Former UFC women’s bantamweight Leslie Smith has been removed from the roster of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Now UFC President Dana White has come forward with a few word concerning the matter.
Back at UFC Fight Night 128, Smith was initially set to face off against Aspen Ladd. However, Ladd was unable to make weight for the match up.
Smith declined to fight Ladd in a catchweight match up, ultimately leading to the fight being cancelled. The UFC elected to grant Smith her win bonus and show money for the cancelled fight, in order to claim the match as the final on Smith’s fight contract.
The promotion then decided to not renew the fighter’s contract. Fight fans have since gone to speculate that Smith’s position as the founder of Project Spearhead may have affected the promotion’s decision to not renew her contract.
The project is dedicated to unionizing mixed martial artists in a similar fashion to that already enjoyed by the NBA. Speaking on a recent edition of UFC Unfiltered, UFC President Dana White claimed that Smith’s position with the project and her recent lawsuit against the promotion are not his problem.
“Apparently she did (file a complaint). I don’t know that much about this to talk about it. I literally don’t know anything about it. I know that she’s upset and she filed something. She’s suing us or filed something with somebody. I don’t know. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t focus on that (expletive) anymore. That’s not my problem. Thats somebody else’s problem. I get to do all the fun (expletive).”
