The White House Fight Nobody's Talking About Right

Marcus Aurelius wrote, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Today’s episode is about the men who live that line for a paycheck and a legacy — and about the fans who forget what it costs them.

Everyone’s talking about a punch. I want to talk about the men who take them.

Two days ago, Dana White stood in front of reporters and backed Alex Pereira’s claim that he was hit with illegal shots to the back of the head in his loss to Ciryl Gane. Referee Herb Dean is under fire. Former champions are calling him out by name. And buried under all the outrage is the question nobody’s actually answering: who protects the fighter when the system that’s supposed to protect him doesn’t?

It’s also important to acknowledge the job of reffing UFC fights specifically and a lot of modern MMA was pioneered and done by Herb Dean. It’s feels unfair to run over Herb Dean after all he has contributed to the UFC brand and MMA and BJJ culture. However, that does not mean we should not have a balanced and fair look at whatever mistakes he, or the organization, or the fans (yes, the fans!) have made in where UFC/MMA culture and sport is at right now.

The Justin Gaethje defeated Ilia Topuria in a dynamic fashion. This fight in particular sicks out a quite the spectacle. How can we not salute both of these men for the battle they brought to one another?

The other spectacle was Josh Hokit, disrespecting Michelle Obama after his victory over Derrick Lewis at UFC Freedom 250. I had some things to say on that. Things, I believe will resonate with most of you.

There’s a passage people love to quote — Theodore Roosevelt, “The Man in the Arena” — about how credit belongs to the man whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who at worst fails while daring greatly. I think about that line every time I watch two men get in a cage. Because we, the fans, sit in the stands. We don’t bleed. We don’t get hit in the back of the head and have to explain to a commission why it should count. The least we owe the men in that arena is to actually care what happens to them — not just the finish, but the fallout.

I sat down with Professor Liam Cann of Immortal Martial Arts in Leeds — a BJJ black belt with well over 10,000 hours on the mat and real coaching experience at the highest levels of this sport — to talk about what happened. Liam is one of my favorite people in MMA today because of how he thinks about MMA. Any time I can go to IMA Leeds, I do it. They have an amazing training facility there and I actually rehearsed the movements for my Musashi Mindstate 2026 UK Tour at IMA. Liam and I talk about what it says about the spectacle we’ve built around fighting, and what actually matters when the cameras go off: the safety, the integrity, and the lives of the men in that cage.

This isn’t old news. This is happening right now, and its a crucial conversation! Let’s get into it.

Epictetus said, “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” Herb Dean will be judged for what happened in that cage. The rest of us will be judged for how we talk about it afterward. Let’s talk about it right.