5 UFC fighters who got into trouble for passing racial remarks
Be it ahead of a fight or otherwise, UFC fighters often get into heated arguments with their rivals. There is also the tactic of mental warfare, where fighters like Conor McGregor try to get under the skin of their opponents. These acts are often swept under the carpet as routine verbal wars waged to hype up fights.
However, a few times, the choice of words used by the UFC fighters gets them into trouble. Be it statements that are politically or socially insensitive or of racial nature, UFC fighters often pay a heavy price for speaking indiscriminately in the media.
Here, we list 5 UFC fighters who got into trouble for passing racial remarks:
#5 - Marcelo Rojo
Brandon Moreno's cornerman, Marcelo Rojo, stirred some controversy after posting racist images of Deiveson Figueiredo on social media. The incident happened just before UFC 263, where 'The Assassin Baby' was supposed to take on 'Deus da Guerra' for the flyweight title.
Marcelo Rojo, who made his UFC debut in 2021 against Charles Jourdain, uploaded a photo of Deiveson Figueiredo with a monkey filter on his Instagram. The post stirred controversy as Brazilians are racially discriminated against by being referred to as monkeys.
Marcelo 'Pitbull' Rojo, who is an Argentinian, mentioned that he did not intend his post to be seen as a racial remark as he was not aware of Brazilian history. Upon finding out about the post, Figueiredo's manager and coach, Wallid Ismail, called for "every racist" to be "banned from the sport."
Rojo posted an apology on his Instagram page in Portuguese for his unintended racial remarks. He said:
"I apologize to everybody, to people I don’t even know. Wallid is making this bigger than it is, I was just was putting filters on the [Instagram] live. I put a lot to all the fighters, I use the baby Yoda, the moustache filter, the monkey, on every fighter in the press conference, we were joking around… Then [Figueiredo] push Brandon and we start shouting, and someone screenshot the live and pass me the image. I upload it for fun, to make jokes to get [Figueiredo] more angry than he already is, but not to make this a racist thing."
Brandon Moreno, who defeated Figueiredo at UFC 263 to become the new flyweight champion, commented on his cornerman's alleged racial remarks. He said:
"I feel so bad for that because I really am an ambassador of the love in the world and that’s happening in my team. I was a little bit angry at first, but, I mean, everybody makes a mistake. And in this era with cancellation, you never give the opportunity to the people to learn, to make some progress. So it was a mistake and in the name of my team, I apologize. It is what it is. We try to learn to make some progress in this new era."