When Dana White slammed Chael Sonnen for joking about Chris Brown-Rihanna domestic violence
UFC President Dana White once disapproved of Chael Sonnen making fun of Rihanna's domestic abuse incident with Chris Brown.
Rihanna was assaulted by her then-fiancee Brown in 2009 inside a Lambhorgini, a night before the Grammys. The Pour It Up singer found out about her boyfriend's cheating and went off on Brown, who then assaulted her, leaving her with a busted lip and black eye.
Chael Sonnen, known for his witty remarks, cracked a distasteful joke about the same, comparing Rihanna to Floyd Mayweather's underskilled opponents. Dana White disapproved of Sonnen's comments, noting that domestic violence shouldn't be made a joke of. The UFC president told the media:
“You know it’s at the point where I’m not upset. Chael is a smart guy, he’s a funny guy, he’s a talented guy, and has a huge future. Just got to stop with the, you know…first of all, the joke wasn’t that funny. You’re not a comedian and you can’t make fun of domestic violence."
Watch White's comments on Sonnen below:
However, Dana White himself recently made headlines for returning a slap from his wife in plain view of onlookers on New Year's Eve.
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Chael Sonnen's comments on Rihanna that didn't go down well with Dana White
Chael Sonnen is arguably one of the greatest trash talkers in UFC history, having marketed himself as the heel of the promotion with witty remarks that were also offensive at times. The image of Rihanna's bruised face was still fresh in people's minds when Sonnen made the obnoxious joke about domestic violence.
'The American Gangster' discussed Floyd Mayweather, dismissing 'Money' as having made a career off of fighting unskilled fighters. Sonnen then compared Rihanna to Mayweather's opponents, with the entire panel erupting in laughter. The former UFC fighter said:
"Look Floyd needs to keep doing what he is doing. Which is fighting complete tomato cans that we've never heard of before. I've never seen anybody in the history of America get so rich and so famous off of having complete wimps throwing punches at their faces. And I know what you're saying. You're saying, 'Well it has happened before, what about Rihanna?' Shame on you.."
Sonnen later asked other panel members if his joke had come too soon after Rihanna's abuse, to which they agreed.
Watch Sonnen's comments on Rihanna below: