Andrea Lee says husband will consider getting Nazi tattoos covered if someone can “make it look good”

Earlier this month, it came to light that Donny Aaron, the coach and husband of UFC flyweight Andrea Lee, has a number of Nazi tattoos. The first, a swastika, appears near the elbow of one arm. The second, the SS bolts of Adolf Hilter’s Schutzstaffel, is on his right forearm.

Amid the firestorm of controversy these tattoos caused, Aaron apologized profusely, explaining that he got them during his time in prison, and explaining that he has changed since then. All the same, Aaron added that he would not get that tattoos removed.

“Many of you have offered solutions to my problem: Coverups, laser removal etc.,” Aaron said in his statement. “Please trust me when I say I’ve explored both avenues and unfortunately neither is an option for me.”

Since then, however, Aaron seems to have changed his tune. According to his wife Lee, who recently made her UFC debut with a win over Veronica Macedo, he will consider getting the tattoos covered, provided an artist can do a good job of the coverup.

Lee provided some updates on the situation on the Slip N’ Dip podcast this week.

“I took a picture with my husband and he has some embarrassing tattoos” Lee said (transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting). “He has a swastika on his arm. He’s normally careful about posting pictures but he posted our lake pictures on Twitter and people zoomed in on his tattoos and saw the swastika and they started commenting and posting hateful stuff. He saw it immediately and he was upset and I saw it and everybody was turning on me because he’s my husband and I’m standing next to him so obviously I must be a racist and a Nazi.

“When I met Donny, I asked him about the tattoos because I was curious as well and he told me his story and he was talking about how he changed,” she continued. “I even asked him why wouldn’t you cover them up? I felt the same way. Maybe you should cover them up but he says that it looks terrible already and it would just make it worse. I don’t know. I can’t make him do it. I can’t make him throw something on there.

“I swear to y’all that neither one of us are racist. He just had a bad past obviously. He got it on his arm. He didn’t mean to put all that out for everyone to see and he certainly doesn’t want to ruin my career.”

Lee then explained that Aaron would be willing to get his Nazi tattoos covered under the right circumstances. She also explained that she’s spoken with the UFC, and that she will not be cut based on her affiliations with Aaron.

“Actually, him and I just had the talk earlier” Lee said. “We were discussing it, trying to find someone who could cover it up and maybe make it look good, make it not look trashier than it already is. We’re gonna talk about it and see what happens.”

“The UFC, we’ve talked to them to get everything smoothed over as well so I’m not gonna get cut, guys,” Lee said. “I don’t see why they should cut me over someone else’s – I was like 12 when he got those tattoos. I didn’t even know who he was then and when I came into the picture he was a completely changed person he just has it on his body still there.”

What do you think of the Donny Aaron situation?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/4/2018.