UFC CEO Dana White explains decision to not punish Bryce Mitchell for Hitler comments

Dana White has determined he won’t cut UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell despite not seeing eye-to-eye with his viewpoints on Adolf Hitler, who Mitchell defended as “a good guy” last Thursday before apologizing for his actions in a post on Instagram over the weekend.

White was vehemently “disgusted” with Mitchell’s actions after learning about what had been said on his Arksanity podcast.

UFC CEO Explains Decision To Not Punish Mitchell

White, however, recognizes that his premier combat sports brand isn’t like other sports, particularly the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA with multiple owners and teams overseen by commissioners.

Michael Bisping delivers brutal take on future of Israel Adesanya's UFC career

In a nearly 35-minute episode with political host Tucker Carlson, who has ties to White’s friend and mentor, 47th U.S. President Donald Trump, White, who took over the UFC with his friends Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta in 2001, broke down how he came to his eventual decision about Mitchell’s MMA future.

“A lot of the things I would do [administratively for the UFC] are, I guess, I would just say, by [my] gut and how I think we should handle it,” White told Carlson. “It’s not like – and again, my head of PR [Lenee Breckenridge], she’s brilliant and I respect her very much, but, it’s not like the other night when we found out what Bryce had said, it’s not like we went out and got a bunch of lawyers on the phone.”

White took a less hard-nosed approach to the situation using everyday resources.

Bryce Mitchell fights Kron Gracie at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

“You know what I did? I got on Google, and I started looking up World War II and, you know, remind Bryce Mitchell what a piece of s*** Hitler was and why he’s not a good guy and why you wouldn’t want to go fishing with him. That was it,” White said.

Dricus du Plessis sends vicious message to Sean Strickland ahead of UFC 312 fight

White clarified whatever he says during a post-fight presser or one-on-one interviews is crafted by him without obsessive oversight or changes by fellow staffers around him. He said he is keeping it that way, period.

UFC CEO Dana White introduces Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump during the final day of the Republican National Convention. | Jasper Colt / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“I don’t ever read canned statements,” White said. “No one writes anything for me, and lawyers are never involved when I go out and [publicly] speak. When I was writing stats for World War II, I wrote them down so I wouldn’t forget. But nobody writes anything for me. Everything is exactly how I feel about it. Whether you like it or not. I don’t care. I don’t care if you like it. I don’t care if you don’t like it. This [the UFC] is my company and I’ll run it the way I want to run it.”

Given White’s remarks, Mitchell’s return to the UFC awaits, marked by significant backlash from the MMA community.

Only time will tell.

More UFC & MMA News

• Youssef Zalal on Jack Shore's retirement from the UFC - ‘An honor to share the cage’

• Bellator champion Patchy Mix pleads for PFL release, hints at move to UFC

• Metro Denver EDC report highlights economic impact of ONE 168 at Ball Arena

• What's next for Israel Adesanya? Former UFC champion reveals plans moving forward

Stick with MMA Knockout for more daily coverage of the UFC, MMA, and Boxing.

Follow MMA Knockout on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.