White was clear about his feelings about the father of the Third Reich.
“Hitler is one of the most disgusting and evil human beings to ever walk the face of the earth and anyone who tries to take an opposing position is a moron.”
He was also clear that the UFC – a multi-billion dollar organisation which he runs – would not punish Mitchell; instead White declared his support for free speech.
“I don’t have to love it, you don’t have to love it,” said White, in reference to the comments.
Rather than giving hateful speech a platform and affirming its place, White could simply drop Mitchell from the UFC roster.
We’re unlikely to hear a prominent New Zealand sporting figure profess their admiration for Hitler, but it’s difficult to imagine that sporting organisations here would keep such an athlete on their payroll.
It’s good that modern athletes are encouraged to express their thoughts on today’s political issues, to show their support for causes they care about. But not Nazism – we won’t stand for that.
“He’s stupid,” said White. “He’s dumb. You can’t fix dumb people, you know what I mean?
“When you have someone who’s really, really stupid – and that’s who we’re talking about here – what do you do? How do you talk sense to a dummy? You don’t.”
There seems little doubt about the dumb part. Shortly before making his UFC debut in 2018 Mitchell injured his scrotum with an electric drill while doing some DIY.
He had to reverse the drill to detach his private parts before heading to the hospital.
But you don’t need to be the type of person who is professionally punched in the head to be drawn towards Nazism.
Watchdog groups in the United States are warning of a rise in neo-Nazi groups and refreshed confidence among extreme right-wing movements.
Mitchell made the pro-Hitler comments while discussing a gesture made by Twitter boss Elon Musk at a Donald Trump post-inauguration rally. The debate about Musk’s gesture has revealed the frayed edges of the modern western world’s attitudes to Nazism.
Musk has offered no explanation for what appeared to be a Nazi salute, other than to Tweet: “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
“Several groups are enjoying fascism being in the public sphere and what they view as liberal and leftwing panic and distress over Musk’s salute,” said Joshua Fisher Birch, a terrorism analyst with the New York-based Counter Extremism Project.
Like Musk, White and other UFC luminaries were among the supporters at Trump’s inauguration.
White didn’t need to say how much he disagreed with Mitchell, the clearest message he could send would have been to ban the fighter from his organisation.
