Stephen A. Smith is known for his hot takes, but he often pushes the line too far into controversy.
In the past month, the ESPN analyst consistently achieved the headlines after the public feud of Smith with LeBron James.
In the past, his pronounced personality has led to some recoil from the MMA world with Dana White and Joe Rogan who pushed back against the comments he made about Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone.
Although he not only has bad things to say, such as clearly in Smith's recent praise from Jon Jones, he still tends to say bizarre things.
The most controversial that he has ever said about MMA and the UFC in particular happened in 2021 when he made a comment about personal taste that questioned the majority of fans and the schedule of the promotion itself.
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Stephen A. Smith stated that he does not want to see how women are fighting in the UFC
In 2021 during an episode of The Black On The Air Podcast, Stephen A. Smith and Larry Wilmore came to the subject of women in sport.
While the three current female weight classes are deeply taken in the UFC, there was currently a period in which women did not compete in the Octagon.
Dana White's opinion about this issue largely changed over time because of the growing popularity of Ronda Rousey who participated in the first women's fight in UFC history at UFC 157 in 2013, where she defended the Bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche.
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In the past, Smith is known for some controversial view of women in the sport and in this case the conversation had nothing to do with MMA or compete.
Despite the subject of discussion about the first female general manager of the MLB and the first female NBA head coach, Smith went on a long-term distraction.
He said he was incredibly happy to see both things happen, but in his own words, “he jumps from the bandwagon when they try to involve physically.”
Smith continues to say that he does not want to see women fight against men, which is completely the opposite of a hot take, but he makes a completely different point.
“When I think of pugilistic sports, I don't like to see women involved. I just don't like it. I would not promote legislative laws to forbid them, but I don't want women to hit each other in the face. I don't want women to fight in the octagon and such, but that's just me.”
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Stephen A. Smith was called by various UFC stars for his comments
Several female hunters responded to Smith's controversial comments about not wanting to see how women in the UFC fight.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who produced an immediate classic title fight against Zhang Weili the year before, posted on social media to make it clear that they do not need his way for competing.
“I appreciate your transparency @stephenasmith. Although I wish everyone at ESPN – and all over the world – saw women's sports in a positive light, I assure you that we women do not need your support.”
Molly McCann also gave her thoughts about the issue in an interview with Insider prior to her fight with Lara Fritzen that took place a few days after Smith's comments.
'How can you say that if you are on such a platform? Could you imagine that Serena Williams is watching that? It is not just hunters he will have insulted. It is every sportsman and maybe every sportsman. Stephen Smith has to give his head a wobble. If I win on Saturday, I will say something on the microphone: 'I see you in the parking lot! '' '
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