Pioneer; Meet Washington Dourado, the first Brazilian MMA fighter to admit his homosexuality

W. Dourado became the first fighter to admit homosexuality Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo

In the small municipality of Laranjal do Jari, located in the south of Amapá, Washington Duarte Souza broke a barrier that had not yet been broken in the history of MMA. The 29-year-old athlete became the first Brazilian fighter in this sport to admit his homosexuality. In an interview with TV Globo's 'Fantástico', the pioneering fighter told a little about his story and revealed his dream of getting an opportunity at a major event.

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Known in his hometown as 'Golden Princess', Washington spoke to 'Fantástico' about his life story and revealed that, at the time of the report, he had never admitted his sexual orientation to his mother.

“I never got to talk to her. She's heard me called 'Princessinha', 'Douradinho', but she's never heard me called myself. I feel like it's time to tell her. I don't know how my mother will react, because I haven't told her yet that I'm homosexual. I was nervous. I always saw friends of mine being rejected by their families. Today is the first time I'm telling her this. I was nervous,” Washington revealed.

A professional MMA athlete, a sport that is still reluctant to break some barriers, the Amapá native spoke about the prejudice and disrespect suffered by some opponents in his first fights.

“The first part of the prejudice I had within MMA was a boy from a neighboring city. He told my jiu-jitsu teacher that, if he lost to me, he would leave the city. I won the fight in the first round, I knocked out the boy and he left the city”, said the Fantástico report.

Washington's coach, Ricardo Macaco, confirmed his student's story and told about another episode that the Amapá fighter was harmed due to his sexual orientation.

“I went to take him to fight in Macapá, he simply put on a show, he won all three rounds. As a result, the judges gave the fight to his opponent. And everyone who was present at the event saw that he won the fight and I believe there was a certain prejudice because he was homosexual”, accused the coach.

Washington revealed his dream of being hired by a large MMA organization, stating that he knows other athletes who are homosexual, but who do not have the courage to reveal themselves, for fear of prejudice in the community.

“My dream is to fight in big MMA events and have an opportunity that I haven't had until today. I believe in myself and I have the potential to do so. The only one openly (gay) (in MMA) is me. I know there are more people, but they are afraid of prejudice, of what people will say. They are afraid of the reaction from many parts of academia. (I ask them) to appear and say their names, beat their chest. I'm here, I also came to be part, I came to add and I want them to have that courage. Showing people that we can go beyond what they try to limit us”, concluded the 'pioneer' of Brazilian MMA.

A fighter in the bantamweight division (up to 61,2kg), Washington has a record at Sherdog of five wins and just two losses, however, the fighter from Amapá claims to have more than 30 professional fights in his career. His last confrontation was in August 2019, when he won by submission in the second round, at the 'Macaco Fighter' event