Dana White Is Not Amused By “The Simpsons” MMA Show, But What Did He Expect?

(For the sake of perspective, let's recall how "The Simpsons" has portrayed the boxing world in the past.)

Here’s a newsflash for you.  Remember that MMA-themed episode of “The Simpsons” that we were pleasantly surprised with, if only because it wasn’t as hackneyed and completely unfunny as every episode of the show for the last six or seven years has been?  Well, UFC president Dana White wasn’t laughing, and not just because he lacks the ability to find anything funny if it doesn’t involve someone getting shocked:

"I was disappointed," White says. "I think it was typical of people that don't know anything about the sport. I know it's for fun, but the second half of it really wasn't even funny. …We like fighting.  But to make it sound like the UFC crowd is this bloodthirsty crowd that shows up and just want to see people get their (butts) kicked — that's not true. That's the stigma that the mainstream has of us. … The Simpsons program will show you how mainstream we're not.” 

While it’s hard to argue with DW when he says that the portrayal of MMA and its fans on a cartoon comedy was a little reductive and not 100% accurate, it seems like he’s missing the point.  This is an over-the-top attempt at satire.  When “The Simpsons” does shows on anything – even mainstream sports like football or baseball – accurate representation is not the goal.  For instance, there's this:

Obviously there’s no kids’ cartoon out there that’s actually like “Itchy & Scratchy.”  If there were, then “Itchy & Scratchy” wouldn’t be funny in the world of “The Simpsons,” where the volume on everything is turned up to the point of being absurd.  Think about how ridiculous it would sound if the producers of “Tom & Jerry” complained about it.  Why, we might go so far as to call them hyper-sensitive pussies.

Of course the version of MMA portrayed in a cartoon is not going to mirror the version we love.  And of course those of us who love it and have become protective of it might already be a little sensitive to anything resembling negative press.  But the fact that MMA is enough of a part of America’s social fabric to be lampooned on “The Simpsons” – tired and half-assed as that show has become in recent years – that should be taken as a good sign.  MMA is officially popular enough to be mocked on a large scale.  That's how you know you've arrived, DW.