Originally posted by: chriscrowing
Date: December 09, 2011 at 06:22 AM
Source: https://forum.mmajunkie.com/threads/was-mr-torres-cut-warranted-considering-all-things-poll.43890/
Re: was Mr. Torres' cut warranted considering all things? (P
I think Dana found it necessary to draw a line.
Forrest's statement is understandable in context of his sense of humour (well established in two books and a stint as TUF coach) and his justification makes sense to me - I say similar things on Twitter and Facebook all the time, more making a point about how messed up the modern world is - admittedly Twitter, with it's reduced content isn't the best forum for such things.
Rashad's statement was off the cuff and in context as a piece of trash talk, not that bad. It's clear he didn't MEAN it.
Torres statement is very much in the vein of a running joke some of my buddies have about 'surprise sex', but that is something said in a closed group of friends, with the mutual knowledge that we know the jokee to be joking and not in nay way advocating rape. There is big difference between friends making a dark joke in a closed group and a well-known sportsman putting the same thing out on a social network.
Similarly, I have to say that I've come pretty close to deleting Torres from my Twitter feed for a seemingly never ending run of pretty misogynistic statements and general disrespect towards women. I've got a dark sense of humour myself, but posting immature, laddish, demeaning stuff EVERY day wears away my tolerance. He doesn't entertain or inform me on Twitter, but he does make me roll my eyes, like an over compensating locker room jerk might.
Of course, Rashad & Forrest are top of the card, TUF winners while Torres is a WEC import who's name value isn't nearly as developed, so he's easier to cut. However given he's on the outer reaches of the title picture at 135, he's still a valuable asset to the UFC and Dan wouldnt have taken his release lightly.
IMHO, Dana had to draw a line to shake the fighters into acting a bit more professionally in their social network interactions as they are not just representing themselves, but the company and the sport and MMA can do without projecting an image of macho misoginy to go along with the ever-present 'blood sport' jibes.
