Happy Friday! Some news items for you as we head into the weekend:
• Semafor: The Trump administration plans to permanently end funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, in South Africa. South Africa has about 8 million people living with HIV, the most in the world.
Donald Trump’s UFC Freedom 250 birthday party mixed‑martial‑arts event scheduled for tonight at the White House could get an unexpected guest in the form of severe thunderstorms.
After being booed at Game 5 of the World Series last Sunday, you’d think Donald Trump might have thought twice about attending another public sporting event. But I’m guessing the Trumpster assumed he’d be in safe territory taking in an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match. However, when the president entered Madison Square Garden Saturday night he was greeted by a huge chorus of boos from the audience.
Honestly surprised to see Trump booed at Ultimate Fighting Championship. This should be his crowd. pic.twitter.com/r1O1Vs20SR
Trump at the World Series: booed mercilessly. Trump at Madison Square Garden for #ufc244: booed mercilessly. This is what happens when the audience isn’t a heavily curated MAGA rally. This is what real Americans think of you.#sundaymorning#AMJoypic.twitter.com/xoTsDWgI40
Danish MMA fighter Nicolas Dalby shared on his Instagram a moment of celebration after weigh-ins in advance of his fight with Germany’s Peter Sobota this past weekend.
Weigh-ins for #UFCHamburg done! 170 and ready to smash Sobotta! 😈 But it was more important for me to show my support for the #LGBTQ community ❤️💛💚💙💜. #WeAreAllOne Pictures by @perhaljestamphoto
Fans quickly praised the inclusive message. Check out just some of the very positive comments:
ric_freeman: I’m thrilled to see this level of support for the LGBT+ community. Thank you, sir!
catwoman279: Thank you for standing up and showing your support! Sign of a true class act! 👍🏻❤️
pikepinemedia: This is a tremendous show of support to my people. Thank you!
marcelom0raes: This is sooo important for us, members of the LGBTQ community! Thanks you so much for this! 🌈
The Gaily Grind has details on the rainbow-colored “We Are All Fighters” t-shirt:
The UFC began selling the rainbow-colored shirts in July with all proceeds going to the LGBTQ Center in Las Vegas.
“Just as it takes courage to step into the Octagon, it takes courage to stand for what you believe in — and we’re proud to stand with members of the LGBTQ community in their fight for equality,” said Ike Lawrence Epstein, UFC Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “As friends and allies of the LGBTQ community, our hope is to raise awareness and help support community groups like the LGBTQ Center that directly impact LGBTQ individuals.”
Many UFC athletes have worn the shirts in recent weeks.
The “We Are All Fighters” initiative is “designed to make a meaningful impact in communities where UFC events are held by supporting organizations that help people overcome adversity, achieve equality, or provide a public service,” the UFC said in a statement.
After a two-year absence, Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight fighter Kyle Kingsbury made a statement during weigh-in his support for the LGBT community in San Jose, California last week.
Undefeated Chris Weidman knocked out UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a face-off on Saturday night.
But this moment during weigh-in on Friday has gotten a lot of internet buzz. Anderson Silva was doing his best to intimidate Weidman, but clearly Weidman was not backing down.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has suspended one of its fighters after he went on a transphobic rant against transgender fighter, Fallon Fox.
In an interview with The MMA Hour on Monday, mixed martial artist Matt Mitrione went on a tirade against Fox, whom he repeatedly referred to as a man. Fox transitioned ten years ago but came out as a transgender woman earlier last month after facing pressure from a reporter.
When host Ariel Helwani asked Mitrione, “Why do you hate Fallon Fox so much, and why do you keep calling she a ‘he’?”, he responded:
“Because she’s not a he. He’s a he,” he said. “He’s chromosomally a man. He had a gender change, not a sex change. He’s still a man. He was a man for 31 years. Thirty-one years. That’s a couple years younger than I am. He’s a man. Six years of taking performance de-hancing drugs, you think is going to change all that? That’s ridiculous.
“That is a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak,” he continued. “And I mean that. Because you lied on your license to beat up women. That’s disgusting. You should be embarrassed yourself. And the fact that Florida licensed him because California licensed him or whoever the hell did it, it’s an embarrassment to us as fighters, as a sport, and we all should protest that. The woman that’s fighting him, props to you. I hope you beat his ass, and I hope he gets blackballed and never fights again, because that’s disgusting and I’m appalled by that.”
The UFC acted swiftly and decidedly, issuing the following statement later that day:
The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione today in an interview on ‘The MMA Hour.’The organization finds Mr. Mitrione’s comments offensive and wholly unacceptable and – as a direct result of this significant breach of the UFC’s code of conduct – Mr. Mitrione’s UFC contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated. The UFC is a friend and ally of the LGBT community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect.
The UFC will see it’s first women’s fight tonight and one of the athletes in the event, Liz Carmouche, is also the only openly gay fighter in the sport.
Leading up to the fight, both Carmouche and UFC president Dana White are talking about the historic competition and about openly gay fighters.
White has spoken publicly in support of Carmouche coming out, and when asked if a fighter had a problem with a match with a gay fighter, this was his response: “Most of the guys that are in this sport are really good people. I honestly don’t see a situation where that would happen, but if it did, I’d fix it.”
Regarding inclusiveness in the sport, here was White’s statement: “If you’re an athlete in the UFC and you are gay, I could care less. You will not be treated any different.”
p.s. Can I say how handsome Dana White is? Just had to put that out there. And thanks, Dana, for being one of the good guys.
