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« | Home | »

Protest & presser at UFC HQ scheduled for Saturday at 11 AM

By Zach Arnold | November 12, 2011

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This popped into our e-mail box tonight in response to what happened this week with Forrest Griffin. Are you surprised?

*****

For Immediate Release:

“UFC is Unfit For Prime Time”

Nevada survivors of sexual assault, concerned mothers, and Las Vegas casino workers confront the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) over violent, misogynistic and homophobic language.

Las Vegas (November 12, 2011) — On Wednesday, a number of national media reported that prominent Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Forrest Griffin joked about rape on Twitter. “Rape is the new missionary,” Griffin tweeted, according to the Huffington Post.

This is the latest in a string of incidents involving violent, misogynistic and homophobic language among people associated with the UFC, which will make its debut on prime-time television on Saturday. (See www.UnfitForChildren.org)

On Saturday, Nevada survivors of sexual assault, concerned parents and Las Vegas casino workers will gather outside UFC’s headquarters at 2960 West Sahara Avenue. They are demanding that advertisers and FOX Sports “drop the UFC” until the UFC makes it evident to the public that it no longer tolerates violent, sexist and homophobic language, and adopts and enforces a code of ethical conduct similar to those that exist in other professional sports. They urge all concerned citizens to sign the petition calling on FOX to “drop the UFC”: http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-fox-to-drop-ufc

“As a mother of an 18-month old toddler and a survivor of sexual violence, it is deeply disturbing to me when I see professional athletes like Forrest Griffin joke about rape,” said Emmily Bristol, a board member of the Nevada Coalition Against Sexual Violence and founder of the nationally syndicated blog, The Sin City Siren (sincitysiren.wordpress.com). “But perhaps even more disturbing to me is that this is not an isolated incident within the UFC organization. The repeated incidents of homophobic hate speech and the blatant misogynistic overtones of several comments made publicly show a pattern of demeaning, bullying, and even retaliatory remarks that are unbecoming of professionals who are admired by thousands of fans, including kids. The UFC is unfit for prime time television.”

Leslie Lilla, a single mother and board member of the United Labor Agency of Nevada (ULAN), said, ”It is unimaginable to me that we could possibly tolerate the language of certain individuals in the UFC on any form of media, much less prime time television.”

Christine Kramar, a Nevada mother of four children and founder of the blog, VegasForTheFamily.com, said, “This language trivializes the violent, everyday reality of rape and sexual assault survivors across this country. I want my children to grow up in an environment that works against sexual violence, not one where rape and sexual assault are considered punch lines for public figures.”

Jennifer Reed, a doctoral student and instructor of Sociology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) said, “Discourse has a powerful influence on behavior. If we as a society accept the use of language that makes light of and downplays serious issues such as rape (which, by definition, involves removing a person’s consent), we contribute to giving permission to the behavior. As a public sociologist and social activist, I believe it is our duty to take a stand against it.”

Topics: Media, UFC, Zach Arnold | 22 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

22 Responses to “Protest & presser at UFC HQ scheduled for Saturday at 11 AM”

  1. CAINtheBULL says:

    Forrest already apologized, visited, and donated to a rape center. Wonder if the media that covers this thing, will mention that.

    Here is the story and video of Forrest at a Rape Center.

    http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/133674073.html

    Ed. — Which is why I made sure to link to the item about his donation and also quoted Dana White without my commentary on the matter.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    You should stop giving these groups the time of day.

  3. Steve4192 says:

    Honestly, this whole fiasco is lame as hell, but I am glad it is happening. Hopefully other fighters look at the shit Forrest is going through and learn to think before they tweet. The days of being an ‘underground’ sport where you can do/say whatever you want and fly under the radar are over. Welcome to the big time fellas. Better learn to check yourselves or the media and special interest groups are going to crucify you.

    Ed. — Common sense prevails.

  4. Brett says:

    Why do you keep reporting on the culinary union and their latest attempts to blackmail the UFC. Everyone knows what its really about.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      Why do you keep reporting on the culinary union and their latest attempts to blackmail the UFC. Everyone knows what its really about.

      I wouldn’t say that I’ve been heavily reporting on the matter at all. Furthermore, I would also note that I have done transcripts of comments by those for and against the culinary union on this site (Lorenzo Fertitta, Eddie Goldman, so on and so forth).

      Is the posting of their press release on this site going to generate numerous protesters for that event? No.

  5. Jason Gatties says:

    Zack gets his rocks off crucifying the UFC. He’s done it for years. Zack had an opportunity to post the Forrest apology & donation story, but chose not to.

    BTW, looks like I’m no longer “banned” from posting remarks here, Zacky.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      Zack gets his rocks off crucifying the UFC. He’s done it for years. Zack had an opportunity to post the Forrest apology & donation story, but chose not to.

      BTW, looks like I’m no longer “banned” from posting remarks here, Zacky.

      Improve your reading comprehension skills. Since last night, the post on Forrest was not only updated with apology/donation news but also with comments on Dana White on the matter.

      You’re a troll. A boring one, at that, too.

  6. Phil says:

    Forrest said something stupid, but i have no idea why that should stop the UFC from being on TV.

    I hope their counterparts in CT and PA are protesting to get Penn State off TV.

    Ed. — There have been sponsors who have yanked their support for college football on ESPN (like Cars.com). There have also been a fair amount of national sportswriters who have stated that Penn State shouldn’t be playing football today, let alone the remainder of this season. Lester Munson at ESPN.com even said that Penn State football should get the death penalty.

  7. Justin says:

    I have most MMA sites as RSS feeds. Why is it that every negative article I read concerning the UFC is coming from this one site?

    You have an MMA website, so I am going to assume you are a fan in some way, shape, or form. Yet every single article I happen to read from this site seems designed to attack the UFC in some way, shape or form.

    I can’t believe it has taken me this long to remove this site from my feed.

    Seems like I should be prepared for this Zach guy to call me a troll and move on. Call me a troll, but enlighten me on what your personal beef is with the UFC? Why does it feel like you set up a website for the sole purpose of bashing the UFC at every corner?

    • Zach Arnold says:

      I have most MMA sites as RSS feeds. Why is it that every negative article I read concerning the UFC is coming from this one site?

      I write honestly and fairly about the whole sport & what happens both behind-the-scenes and in the cage. And I’ve done it for a very long time, too. The line that’s often parroted against me is that “I want UFC to die” and it’s just not sound logic that holds up over the test of time. When I spent two to three years writing about the downfall of PRIDE, I had tons of people accuse me of being on the Zuffa payroll — and they were legitimate with their sentiments & accusations.

      I cover everything that people say on both sides of an issue and I do it very thoroughly with transcripts & summaries of the main characters involved.

      You have an MMA website, so I am going to assume you are a fan in some way, shape, or form. Yet every single article I happen to read from this site seems designed to attack the UFC in some way, shape or form.

      That’s a blanket generalization on your part about an anti-UFC bias on here. I could just as easily reverse that logic on you and say that the majority of MMA outlets aren’t critical enough of Zuffa because they don’t want to lose credentials or access to certain personalities that can draw traffic for website content. Six in one, half a dozen of the other.

      I can’t believe it has taken me this long to remove this site from my feed.

      The fact that you felt you had to comment about it before you declared that you were removing my site from your RSS reader indicates to me that you’re bluffing. But be my guest, by all means.

      Seems like I should be prepared for this Zach guy to call me a troll and move on. Call me a troll, but enlighten me on what your personal beef is with the UFC? Why does it feel like you set up a website for the sole purpose of bashing the UFC at every corner?

      That’s kind of the point. I don’t write as a fan-first or cheerleader-first. I’m a writer. I write content. I’m not hyperbolic in nature about what I write. I can easily write a transcript about a 20 minute interview as I can write a quick 1,500 word op-ed piece in 20 minutes. I’ve often been accused recently of ‘losing my voice’ on this site and not doing enough opinion writing.

      I can’t please everyone nor am I going to try to. I have no pre-existing loyalties to promoters or agents. I’ve been writing about MMA before Dana White got involved in the business and I’ll probably be writing about the sport long after he cashes out. My beat was Japan and how the two MMA industries in both Japan & the US ended up paralleling each other was what got me to write about the American scene.

      If you want to make a broad claim like you did here, back it up with a list of multiple examples and point out my supposed motives.

    • BD says:

      Geez — what other sites do you read? Not Sherdog. Not Bloody Elbow or MMA Nation. What? UFCISPERFECT.com?

  8. As a woman I am not a big fan of rape jokes. I am not offended by them, by I just find them stupid and lazy. it’s just an overly harsh, unnecessary word to use most of the time.

    But to rally this type of a protest around a Tweet? Come on…that’s a little ridiculous. sports in general is a boys club, and boys will be boys. They like crude jokes and girls with big boobies. So what. There are all sorts of crude, insensitive Tweets and comments coming from NFL and NBA players, yet I never hear about campaigns to ban those sports, or drop them from networks.

  9. Joe says:

    Why do MMA fans go after real writers who take the time to formulate real opinions that are backed up by research and facts? Enjoy the MMA media in a couple of years when it’s Jay Glazer, Dana White, and __________(paid fighter of the month) shilling on Fox.

    • Steve4192 says:

      No kidding.

      All these posts attacking Zach for covering stories that put the UFC in a non-flattering light remind me of the Japanophiles who went after him for covering the Pride Yakuza scandal. I guess it just goes to show that some people would rather be blissfully ignorant than acknowledge things they don’t want to hear.

      I think it sucks that a guy can get pilloried for making a dumb joke on twitter, but that is the world we live in. No amount of burying our heads in the sand is going to change that reality. Fighters need to learn that their tweets can have consequences and be more cognizant of how they present themselves on social media platforms.

  10. klown says:

    Zach, ignore the haters and keep up the good work. The intelligent commentary on this site sets it apart from most of the MMA blogosphere. Keep doing what you’re doing.

  11. ot says:

    Zach, thank you for the best in MMA reporting.

  12. […] press release got mentioned on this MMA blog Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. By Sin City Siren, on November 13, 2011 […]

  13. […] The press release got mentioned on this MMA blog […]

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