The Zig To Your Zag
By Eddie Sanchez
Much of the North American sports world was put on pause yesterday, the 26th of August, as the NBA led a peaceful protest of their players boycotting NBA playoff games. Considering the current financial climate, this type of protest is seemingly more significant than it could be in any other time because the NBA has already lost billions of dollars in revenue due to COVID and the China issue.
The Milwaukee Bucks were the first team to announce their intentions to boycott their upcoming playoff game due to the death of Jacob Blake at the hands of the Kenosha police. Almost immediately after, the rest of the scheduled playoff games for the day were postponed and the WNBA, MLB & MLS followed similarly.
In what is a ground-breaking moment in sports and racial justice history, while these team sports have zigged, the UFC so far has zagged. While it may be unfair to paint the UFC as a whole with a broad brush, there are some outspoken leaders within the organization that have recently doubled down on their political stances.
Most notably Dana White has confirmed that he will once again speak on behalf of Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention.
“That s–t doesn’t bother me,” White said, according to MMA Junkie. “Listen, this is America. Everybody has their own opinions and their own choices. I know that sometimes people go after you because of whatever, but everybody knows me. Everybody knows what I’m about, and you know. I don’t care what people think of me or what they think,” White said. “The people that know me know who I am and know what I’m about. Other than that, I [couldn’t] care less.”
This declaration of personal belief not being impacted by the opinions of those around them is a common theme from many who lean towards the far-right on the political spectrum. This line of thinking can be dangerous when compounded by those who are willingly ignorant to understand the racial ramifications some of our peers face.
Oftentimes the meaning of an opinion gets manipulated to the point of justifying ignorant rhetoric and flat-out racist actions.
Colby Covington, the Middleweight contender who is tentatively scheduled to face Tyron Woodley on September 19th, and often dons a MAGA hat, had the following response aimed towards Lebron James and the NBA for their move to boycott playoff games.
This is not the first time Covington has responded towards Lebron James. In the aftermath of Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey supporting Hong Kong, which led to massive revenue losses due to China pulling out of their financial commitments, Lebron responded:
“I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey. But I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand and he spoke.”
“We do all have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re only thinking about yourself,” he said (transcript via The BBC).
Following his initial statements, many from both sides of the political spectrum criticised Lebron James, albeit for different reasons. The left was disappointed at Lebron not supporting Hong Kong through their protests, while the right generally focused their disapproval on his opinion of free speech.
Colby Covington has shown to be racially charged in his responses to Lebron James and given the current times we live in where there have been non-stop protests around the country following the death of George Floyd on May 25th, these tensions are sure to be amplified given their status as professional athletes and the fact that the presidential election is around the corner.
The racial and political issues have long been tied towards American history and the sports world in general has always aligned itself with these concerns.
Whether it was boxer Jack Johnson openly dating white women in the 1920s, the Cleveland Summit supporting Muhammad Ali in the 1960s, baseball players being the first Americans to visit Cuba in the middle of the missile crisis or the present times we live in, the sports world has always been involved.
Something important to note however, is how the different political beliefs of the UFC and NBA (among others) will be represented on ESPN. Following the death of George Floyd, ESPN seemingly began to allow political talking points on their network when in the past these were strictly banned and punished. Considering where those like Dana White and Colby Covington stand on the political spectrum, it will be interesting to see how they are covered.
We are a few weeks out from Colby Covington-Tyron Woodly on ESPN+ and are sure to see him enter the ring in a MAGA hat and assuming he is victorious (Woodly has lost each of the last 10 rounds in his last two fights) the public will get an earful of politically charged talk.
What makes this even more interesting is the UFC’s impact on ratings. The UFC was the first major sport to get back to action during the pandemic and ESPN was especially grateful because the cash-cow for their ESPN+ subscription service hit the ground running with awesome fights and non-stop content.
Will the UFC’s financial success grant them a longer leash to represent their political beliefs?
It’s no secret that ESPN, which lives under the DIsney umbrella, has generally leaned toward the left on political issues, even before speaking on these issues on-air was allowed.
ESPN has faced some criticism for playing both sides politically, although these criticisms were generally steered towards remaining silent as opposed to toeing the line with their voice. This will be an interesting time in their history though.
It remains to be seen what we will be allowed to see and hear on their network and subscription service following the playoff boycotts and statements from individuals within the UFC. In the coming weeks we will get more clarity. But one thing that is as clear as day, is that sports and politics will continue walking side-by-side as they always have.
