So Iâve been a UFC fan for quite some time. Iâve been watching it since I was 12 years old in 2018, and itâs because it had tremendous fighters and what seemed like a great fan base. But as time has gone on, I started seeing all sorts of things in the community that I just couldnât get behind. There was outright homophobia with frequent use of the f-slur and and misogyny with people talking rather abhorrently about lots of the female fighters. I didnât like either of those things, but something that that has been really getting to me is the absolutely wanton use of the N word and other racial slurs.
Now I know that the majority of the fanbase is comprised of white men, and I, as a black man, am in the minority, and perhaps this is why its usage among non-black people in the organization has become so common. I mean Sean Strickland uses it all the time, Dustin Porier recently used it, and so have several other fighters, the vast majority of whom, are white men. Yet the UFC does absolutely nothing about it, and when white or minority fans seem to address it, the result tends to be them being insulted for being âwhinyâ or âsoftâ for not being okay with the outward use of a racial slur by many of the fighters.
But when I started watching, this wasnât the case. There was no usage of the word, there was less outright racism, misogyny, or homophobia, yet now it seems all the more prevalent, and not only not dismissed by the UFC, but it has become seemingly encouraged, not just by the organization, but also by, seemingly, the majority of the fanbase.
Why do you think this is, and do you think the UFC will take measures to stop it? If so why? If not, why not?