the
dudes…you know where the first [transgender] surgery ever was?
Happened to be in Germany, before Hitler took over. You know the
books that everybody makes fun of Hitler burning, you know what the
books was? Queer books. Hitler burned queer books! Because Hitler
didn’t want a bunch of queers destroying his nation, they can’t
produce children.”
The moment co-host Delgado raised a slight objection, before he
could continue it, Mitchell tried to clarify his statement a
bit.
“When he got on meth and he turned on Russia, I believe that’s when
he kind of went full nutty. And I don’t think that he was just
like, the best dude ever. And when I say I’d go fishing with him,
I’m not saying he was the most trustworthy dude or I love him or
whatever, but at some point in Hitler’s life, I don’t think he was
that bad of a guy. I really don’t. And now was Hitler perfect? No.
But he was fighting people, and he wanted a pure nation.”
Delgado chimed in a few more times to lightly disagree with the
rhetoric preached by Mitchell, including when Mitchell went into a
rant about Jewish lenders being the cause of Germany’s
hyperinflation in the 1920s. When he spoke up about how Hitler
filled concentration camps as the Nazi regime systematically
murdered millions, Mitchell had more to say.
“And that’s what your public education will tell you, Roli, because
you believe your public education, because you haven’t done your
own research. When you realize there’s no possible way they could
have burned and cremated six million bodies, you’re going to
realize that the Holocaust ain’t real.”
It did not take long for what Mitchell proclaimed on the inaugural
episode of his podcast to reach the ears of the UFC brass. The
promotion elected to put out a statement through White, with White
more than happy to repeatedly call his fighter “dumb” and
“stupid.”
White remarked,
“[Mitchell] said probably…I’ve heard a lot of dumb, ignorant s–t
in my day, but this one’s probably the worst. When you talk about
Hitler, who’s responsible for death of six million Jews and he
tried to complete eliminate a race of people…World War II was the
deadliest war in history. Fifteen million military deaths, 45
million civilians and 25 million soldiers were killed in World War
II.
“Second of all, Hitler was one of the most disgusting and evil
human beings to ever walk the face of the Earth, and anyone that
tries to take an opposing position is a moron. That’s the problem
with the internet and social media. You provide a platform for a
lot of dumb, ignorant people. We’ve obviously reached out to Bryce,
and when we read what he said and let him know how we feel about
it, we’re beyond disgusted.”
White did not offer any action taken by the league, instead
dismissing the first question of a media member that asked that
specifically.
“That’s what everybody wants to hear about, punishment. It’s free
speech, I don’t have to love it, you don’t have to love it,” he
noted. When pushed a little deeper, White went on to offer a
possible olive branch in the form of Mitchell not only getting to
fight in the UFC again, but that he has the potential to lose a
fight and get knocked out.
“Well, that’s the beautiful thing about this business,” the UFC
head stated. “For all of you that hate Bryce Mitchell, you get to
see him hopefully get his ass whooped on global television. What do
you want me to say about it? You know where I am with free speech.
We’re disgusted by it. I think he’s probably one of the
dumbest—literally one of the dumbest human beings—let’s not forget
that this is a guy who took a drill through his nutsack, then had
to reverse it and pull the drill back out. That’s the level of
stupid that we’re talking about here.”
“Thug Nasty” last set foot in the Octagon in December, bouncing
back from a brutal one-punch loss to Josh Emmett
by earning his first career knockout victory at the expense of
Kron
Gracie. While he is a ranked member of the 145-pound division,
reaching it by winning his first six in the Octagon, since then, he
has alternated wins and losses in his last four. He does not
currently have his next fight on the books, but based on the
statement of the UFC president, he will be able to compete again
under its banner.