Watching our premier chat to UFC boss Dana White made me feel physically sick

You probably missed it, but earlier this week NSW Premier Chris Minns sat down and had a nice long chat with Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship global juggernaut.

There are other ways to describe White, outside his job title. I could call him a domestic violence perpetrator, given he was once filmed slapping his wife Anne with an open palm. I could also arguably call him an enabler of hatred and vilification, given he promotes several UFC fighters who express appalling views on women, gays and violence.

UFC president Dana White.Credit: AP

White is also someone the premier has gifted $16 million of taxpayer funding to so that the repulsive UFC circus can stage three events in Sydney. The cash was promised while Minns was in opposition and the pledge triggered a justifiably angry response from women’s safety advocates and anti-violence campaigners.

UFC is one of the most brutal “sports” on the planet. Perhaps that’s why it’s also wildly popular, especially with young men. For the first state-backed Sydney UFC event in September 2023, about 10,000 people travelled from interstate or overseas, which the government said injected an estimated $15.3 million into the NSW economy.

If people want to go to these events, good luck to them. I make no judgment about their decision. But I do question the wisdom of spending taxpayer funding on the glorification of violence.

Watching Minns chat with White this week on the Straight Talk with Mark Bouris podcast actually made me feel sick. I like Minns a lot and think he is a very decent person. But his association with this sport and its web of grubby characters is a serious mistake.

The premier told White and Bouris that people shouldn’t be snobbish about his government’s support for UFC. “I don’t have a problem with this, but we spent a lot of money on opera and classical music and a ballet company,” Minns said. “But the truth is, there are millions of people in Sydney and NSW that aren’t particularly into that, but love mixed martial arts and love the UFC. And ultimately, we want to bring events that they can go to, that they can feel part of. And so I think it’s got to be equitable. I’m very democratic about these things.”

It’s true everyone’s not a fan of the arts, but does that mean we have to pour millions into UFC to even up the ledger?

Minns went further, arguing the UFC could help governments get through to young men about the benefits of “dropping their electronic devices, getting off the sofa and getting out of the house”.

“A lot of people don’t understand the life that you have to live to be an MMA fighter. You have to be incredibly scrupulous with your diet and fitness. It’s all-encompassing. And it’s ultimately a very clean living, outward, ambitious life. And I think that they’re good values – genuinely good values – for a lot of young people to have.”

Role models? Spare me. How much of a role model is US fighter Sean Strickland, who is in Sydney to compete in this weekend’s UFC fest? Only this week Strickland attacked Sydney’s network of red light, speed, phone and seatbelt cameras before asking: “How do you get a blowjob while you drive? Do you get a ticket for that, is there that kind of camera? It’s real f---ing communist here.”

Dricus Du Plessis and Sean Strickland headline Sunday’s UFC card in Sydney.Credit: AP

Charming bloke. A real source of inspiration. But it didn’t end there. Speaking about Australia’s tight gun laws introduced after the Port Arthur massacre, Strickland told reporters: “You had one mass shooting and gave up all your guns, that was kind of pathetic.”

Minns has previously condemned Strickland, but told the podcast this week he “can’t wait” to see this weekend’s bout between Strickland and Dricus du Plessis.

And how much of a role model is White, who was caught on camera slapping his wife at a New Year’s Eve party in Cabo, Mexico in 2022? He apologised for the slap and his wife, Anne, says nothing like that had ever happened before. “Unfortunately, we were both drinking too much on New Year’s Eve and things got out of control, on both sides,” she said.

As is so often the case with perpetrators of gendered violence, the affair hasn’t harmed White too much: he’s now one of US President Donald Trump’s best mates, was recently put on the board of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, and gets to sit down for a 30-minute chat with the NSW premier.

Chris Minns shares a mic with UFC boss Dana White.Credit: YouTube

NSW is now in discussions with the UFC about extending the deal, which will require even more money. There is an absolutely legitimate discussion to be had about which sports and events the NSW government supports, and how to make sure taxpayer funding is spread across areas of broad interest to all voters.

But premier, the UFC ain’t it. The vast majority of voters find the UFC gross and would be appalled to know their money is helping to prop it up.