Will Dana White Be Ibarra's Next Target?
The Ibarra defamation lawsuit is interesting in that Ibarra sued not only Tito Ortiz (who allegedly made the defamatory comments), but also Punch Drunk Gamer (who conducted the interview in which the comments were made) and just about every MMA blog that subsequently reported Ortiz's allegations including Bloody Elbow, Five Ounce of Pain and Yahoo!.
How can Ibarra do this? Generally, someone (or some blog) that repeats a defamatory statement is just as liable as the person who originally made the statements. There is a principle called "neutral reportage" which sometimes protects media outlets that simply report that X made an allegation about Y, but this principle does not apply in California unless the person defamed is a "public figure." If Ibarra is found to be a "public figure" his lawsuit likely fails anyway, so the "neutral reportage" doctrine offers little additional help for the blogosphere in this case.
Although I enjoy litigating defamation cases, I have no desire to be the defendant in one. Therefore, I will not repeat Dana White's comments about Ibarra, which can be found at cagewriter. (Warning - as usual, White's comments contain profanity.) I will however be keeping an eye out for a future Ibarra lawsuit listing cagewriter, YouTube, and ESPN Radio 1100 as defendants.
