Comments stir up storm of UFC fans
The next time I feel the overwhelming need to stir up a hornet's nest, I'll buy calamine lotion by the case. In Monday's column, I suggested it's time the UFC stops tolerating sexual harassment and slurs, most recently from color commentator Joe Rogan and "Rampage" Jackson.
Some mixed martial arts media had been fighting that battle long before I weighed in.
Rogan was not amused when I took issue in print with the vulgarity he used to describe a female blogger, and we're not talking about "bitchy," which he also used.
Rogan jumped on Twitter and pointed out that I "lied" when I added that he had referred to an MMA fighter with the same homophobic slur that cost Kobe Bryant $100,000.
Rogan had me in a headlock. I had inadvertently said he was referring to a fighter when I meant blogger Tomas Rios. I posted a correction shortly after I was informed.
On Twitter, Rogan posted my office telephone number in a tweet and urged his fans to show some "love."
My voicemail maxed out in minutes, and my Twitter feed was overheating as well with Rogan's favorite word mentioned so often I thought UFC stood for something else.
Here's a sampling of the cleaner tweets:
"He's a gossip columnist. Isn't his life miserable enough already?"
"You obviously do not know @joerogan he would never use slurs like that. #joeroganissmarterthanthat."
"Put on the gloves and resolve it in the octagon." (A better idea: how about a buffet death match?)
"This whole experience just shows us all that a lot of these mma reporters are real life 'trolls.' They do not care."
"Someone needs to tell @norm_clarke that being offended is a CHOICE!"
"(expletive) Cyclops."
"Racist pirate."
"A male gossip columnist? What, were all the nail tech jobs taken?"
Finally, after 150-some consecutive hits, I was still standing, but barely, when this arrived: "Have you been around @UFC? Seems 2 be encouraged."
UFC chief Dana White, in a statement Monday, said Rogan "made an offensive statement reflecting a personal opinion that does not represent the UFC in any way. I have addressed this directly with Joe."
THE SCENE AND HEARD
They're celebrating the fifth anniversary of "Love," Cirque du Soleil's collaboration with The Beatles, tonight at The Mirage, with Paul McCartney and fiancée Nancy Shevell, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison and son Dhani, and Beatles' producer George Martin and son Giles, who remixed the Grammy-winning soundtrack of 130 Beatles songs in the final 26 tracks. ...
Las Vegas icon Kirk Kerkorian turned 94 on Monday, the 67th anniversary of the allied D-Day invasion of Europe. A couple of years after that, Kerkorian would start Trans International Airlines, reportedly with some refurbished World War II bombers. Ruth's Chris Steak House owner Marcel Taylor recalls Kerkorian telling dealers at the Dunes that he was launching an airline. "One Armenian dealer went and borrowed from everyone, shylocks, loan companies." Kerkorian's gamble paid off big, Taylor said, and the dealer "didn't work a day the rest of his life." ...
A noon news conference is scheduled today to introduce a new Caesars Palace headliner. I reported via Twitter on Monday that Shania Twain's website said she was heading for Caesars.
SIGHTINGS
Flamingo headliner Nathan Burton levitates reigning Miss USA Rima Fakih at 9 a.m. today at the Flamingo pool. It will be part of NBC's pageant package June 19 at Planet Hollywood Resort.
THE PUNCH LINE
"What could possibly go wrong?" -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Questions to Ask Before Tweeting a Photo of Yourself
Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
