If there is one organizationn in which the athletes can afford almost anything, that’s the UFC. Conor McGregor is the skid specialist, Israel Adesanya has been quite out of touch with the female gender for some time, and another big name has just made headlines with his latest outing. For him, Dana White and the other leaders would be a bit racist!
Unlike other sports, where speech is very controlled and mastered, especially in the media, MMA is distinguished by an almost total freedom of tone and action. The proof, for several months now, many UFC stars have been proudly displayed with a character as controversial as the Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, and that doesn’t necessarily affect their reputation.
At the same time, in an organization popularized in the world by Conor McGregor, who was not the last to come out with polemical phrases, and in particular on Islam, the religion of his enemy Khabib Nurmagomedov, we understand why being sulphurous is not not a handicap, but an advantage in the octagon. Whether they’re hated or loved, the biggest names above all want to give fans a reason to watch their fights, even if it means inappropriate statements.
Paulo Costa cracks and accuses the UFC of racism
And that may explain Paulo Costa’s dubious exit during his last stint on journalist Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour. At war with the UFC for some time over his contract, like Francis Ngannou, the Brazilian got carried away by his emotion and did not hesitate to call his employer racist… Dana White may not appreciate it.
I think the UFC always offers very weak contracts to Brazilian fighters. I don’t know how to explain why. Maybe they’re thinking, “Ah, these morons live in Brazil, in the jungle, they don’t need a lot of money, because the local currency is 4 or 5 times weaker than the American dollar, so we can give them anything. And the problem is that the Brazilians have a particular mentality and they accept.
I say that because I’ve done it in the past, and I know other Brazilians have done it for a long time too. We always say we don’t care who we face. Brazilians don’t care about the level of the opponent, the salary, and that’s a very bad thing in terms of business. And it’s true that I don’t care who is in front of me in the cage if the money corresponds to the level…
According to Paulo Costa, the leaders of the UFC do not respect the Brazilian fighters and see them almost as sub-humans living in the jungle, which is why they are only entitled to weak contracts. A dubious analysis of the situation which should not please Dana White and the other Brazilians in the UFC, stigmatized as bad businessmen…
At war with the UFC over his contract, Paulo Costa has just struck a big blow by making his leaders look like ignorant racists, who take advantage of the poverty in certain countries to underpay fighters. The response from Dana White and others might be scathing.
