After Jeff Molina’s statement, the UFC has another opportunity to address bigotry

With the main target of the MMA world turning from UFC 286, now can be an excellent time for the UFC to deal with the picture they need to painting and the bigoted portion of its fan base.

UFC fighter Jeff Molina publicly got here out as bi final week after he was outed on-line. Molina acquired an outpouring of assist on his social media publish addressing the circumstances of his popping out. Sadly, the flyweight fighter, who’s on a 10-fight successful streak — three with the UFC — additionally acquired a deluge of hateful feedback.

With Molina being a UFC fighter, the promotion has the chance to deal with a long-standing problem that raises its head too typically amongst MMA followers, and that’s the harassment and abuse {that a} far too giant variety of these followers are snug spewing.

The UFC has taken steps to align itself with the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood by its “We Are All Fighters” tee shirts and battle kits. Nonetheless, the promotion has typically let its fighters slide with out repercussions for his or her free use of anti-queer slurs exterior of UFC president Dana White calling the language “an issue” and “one thing we have to give attention to.”

Practically six years have handed since White stated these phrases. If he and the UFC need to tackle the problem, why not now? Particularly since White threw his assist behind the concept of a male UFC fighter popping out way back to 2011.

If the UFC is on the lookout for a blueprint to observe, the U.S. Soccer crew addressed the problem (together with racism, which the UFC may additionally stand to talk up on) in 2021, telling followers who made “racist, homophobic, vulgar or disrespectful feedback whereas hiding behind the anonymity of social media, you aren’t a real fan and you aren’t welcome. Ever.”

One other instance for the UFC can be to have a look at what the San Jose Sharks group did throughout a current sport, utilizing its social media feed to “supply info and details about LGBTQIA+ matters” as an alternative of its regular in-game content material.

The UFC has a possibility right here to benefit from the second and switch the negativity of Molina being outed towards his will right into a optimistic. Nonetheless, this isn’t the primary time they’ve had this chance (and whiffed at it)…

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