The UFC has had its fair share of meaningful fights over the years. But none quite like this one, where timing and circumstance have conspired to create something that feels almost too perfect.
Just recently, featherweight Bryce Mitchell was interviewed on the debut episode of “ArkanSanity” and proceeded to torch his own reputation in spectacular fashion. Between casual sips of whatever was in his cup, Mitchell declared Adolf Hitler was a “good guy” he’d love to hang out with.
“I really do think before Hitler got on meth, he was a guy I’d 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,” he said. “They were gaying out the kids. They were queering out the women. They were queering out the dudes.”
“When you realize there’s no possible way they could’ve burned and cremated six million bodies, you’re gonna realize the Holocaust ain’t real.”
The interview dated Jan. 23 was quickly yanked from YouTube over violations of its hate speech policy while UFC CEO Dana White called it the dumbest thing he’s heard in his decades-long career.
“When you talk about Hitler, he was responsible for the death of six million Jews and he tried to completely eliminate a race of people,” White fumed during a pre-fight press conference on Feb. 1st. “Hitler was one of the most disgusting and evil human beings to ever walk the face of the Earth. And anyone that even 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 load of dumb, ignorant people. We’ve obviously reached out to Bryce, and when we read what he said and let him know what we feel about it, we are beyond disgusted. For those of you who don’t know what’s going on, good, you’re lucky.”
Mitchell has since offered what amounts to a tap out of an apology.
“I’m sorry I sounded insensitive. I definitely was not trying to offend anybody, but I know I did. I know that a lot of people died in the Holocaust, and that’s a fact. In the future, I will be much more considerate when talking about the suffering of all peoples,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Hitler did a lot of evil things, I think we can all agree on that. I’m definitely not a Nazi, and definitely do not condone any of the evil things Hitler did.”
Now Mitchell’s headed to UFC Fight Night 238 on Feb. 28 to face Ilay Barzilay, and no publicist’s spin or half-baked apology can sanitize what this Las Vegas fight represents. Mitchell went fishing for a date with Hitler and now he’s got a date in the octagon with the living embodiment of Jewish survival. The kind of poetic justice you can’t script, wrapped in four-ounce gloves and sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
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