On Friday, president Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting people in seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
How does this effect the world of MMA?
UFC 210 co-headliner Gegard Mousasi, who battles former middleweight champion Chris Weidman is afraid he might not be able to make it into the U.S. for the fight because he was born in Iran but moved to the Netherlands when he was a kid and is a Dutch citizen.
“I have the Dutch nationality, but I also have a visa,” Mousasi told Telesport (h/t BloodyElbow.com). “But even with a visa you get in trouble, I heard. I’ll hear more about it this week though. The UFC lawyers are busy, and the people who arrange the visas are too. So it is not in my hands. My job is to train and get ready for the game. It’s just annoying.”
The seven countries Trump issued the order to are: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen and also includes refugees who were involved in a global crisis.
The former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion criticized the president on what he is trying to do, but will continue train for his upcoming showdown against Weidman.
“This [ban] is not the right direction,” said Mousasi. “There seems to me a bit too much turmoil in the world, and this is certainly not a positive way. For years there were working relationships between countries, and now with Trump, there go all the years that worked for peace. I think he’s a bit of an arrogant guy, he does things his way, but I think he has little understanding of politics. I’ll wait for this week, and stay quiet in training, which is also good for my next fight.”
UFC 210 takes place on April 8 from the Keybank Center in Buffalo. The main event of the show is Daniel Cormier defending the UFC light heavyweight against Anthony Johnson.
