Forrest Griffin Tweeting Incident Illustrates... Nothing

@ForrestGriffin
Forrest Griffin

Rape is the new missionary
Nov 08 via Twitter for iPhone  Favorite  Retweet  Reply

Oops.

Listen. Rape jokes are a high risk, low reward concept. You really have to nail it (very punny, I know) in order for even some people to get a laugh out of it, and quite frankly, that was about as humorous as oatmeal. Even them some people will get pissed because of the subject matter, so it's really hard to get ahead (again) in this situation. Forrest was either unaware, forgot or didn't give a damn about this and went ahead and made a bit of a fool of himself to anyone with a computer.

That's the problem with the internet, social media and specifically communicating on them. Your words reach everyone and are there for all of posterity's sake. I've definitely had some instances of foot-in-mouth disease before and I probably will again, but one thing I've gotten better at is trying to limit my damage. Don't put stuff somewhere where it can be used against you. Ever want to run for office? Seriously, mind your Ps and Qs your entire life, or you might find yourself Anthony Weiner'd (yay, another phallic image!).

Naturally, this snafu has made everyone involved look bad (everyone being Forrest), but some people want to take it to the next level. Brent Brookhouse over at Bloody Elbow thinks he should be punished in some way by the UFC for his transgression. I don't necessarily agree with this, but it isn't without some merit. I just think it should be a slap on the wrist. Look, it was a bad joke. It was poor taste and shouldn't have been said outside the comfort of his living room amongst people that would laugh it off and forget it within 10 minutes. That isn't what Twitter is. So he screwed up. Is it any worse than Rampage dry humping Heather Nichols a couple years ago? Or motorboating Karyn Bryant just earlier this year?

He wasn't punished for either of those by the way, outside of his own apologizing and what have you, and those were actual physical acts, as opposed to just some rambling on the interwebs.

Were Nick Diaz and Joe Riggs ever punished for their fight in the hospital? Did the UFC ever fine Rampage (seems to be a recurring name here) for his energy-drink-fueled romp in his monster truck? I'll save you the trouble of Googling it, the answer is no. Personally, if I'm Dana White, and I'm asked about this, my polite response would be "No. He apologized, and he has to make whatever amends he feels he should make. Who knows, maybe a sponsor will drop him? When you say stuff, you get a reaction, and you have to live with it. Sometimes, like myself, you just blab it out there and you have to deal with the repercussions. That's what I do and that's what Forrest will have to do. He won't be paying any fine to the UFC."

This is mostly how I feel as well, but that's pretty much exactly what I can picture coming out of Dana's mouth if he gets asked about this. He's candid and quite frankly, an idiot sometimes as well. But he deals with the consequences of his words on his own. Perhaps Forrest will use this as an opportunity to make a donation to a shelter for rape victims? That'd really be the best possible outcome here - some good coming from an otherwise nonsensical situation.