Nu samlas 32 fighters utan kontrakt i TUFhuset för att tävla om det eftertraktade platsen i UFC. Men det finns en som får lite mer uppmärksamhet än andra, Dakota Cochrane. Som ni kanske kommer ihåg kom det för ett tag sen ut att Cochrane medverkat i gayporrfilmer. Att man inte diskuterar hans fightingskills eller hans sexsiffriga kontrakt är kanske inte så konstigt, men nu börjar det man fråga sig vad resten av de tävlande i ”The Ultimate Fighter 15” tycker om att Dakota spelat in dessa filmer. Dana White säger såhär i en intervju med mmajunkie.com
”I’m not out here trying to make something like, ’We’re going to make friends with the gay community. We’re going to do this and that,'” White said. ”It is what it is. The guy was in a gay porn. Whether he’s gay or not gay, I don’t give a [expletive] one way or the other. I don’t give a [expletive]. It doesn’t matter. He’s a good fighter. He made it into the house on his fighting skills and what he’s accomplished.
I don’t know if I have 15 homophobes here or 15 guys who could care less about it. I have no idea. No one has been talked to on the show. ’We have a very sensitive issue.’ None of that has happened. We don’t do that [expletive]. Whatever happens in that house happens, and then I’m going to have to deal with it. If there’s some crazy [expletive] going on, you know how it works with me. I’m going to be fair and do the right thing. But if stuff crosses the line and bad things happen, I guess I’m going to be going over there a lot.”
Vidare säger Dana White att alla har vi bagage från förr och att detta borde vara irrelevant i tävlingen. Han säger också att man som fighter i TUF-huset ska vara försiktig med vad man säger om och till Dakota och filmerna men också hur man säger det.
”Listen, the guy has a past, who doesn’t? We all have pasts. He didn’t do anything illegal. When we do the screening process for these shows, we look for guys that have bad backgrounds, done things illegal or whatever, and it depends on what they’ve done. I’m a pretty forgiving person with people’s pasts. We’ve all made mistakes. It depends on how you’ve handled your mistakes and everything else, but what Cochrane did isn’t illegal. Whether you like it or don’t like it is one thing, but there’s no reason that this kid shouldn’t be able to go for his dreams and make a living.”
”If you want to be the guy that wants to talk a lot of [expletive] and wants to say goofy stuff like that, you’re going to get your ass kicked on national television by the guy that you’re talking about. The thing you better be worried about is his fighting abilities because he’s not coming in the house to [expletive] you. He’s coming in the house to kick your [expletive] ass. Let’s be real here.”
Cochrane ångrar att han medverkat i filmerna under sin collegetid, men han har aldrig försökt gömma vad han gjort. Att han varit med i sexfilmer med en annan kille varken hjälpte eller stjälpte Dana när han skulle välja fighters till 15e säsongen av The Ultimate fighter.
”I’m not the big, bald homophobe people think I am,” White said. ”The reality is that I’m fine with this guy. I’ve said it many times before, if there’s a guy who is gay and fights in the UFC, I could give a [expletive]. I could care less what you do at home. It doesn’t bother me, and if I was afraid of this topic and worried about this, it would have been real easy to snip him, and he doesn’t make it. He gets cut. I don’t care.
”This kid is here on his fighting abilities,” avsluta White. ”He wasn’t cut because we found out about that. If you give a [expletive] about that, you’re some [expletive] closed-minded moron. That’s my opinion.”
Tack till Roberto för tipset.
