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Dana White Hits Back At "Ridiculous" Politicians Who Want Octagon Girls Banned From UFC 243

Dana White Hits Back At "Ridiculous" Politicians Who Want Octagon Girls Banned From UFC 243

The UFC president has claimed "nobody treats women better than we do" in response to politicians calling for Octagon girls to be banned.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

Dana White has passionately defended the use of Octagon girls and claimed they're as much a part of the UFC brand as anyone in the company.

Australian politicians called for "outdated" Octagon girls to be banned for UFC's next event down under, but the UFC president has slammed the idea of removing them - describing it as "ridiculous".

"Our Octagon girls, they're as much a part of the UFC brand as anyone, they're ambassadors for our sport," he explained.

"So, for someone who has absolutely no education whatsoever about who these girls are - about what they do, what they mean to the UFC - to start going off, it's ridiculous.

"So, you can look at any sport you like, nobody treats women better than we do.

"And I'd suggest these people calling on them to be banned go have a look at what these girls do with the company, the type of money they're making. Do that and you'll realize these girls are as important to our brand as anyone else in the company. And that's exactly the way we treat them."

Image: PA
Image: PA
Image: PA
Image: PA

The famed Octagon sets up shop at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne and Premier Daniel Andrews and Lord Mayor Sally Capp urged the UFC to do the "right thing" ahead of UFC 243.

"It's 2019, do we really still need scantily-clad women to wander around the middle of a fighting ring between rounds?" Capp told Herald Sun.

"Grid girls are no longer part of Formula One, walk-on girls are no longer part of professional darts - surely it's time to move on."

Andrews also believes it is not politically correct to use Octagon girls as events "have a powerful message to send" when it comes to the representation of women in sport and the community.

"The Grand Prix did the right thing in ending the use of grid girls and we encourage other events to make similar moves,'' a spokesman for Mr Andrews said.

"We have come a long way in making sport more accessible for women and girls."

It's expected to be business as usual when the UFC visits Australia on October 5.

A UFC middleweight unification bout between Robert Whittaker and Israel Adesanya will serve as the UFC 243 main-event.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: UFC News, Fight News, UFC, Australia, MMA, Dana White

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Darren Till, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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