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“No Other CEO in Sports”: Dana White’s Fearless Dismissal of Controversial Moment Sees BJJ Goat Gordon Ryan Back UFC President Over Israel Adesanya’s Stunt

Published 07/29/2023, 12:32 PM EDT

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At this point, trash-talking has turned into an essential part of the fight business. There is no better way to hype up a fight than to pit two fighters in a war of words. Well, unless they plan to throw a dolly at their opponent’s bus. After all, who pays to see two ‘nice’ men fighting out of the blue?

Fighters understand this, and before the kicks and punches, words are traded. But sometimes this can get too far. From Conor McGregor‘s horseback invasion to Mike Tyson threatening to eat Lennox Lewis’ children, some of the pre-fight trash talks proved to be a little too much. And the latest addition to this is the crazy debate between Dricus du Plessis and Israel Adesanya for the title of ‘Real African’.

Many times, things like these often lead to controversy, which can be a pain for their promotions to defend. But apparently, that is not the case with Dana White.

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Gordon Ryan applauds Dana White’s response

In the latest Instagram story, grappling legend Gordon Ryan can be seen praising Dana White. The BJJ black belt shared the clip of White’s response along with the caption “No other CEO in the sports is giving this answer”. White, who is well-known for not giving too much regard to political correctness, can be seen defending Adesanya’s action.

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For anybody wondering, the incident happened when Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis had a recent face-off at the UFC 290 event. After finishing Robert Whittaker, Du Plessis declared himself as the first true African fighter in the UFC. Something that didn’t go well with Adesanya, who entered the cage to face Du Plessis. As soon as that happened, the two middleweights went on a full on verbal bout, which also included a barrage of racist slurs from the Kiwi.

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This incident generated severe criticism for the Middleweight Champion, including a call-out for the action. But Dana White denied any such allegations on his fighter, dismissing the matter for any further discussion. In White’s own words: “I couldn’t care less. This is the fight business. Izzy can say whatever he wants to say.”

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Gordon Ryan has a history with sensitive topics

In the past, Gordon Ryan has been the target of accusations of homophobia and xenophobia. The athlete doesn’t shy away from posting his political and social views on his social media, regardless of how controversial they might be. He had been in the news for commenting on the infamous Lia Thomas controversy as well as Andrew Tate being canceled.

Regardless of the criticism, the grappler continues to carry forward his political standings. Something that could be witnessed from his social media. Gordon Ryan’s recent post in Dana White’s support is the latest example of this. And it doesn’t seem like he is going to change his stance anytime soon.

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What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Aditya Vaibhav

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Aditya Vaibhav is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. He discovered MMA in the year 2009 after watching Chuck Liddell on Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior, at the age of 10. A follower of combat sports, Aditya uses writing as a medium to actively participate in the domain he is so passionate about.
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Edited by:

Debmallya Chakraborty