Dave Bautista explains why he covered up tattoo after friend crossed a line

Dave Bautista is absolutely covered in tattoos, from full-scale, multi-coloured dragons to portraits of his dogs to a little Winnie The Pooh cartoon.

But among the actor's various inkings are a few cover-ups, after falling out with certain people from his past.

Perhaps his biggest cover-up is a result of a dispute he had with a friend who turned out to be 'an extreme homophobe.'

Dave Bautista has always been a huge advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, and has regularly spoken about how his mother Donna Raye is a lesbian.

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During a tattoo tour with GQ, the former WWE star explained that he once had a tattoo of a team logo on his left inner arm, but had to get it covered up when a member of the team issued some hurtful anti-gay statements.

"I was a part of a team with a person I considered a friend and someone I really looked up to," he shared.

"And then he later came out publicly with some anti-gay statements. He turned out to be an extreme homophobe and so I had a huge issue with it, a personal issue - my mom's a lesbian.

"And I just could no longer call him a friend so I had it covered up."

While Dave didn't name anyone in particular, the former MMA fighter did have a public dispute with pro-boxer-turned-politician Manny Pacquiao back in 2016.

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Speaking to Philippines broadcaster TV5, Pacquiao said that gay people were 'worse than animals.'

"It’s common sense," he said at the time.

"Do you see animals mating with the same sex? Animals are better because they can distinguish male from female.

"If men mate with men and women mate with women they are worse than animals."

Not long after the controversial statement, Dave spoke out against Pacquiao, telling TMZ: "My mom happens to be a lesbian so I don't f***ing take that s**t.

"I don't think it's funny. If anyone called my mother an animal, I'd stick my foot in his a**."

Dave added at the time that he still looked up to Pacquiao 'as a fighter', but his personal views made him 'respect him a lot less'.

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Dave has also had to cover up some tattoos of ex-partner's names, too - even though his mom warned him against it.

Pointing to some body art on his right shoulder, he said: "This is a cover-up, that was actually a girlfriend's name."

Showing off another tattoo on his left hand, he added: "This is an ex-wife's name. My mom always said, 'Don't put a woman's name on you.' And I didn't listen."