Dana White on domestic violence: The way UFC acts is 'morally first, business second'

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White, like most sports fans, watched the "horrifying" video of NFL star Ray Rice knocking out his girlfriend inside an Atlantic City casino, something that would have never happened if UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey had been inside the elevator.

Then White had some of his own videos to watch.

UFC was forced to expel light heavyweight slugger Thiago Silva (again), roughly the same time it suspended fellow 205-pound hurter Anthony Johnson. Both fighters were embroiled in cases of domestic violence and White had no choice but to "act morally first."

From his conversation with International Business Times:

"Obviously the (Rice) video, and what happened was horrifying but I think a lot of positives are happening now. It's brought a lot of attention and awareness and I think from here on out it should all be positive. We always were proactive. Since we started 'The Ultimate Fighter' we've done full background checks on all the guys coming in. If they ever had anything, any violence against women, they didn't get on. We've been all over [the Anthony Johnson case] and when you move as fast as we move, and the things we've been doing, it's hard to police thousands of guys and know what exactly is going on but as soon as we've found information on guys, we've acted. Of course, the way we always react is morally first then the business second."

Clearly, White has a long and decorated history of moral responsibility.

UFC implemented a code of conduct policy for its growing roster of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters back in early 2013 (read it here) after a rash of public missteps involving some of its top stars (example here). One that includes the inability to "bounce back" from charges of domestic assault.

Well, usually.