Media Watch: Dana White’s Mouth Could KO Frank Mir From Vegas Speaking Engagement
By FCF Staff
On Monday, Las Vegas For The Family published a written outcry from a concerned Las Vegas community member about UFC heavyweight Frank Mir being chosen by City Councilman Ricki Barlow to speak at the annual “Teen Town Hall” event scheduled to take place at City Council chambers next Friday, Oct. 26.
The reasons for the concern? Mir’s “poor personal choices in hate speech and bullying behaviors via social media” as well as UFC President Dana White’s history of obscenity-filled verbal attacks.
Christine Kramar, who stated that she is a mother of four children in the community, stated in her letter that she is “appalled” that Mir was selected by Barlow’s office “as a stunning example for our youth to follow…”
Kramar incorrectly identifies White as Mir’s “manager,” rather than the fighter’s promoter. She also incorrectly attributes comments about being “built like a black man” to Mir. Those comments were made by former Mir opponent and UFC and WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar, who used those shocking words to describe himself in a 2009 Maxim magazine article.
However, Kramar accurately cites several scathing comments that White used to viciously attack veteran Mixed Martial Arts journalist Loretta Hunt in what has become an infamous video blog.
In a statement preceding her letters to Barlow and Superintendant Clark County of Schools Dwight Clark, Kramar states that Station Casinos, the Las Vegas casino group owned by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who also own UFC parent company, Zuffa, LLC, “contributed the maximum” to Barlow’s election campaign.
Whether or not Barlow and his team choose to replace Mir as the guest speaker at next Friday’s event remains to be seen. Kramar’s cry for Mir to be replaced, however, are a wake-up call to the potential harm White’s words could do to his talent and the UFC brand.