10 Biggest Opinion Reversals in MMA History

TL;DR

Ten major figures in combat sports — from Dana White to John McCain — completely reversed their stances on MMA, proving no opinion is permanent.

Key Points

• 1.Dana White went from silencing fighters to championing free speech. He suspended Matt Mitrione indefinitely in the early UFC days for comments about Fallon Fox, but now publicly refuses to police what any fighter says.
• 2.Senator John McCain crusaded to destroy MMA in 1995, then endorsed it before his death. He wrote letters to all governors, blacklisted UFC from pay-per-view, yet later admitted the sport 'cleaned up enormously' and was 'not a lot different from boxing.'
• 3.Joe Rogan had the biggest swing on women's MMA, going from aversion to openly crying over fighters like Miesha Tate. He admitted 'I didn't used to love women's fighting' but now follows and emotionally champions female athletes.
• 4.Bernard Hopkins called MMA 'two grown men in panties wrestling' in 2009, then reversed completely by 2011 after training alongside Eddie Alvarez at his gym, publicly telling Ariel Helwani 'I got to say I was wrong — these guys are legit.'
• 5.Duke Roufus changed from a 'win at all costs' corner philosophy to prioritizing fighter safety after regretting not stopping Anthony Pettis (broken orbital vs. RDA) and Paul Felder (broken arm vs. Perry), later demonstrating his new approach by stopping Pettis against Tony Ferguson.
• 6.Congressman Mark Wayne Mullin championed the Muhammad Ali Expansion Act to protect MMA fighters, then abandoned the cause entirely after Donald Trump — Dana White's close ally — took office; Mullin is now head of DHS and expected at White House UFC events.