Jeff Molina recently announced he would be supporting pride month during his UFC Vegas 56 Octagon appearance.
Molina barely edged out a victory against Zhalgas Zhumagulov yesterday. The split decision is somewhat controversial considering that many fans and critics believed Molina won convincingly.
After the fact, Molina shared he was surprised by the backlash he received for wearing UFC Pride gear.
“I just thought in 2022 people would be a little more open-minded and not pieces of sh*t. But I guess I was wrong.”
Molina might be missing the bigger picture though – UFC has been picking and choosing when to give the athletes the option to have freedom of speech thanks to looking out for their profit margins.
This is particularly poignant when we consider that there is a promotion wide ban on walkouts with flags – but at the same time celebrating another political issues ie Pride month is welcome.
UFC has been playing it fast and loose with the freedom of speech. On one hand many athletes received little to no repercussions for racist rants – but at the same time they didn’t allow Belal Muhammad his post fight victory speech last year over fears he might send words of encouragement to his homeland of Palestine.
UFC has long employed a number of gay athletes – notably in the female division.