For me, this looks an awful lot like kayfabe. Assuming everyone's in on it, I don't really understand the fuss behind the scenes. Of course, the public miffing is understandable.

The problem arises if not everyone behind the scenes is in on it. If that's so, there is no reality where DDP says what he says about African fighters without recognizing the absolute TRUCKLOAD of baggage surrounding that topic. He lives in South fucking Africa. He understands the racial undertones of otherwise innocuous statements. His region helped write the blueprint for it. There is no plausible deniability of the volatility of his statement. The Western "he didn't actually SAY anything bad" take is simply wrong.

Again, I'm fairly certain this is just Izzy trying to salvage an otherwise meek division after Pereira went on to better things. If it's not, jesus christ.

What are your thoughts on this whole thing? I've kept it pretty vague so far, but I'll get more into my views in the comments.

It's not a total surprise to constantly see the glorification of conservatives and Trump in UFC events, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one with a bad taste in my mouth. I enjoy MMA, have participated and been a fan for a while, and interestingly enough it's one of the spaces where I think politics make everything worse, especially as polarized as people are these days.