In addition to Tony Kelley, remember other UFC athletes accused of xenophobic speeches and attitudes

J. Jedrzejczyk, C. Covington and C. McGregor have already been accused of xenophobia (Photo: Montage/SUPER FIGHTS)

Unfortunately, the case of xenophobia carried out by Tony Kelley, bantamweight (up to 61,2 kg) of the Ultimate, in UFC Las Vegas 54 was not the first involving the organization's athletes. The North American, who served as a corner of Andrea Lee in the duel against Viviane Araujo, stated, during the break for the second round, that the Brazilian and her team would be “filthy and cheating Brazilians”.

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Vivi Araújo and his team join names like José Aldo e Anderson Silva as Brazilians who have already been victims of xenophobic comments from their opponents. The list, however, is not limited to Brazil, with Asian and African athletes also being the main targets of unhappy and prejudiced speeches.

Colby Covington and his collection of problematic lines

Covington (photo) is ranked first in the welterweight division. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

It is impossible to talk about xenophobic and racist phrases and not think about Colby covington, former interim welterweight champion (up to 77 kg). Between his staunch support for former President of the United States Donald Trump and criticism of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, some of Colby's speeches stand out among many.

After defeating Tyron woodley, Colby covington received a call from Donald Trump and crossed the line by provoking the Nigerian Kamaru Usman, welterweight champion.

“Did someone from your little tribe send you a message? Some sign of smoke”, he provoked.

Kamaru Usman was not the only target of xenophobia Colby covington. Before and after facing Mayan Demian, the North American also made several attacks aimed at the Brazilian people. At the end of 2021, the fighter reinforced his comments.

“You know these people are filthy animals. I called that place a dump because it was a dump. I didn't like my experience. There, they treated me like sh*t. They shouted bad things at me and said I was going to die,” she explained.

Chael Sonnen and xenophobia disguised as humor

W. Silva and C, Sonnen fought on TUF Brasil 3. Photo: Reproduction/Youtube

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Chael Sonnen is a classic example of a fighter who became more famous for what he said than for how he fought. Amidst so many catchphrases and jokes necessary to build the character, the American went over the limit on some occasions.

“I witnessed when the Nogueira brothers arrived in the United States for the first time. Minotouro wanted to feed a bus with a carrot and the other petted him as if he were a horse. I don’t think they had ever seen anything like it in their lives.”

“As a child, I talked about technological innovations with my friends, while Anderson and other children from Brazil played in the mud.”

"Anderson Silva it always comes with that nonsense of bowing to greet (in the oriental way). This cannot be done in Brazil. I’ve been there and I know that if you put your head down, they’ll steal your wallet right away.”

Conor McGregor and the favela

McGregor (left) and Aldo (right) faced each other in 2014. Photo: Reproduction

Another fighter who specializes in provoking with a microphone in his hand is Conor McGregor. On the way to becoming the biggest star in world MMA, the Irishman also left the limit behind at times, such as when he stated that, in other times, he would “take over the favelas on horseback”.

Recently, “Notório” once again cited the favela pejoratively when insulting the former lightweight champion (up to 70,3 kg) Charles of the Bronx.

“Shut up and go back to the favela, bum,” McGregor wrote on social media.

Paulo Borrachinha also crossed the line against Israel Adesanya

P. Borrachinha (right) and I. Adesanya (left) faced each other in the UFC 253. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @ufcespañol

Another fighter who has a reputation as “controversial” and has also been accused of crossing the line is Paulo borrachinha. Before the duel for the middleweight title (up to 83,9 kg), the Brazilian drew attention when referring to the Nigerian Israel adesanya as “shit African”.

Asian athletes have also been victims of xenophobic attitudes

J. Jedrzejczyk used the coronavirus to provoke W. Zhang (Photo: Instagram)

One of the most recent cases of xenophobia in the UFC was carried out by cody durden. After defeating the Mongol Qileng Aori, in November 2021, the North American said that “he had to send Aori back to China, where he came from”. The speech generated outrage among several fighters, including the young promise Muhammad Mokayev, who four months later submitted Durden in less than a minute in the UFC London.

Former strawweight champion (up to 52,1 kg) Weili Zhang was also the target of controversial speeches and attitudes by two other former division champions: Joanna Jedrzejczyk e Rose namajunas.

In January 2020, when Covid-19 was practically limited to Chinese territory, Joanna Jedrzejczyk used the coronavirus to provoke Weili Zhang. The Polish woman published a montage in which she appeared wearing a mask alongside the Chinese woman, making a clear allusion to the disease, which at that point had left around 130 people dead in China.

Rose namajunas, in turn, declared a “cold war” on Zheng, stating that the Chinese woman represented communism and that she preferred “death to red”.

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