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UFC is the modern-day torchbearer of mixed martial arts, a sport that is quite unlike any other. Georges St-Pierre has said on more than one occasion:
"You play soccer, you play basketball, but you don't play fighting."
The statement hits home. While martial arts is largely about respect, the fight game and UFC have relied on trash-talking to attract eyeballs and build up a fight. It's bad enough that 2 people are locked inside a cage with the goal of inflicting pain on the other, but the bad blood only makes it worse. Amidst all this, if things get politically charged, it just ramps up the extremity of emotion on both sides.
With the advent of social media, political loyalties and disagreements have reached unprecedented heights over the last decade. Every social network is full of people fighting over their political beliefs, which they've seemingly made part of their identity. What happens when this polarity seeps into the fight game?
3 times UFC fighters added a political angle to their fights:
3) Tyron Woodley vs Colby Covington
Colby Covington is quite possibly one of the most disliked fighters on the UFC roster by fans and fellow fighters alike. That's not to say he doesn't have a huge fanbase, and controversy aside, is one of the best welterweights in the world who is currently number one in the rankings.
He faced Tyron Woodley at UFC Fight Night on September 20, 2020, and the lead-up to the bout was anything but respectful. The USA was seeing waves of 'Black Lives Matter' protests at the time, and Covington made his displeasure known repeatedly.
Colby Covington, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, did not mince words while giving his opinion of the ongoing protests. Tyron Woodley decided to take a stand against the same and infamously answered every question at a UFC media day with the words "Black Lives Matter".
Unfortunately for Woodley, this didn't sit well with the MMA community or UFC president Dana White. To add to his woes, he would go on to lose the bout against Covington due to a rib injury in round five.
2) Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov
No surprises here. The biggest fight in UFC history had one of the wildest build-ups in the history of the company. From the infamous bus attack in NYC to McGregor's limitless trash-talking, the Irishman left no stone unturned in grabbing eyeballs for his fight with Nurmagomedov.
Unsurprisingly, the bout also slowly became about Ireland vs Russia, with both men attacking each other's countries in different ways. 'Notorious' called Dagestanis some less-than-favorable things, while 'The Eagle' asked the Irish in the audience what happened to their mother tongue.
Before any of this though, Nurmagomedov mentioned both countries in his first callout to Conor McGregor. Following the win over Michael Johnson at UFC 205, Khabib Nurmagomedov famously said that Ireland has only 6 million people while Russia has 150 million.
On the day of the fight, all hell broke loose with the infamous post-fight brawl. However, it didn't stop there. Irish and Russian fans in attendance broke out into fights, escalating the issue further.
1) Rose Namajunas vs Weili Zhang
This is the most recent politically-charged incident in the UFC. Former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas won the MMA world over after her first fight with then-champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk. In the build-up to the fight, Joanna was constantly trash-talking Namajunas while the latter maintained her calmness and composure, refusing to engage.
Come fight night at UFC 217, Namajunas won the title by beating Jędrzejczyk via TKO in round one. She continued to win hearts with her post-fight octagon interview, saying belts don't mean anything and it's more important to be a good person.
Fast forward to 2021, and Namajunas is set to face current strawweight champion Weili Zhang at UFC 261. However, Rose Namajunas' popularity seems to be polarized amongst fans.
The former champion recently made a comment saying that to her, Zhang represented communism. Namajunas added that she viewed this bout as a personal battle between good and evil. While clarifying that she doesn't hate the current champion, Namajunas said her family immigrated to America from Lithuania fleeing communist rule, which has a lot to do with her sentiments. Rose Namajunas also made a statement saying, "Better dead than red", adding that it's not a coincidence Zhang will be wearing red gloves in the bout.
This has received a lot of mixed reactions from MMA fans around the world. Some support her ideas while some have tried to point out to Namajunas that Weili doesn't necessarily represent either communism or all of China's policies. The former champion doesn't seem perturbed and maintains her stance.
Here's hoping that politics doesn't muddy the waters of our favorite sport any further.
