Sean O'Malley not happy with MMA media twisting his words about Dana White slapping his wife

Sean O'Malley never said Dana White was justified in hitting his wife back on New Year's Eve. However, he did say that he understood why the UFC president might have had a reaction to his wife slapping him first.

Speaking on his BroMalley show, 'Sugar' said:

"I would assume sober, no drinks, she slaps him, I don't think his initial reaction is to slap back. When that alcohol's flowing, I've never hit a girl, but I've been blacked out, and I've done things that I can't believe I've done... I don't think it was right. Obviously, you should not hit, especially a little girl like that. But alcohol is flowing, and she hit him first."

Here's the video:

In matters that are this controversial and involve such high-profile personalities, comments can get easily misinterpreted and twisted in the media.

After several MMA media outlets reported on Sean O'Malley's comments, the UFC featherweight expressed his discontent with a tweet under one of the articles.

He also retweeted a number of fans calling out MMA Junkie for taking words out of context.

Some fans demanded that the outlet be 'canceled.'

Others called out on their "terrible reporting."

Despite such strong reactions from O'Malley and his fans, one cannot deny the neutral stance most of the MMA community took on the matter. Many television and podcast personalities like Stephen A. Smith have been mellow in their responses, while others like Joe Rogan have remained quiet so far.

Andy Nesbitt of USA Today, which happens to be MMA Junkie's parent company, reached out to UFC's parent company, Endeavor, for a statement. As per Nesbitt's report, the company's senior vice president of corporate communications, Maura McGreevy, stated that Endeavor has officially "declined to comment" on the matter.

In comparison, veteran journalists like Ariel Helwani, Luke Thomas and MMA Junkie's John Morgan have put forward strong opinions against Dana White's actions.

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Could the UFC-ESPN partnership compromise Dana White coverage?

In the aftermath of the incident, the biggest question in MMA Media was how ESPN would cover the situation. They are not only a sports media juggernaut in the business but also the broadcasting partners of the promotion.

They provided a curt statement to BloodyElbow that could barely be considered holding anybody accountable:

“UFC comms can best help you on your inquiry. Reminder: ESPN does the distribution and UFC produces the content."

Former ESPN host Dan Le Batard suggested on his podcast that ESPN was the outlet most capable of applying mainstream media pressure on the situation, but were possibly compromised because of their business relationship with the UFC and Dana White.

Another ESPN employee, Jeff Wagenheim, tweeted that they have explicit orders not to write "incendiary" comments about anything, including the Dana White situation.

Wagenheim wrote in a follow-up tweet:

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