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UFC fighters are easily some of the toughest athletes on the planet. They put their health and lives on the line every time they go out to compete in the octagon.
The courage and fearlessness shown by them inside the octagon sometimes moves into matters beyond fighting. Over the years, there have been several fighters who have not shied away from letting their political opinions be known to the public.
Fighters like Colby Covington and Jorge Masivdal have openly expressed support for former United States President Donald Trump.
Speaking in favor of someone is one thing. Some fighters, however, have gone on record to speak out against high-level politicians, criticizing them for their practices.
On that note, let's take a look at five instances where UFC fighters spoke against politicians:
#5. UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya calls for Jacinda Ardern to change laws around unprovoked assaults
Israel Adesanya's last appearance in the UFC octagon took place at UFC 263. 'The Last Stylebender' took on Marvin Vettori in the main event for his third title defense. Adesanya controlled the majority of the fight and cruised to a unanimous decision victory.
In his post-fight interview, the New Zealander dedicated his win to his deceased teammate and friend Fau Vake. Vake died earlier this year after succumbing to injuries from an assault.
In the UFC 263 post-fight press conference, Adesanya slammed the politicians of New Zealand, calling them "old-heads" who were out of touch with today's world. The 32-year-old also called for the country's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, to bring stricter laws around unprovoked assault cases. Adesanya said:
"Jacinda [Ardern], I don't know who else is in your f------g cabinet, but you know it was wrong. You know exactly what to do. I don't know what puppet master is pulling the strings, but you're the leader of the country. You handled the mosque shootings like a f------g champ, can you please do the same with this s--t too?"
#4. UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal slams US President Joe Biden for the new COVID-19 mandate
Jorge Masvidal has been very open about his support for former US President Donald Trump, who was present for his fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 244.
Current US President Joe Biden introduced a new Covid-19 mandate according to which, an employer with 100 or more employees has to get their entire staff vaccinated or produce a negative COVID-19 test every week.
Masvidal took to Instagram to criticize Biden's move by sharing problematic pictures of the President's son Hunter allegedly smoking cocaine.
In the caption of the post, 'Gambred' wrote:
"Don't force my kids to take drugs just because yours does."
Masvidal later put out a tweet declaring that none of the fighters from his promotion, Gambred FC, would need to be vaccinated in order to compete.
#3. Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey says she would not vote for Donald Trump
During her fighting days, former UFC bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey was one of the biggest stars in MMA. In an interview with CNN in 2015, 'Rowdy' made waves when she stated that she did not intend to vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 election:
"I wouldn't vote for him [Donald Trump]. I just really wouldn't trust the guy with running my country, that’s all. I'm not really going to get into specifics of it, but, I mean, I don't want a reality TV star to be running my country."
After Rousey's loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193, Trump fired back, saying he was happy to see the 34-year-old lose as he believes she is not a nice person.
'Rowdy' later made an appearance on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' where she elaborated on her previous comments about Trump:
"I think he said I was going to vote for him and it was news to me. I just said I'm not voting for a reality TV star to be the president. It's all I said. So that makes me not a nice person. Those two things are related." (h/t foxsports)
#2. UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov criticizes French President Emmanuel Macron over comments on Islam
After winning his fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from the sport of MMA.
Within a week of his retirement, 'The Eagle' uploaded a post to his Instagram account, slamming French President Emmanuel Macron for his comments on the Islamic religion.
The post featured a picture of Macron with a boot print over it. In the caption of the post, Nurmagomedov wrote:
"May the Almighty disfigure the face of this creature and all its followers, who, under the slogan of freedom of speech, offend the feelings of more than one and a half billion Muslim believers. May the Almighty humiliate them in this life, and in the next. Allah is quick in calculation and you will see it. We are Muslims, we love our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) more than our mothers, fathers, children, wives and all other people close to our hearts. Believe me, these provocations will come back to them, the end is always for the God-fearing." (translated through Google translate)
Earlier that month, an extremist in Paris beheaded a school teacher named Samuel Paty for showing carricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his students.
Following the incident, Macron gave a speech where he uttered the following words:
"Islam is a religion which is experiencing a crisis today, all over the world. There was a need to free Islam in France from foreign influences."
The former UFC champion's Instagram post was in response to these words by Macron.
#1. UFC fighter Israel Adesanya calls Jacinda Ardern a liar after her statement on MMA fighters
MMA fighters have been facing several issues due to the COVID-19 restrictions in New Zealand. UFC lightweight Dan Hooker faced difficulty in flying out of New Zealand for his fight at UFC 266 due to visa issues. 'The Hangman' was also prohibited from training at his gym by the authorities.
The country's president, Jacinda Ardern, recently stated that MMA fighters were being treated in a fair manner. In response, UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya uploaded a tweet accusing Ardern of gaslighting and lying.
The UFC champion did not stop there. He then uploaded a video of himself analyzing the Prime Minister's reaction upon hearing his name.
'The Last Stylebender's gym, City Kickboxing, also uploaded a statement on Instagram, claiming Ardern's statement to be untrue.
