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[kickass32]

http://mmaweekly.com/yahoo-sports-sp...ual-harassment

Yahoo! Sports Special: UFC Cannot Condone Sexual Harassment

Posted on June 4, 2011 by MMAWeekly.com Staff

In 2007, as he was announcing new guidelines that would cover player conduct, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke words that Ultimate Fighting Cham, pionship president Dana White needed to hear.
If he had heard them, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson might not have sexually harassed a female reporter during an interview after UFC 130 on May 28 in Las Vegas.
If White had taken heed of Goodell’s dead-on-the-money words, his company would not have looked the other way when one of its fighters at UFC 127 repeatedly used a derogatory term used to describe homosexuals.
UFC broadcaster Joe Rogan

And, had White bothered to have thought about establishing personal guidelines for his employees, his highly popular television analyst, Joe Rogan, would not have referred to Yahoo! Sports mixed martial arts blogger Maggie Hendricks as a part of the female anatomy.
In announcing a suspension of Adam “Pacman” Jones in 2007, Goodell made clear that the league would no longer tolerate outrageous conduct by its players.
“It is important that the NFL be represented consistently by outstanding people as well as great football players, coaches, and staff,”

Jackson miserably failed to meet any standard of decency when he put his face near reporter Karyn Bryant’s breasts following his win over Matt Hamill at UFC 130 on Saturday and said he would like to “motorboat” her. When Bryant told Jackson that she is partly of Jamaican descent, he responded by saying, “Well, Jamaican me horny.”

Bryant somehow managed to trivialize the situation when she later tweeted to Jackson that she is happily married and not looking for any “side action.” Then, almost unbelievably, she added, “If he sez I can creep tho I’ll holla”
This, though, is not and should not be about Bryant, who was the victim. It is about Jackson’s boorish behavior, about an out-of-control fighter having no boundaries and not being reeled in by an organization that is fighting desperately for mainstream acceptance.

There is little doubt that Jackson, whose off-the-cuff, irreverent humor has helped make him one of the world’s most popular fighters, was attempting to be funny and wasn’t trying to sexually harass Bryant. Words, though, have consequences and there are plenty of women journalists who are extremely uncomfortable being anywhere around Jackson given his history of making sexual overtures toward them, jokingly or not.
Zuffa, the company that owns both the UFC and Strikeforce, brought its more than 300 fighters to Las Vegas last month for its annual “Fighter Summit,” in which it takes a day-and-a-half to lecture them on the evils of steroids and drugs, to counsel them on financial matters and gambling, and to help them cope with a whole series of life issues they may face as newly minted celebrities. It’s a wonderful, thoughtful session that other companies ought to emulate.
Nothing, though, was on the agenda about sexual harassment, but if White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta are serious about making the UFC a mainstream outfit, it’s going to need to be.
Can one even begin to think of the furor there would have been had an NFL player acted similarly in a postgame interview on ESPN with Erin Andrews or Suzy Kolber?
Hendricks correctly called out Jackson on his outrageous and unacceptable behavior and, for that, was greeted with a torrent of abuse from a fan base which failed to see how Jackson’s “kidding” might create a hostile and uncomfortable work environment for a woman assigned to cover MMA.
Among those ridiculing her was Rogan, the color analyst on the UFC’s television broadcasts. Other than Fertitta and White, Rogan quite possibly has done more than anyone else to help make MMA mainstream, but he made a huge faux pas when he blasted Hendricks in a post on the popular forum, The Underground.
On Wednesday, Rogan used the C-word when describing Hendricks and her writing. Rogan wrote that Jackson is “not a [expletive] dentist, he’s a cage fighter … ” Writing specifically about Hendricks later in the post, he wrote, “I don’t think [Jackson] should be given a free pass for some of the questionable things he does, but I do think that this woman in question is all kinds of [expletive].”

UPDATE:

UFC president Dana White, several hours after Kevin Iole’s article was published on Yahoo! Sports, issued the following statement:
Joe Rogan recently made an offensive statement reflecting a personal opinion that does not represent the UFC in any way. I have addressed this directly with Joe.

[noahm]

This is an interesting situation. I think what rampage does is juvenile and 100% inappropriate, but I though about this for a minute from the standpoint of Page being an act. If an interviewer went to interview Sacha Baron Cohen, and got some inappropriate comments and actions, is that harassment? (I don't know).

When a comedic act is known for these things, the reporter has accepted certain risks. The question is, do you have to be a professional act to fall into that category, or just a known clown? This is one of those situations where Zuffa needs to say "If you are representing the UFC, these are the standards you are expected to uphold:..."

Personally, I am embarrassed for Page (the dry humping incident is just messed up), and feel he should undergo some counseling. Some of these reporters are fully expected to get interviews with fighters, not comedians and don't have a choice in the matter. It is up to Zuffa though to clarify the expectations of their contracted fighters as well as disciplinary action.

[CtGreat]

Do we really need annother topic about this?? should just merge it with the other one

[mulefloyd]

I just wanted to read Iole's article to make sure he was the moron I thought he was. Check.

[SwordofAres]

Originally Posted by noahm

This is an interesting situation. I think what rampage does is juvenile and 100% inappropriate, but I though about this for a minute from the standpoint of Page being an act. If an interviewer went to interview Sacha Baron Cohen, and got some inappropriate comments and actions, is that harassment? (I don't know).

When a comedic act is known for these things, the reporter has accepted certain risks. The question is, do you have to be a professional act to fall into that category, or just a known clown? This is one of those situations where Zuffa needs to say "If you are representing the UFC, these are the standards you are expected to uphold:..."

Personally, I am embarrassed for Page (the dry humping incident is just messed up), and feel he should undergo some counseling. Some of these reporters are fully expected to get interviews with fighters, not comedians and don't have a choice in the matter. It is up to Zuffa though to clarify the expectations of their contracted fighters as well as disciplinary action.

The Sacha comment is a good point however, unless I'm mistakes Sacha was sued by several people over the Borat movie and his vaious Ali G show skits.

[0mega1]

Originally Posted by SwordofAres

The Sacha comment is a good point however, unless I'm mistakes Sacha was sued by several people over the Borat movie and his vaious Ali G show skits.

"what if he says, yo nana is a hoe, and i knows cause i done it wit her. Then for sure you can murder him, right?"


When a man talks dirty to a woman, it's sexual harassment. When a woman talks dirty to a man, it's $3.95 a minute.

[K1NG P3NN]

So you're telling me the UFC DOESN'T want its fighters sexually harassing people?... Hm.... I guess that makes sense. Great writing by the author lol

[FCK]

Interesting comparison to Sacha Baron Cohen.

I really hate is comic performances in Ali G, and Borat, as I think they're tripe, scraping the lowest of the low from the barrell, but in references to his interviews I can see the revelevance.

It's true that acting like a clown seems to get you a pass to say/go anywhere, especially if its in a fake name and persona. True, Jackson isn't representing either, but he seems to enjoy making people laugh, and to some degree must know that he will be laughed at making people laugh. That doesn't condone his actions, as he is not representing a character with a contrasting appetite for women to his own goals as Quinton Jackson, but if he is happy to be seen as the joker come sexual predator, MMA fighter then so be it.

Lets not overlook the factor that most of these slamming presenters/girl interviewers probably slept there way into their position anyways.

[0mega1]

Originally Posted by FCK

Interesting comparison to Sacha Baron Cohen.

I really hate is comic performances in Ali G, and Borat, as I think they're tripe, scraping the lowest of the low from the barrell, but in references to his interviews I can see the revelevance.

It's true that acting like a clown seems to get you a pass to say/go anywhere, especially if its in a fake name and persona. True, Jackson isn't representing either, but he seems to enjoy making people laugh, and to some degree must know that he will be laughed at making people laugh. That doesn't condone his actions, as he is not representing a character with a contrasting appetite for women to his own goals as Quinton Jackson, but if he is happy to be seen as the joker come sexual predator, MMA fighter then so be it.

Lets not overlook the factor that most of these slamming presenters/girl interviewers probably slept there way into their position anyways.

thats quite the assumption