Yahoo: Hardy tattoo-gate finally explained by White

[Clark Kent]

03-24-2010 10:30 PM:

How about that? Those wacky message board posters were on top of a story from the get-go. A few weeks ago, Galsguidetomma.com pointed out that the movie theater posters for UFC 111 were missing something. Dan Hardy's very pronounced stomach tattoo had been airbrushed from his photo.

We found this theory interesting:

It's Tibetan writing on Hardy's stomach and the UFC may be sensitive to its new Chinese broadcast partners.

One message poster says:



After a bit of research I’ve found that tattoo says “om mani padme hum”. Here's a wikipedia article that may may explain. 'The mantra is especially revered by the devotees of the Dalai Lama, as he is said to be an incarnation of Chenrezig or Avalokiteshvara.'"



Seems like a stretch but why has the tattoo been airbrushed off Hardy's stomach?
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On Wednesday, during his Q & A in Toronto UFC president Dana White confirmed that indeed was the reason.

"I'm trying to get into China," said White. "I don't need anti-Chinese government stuff on my fighters."

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Cage Potato links to this info about the Chinese government and its tenuous relationship with Tibet.



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Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.