UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been very outspoken when it comes to racial equality inside of his workplace. Especially now that he’s the reigning champion and has a voice that’s heard by millions of people.
It wasn’t that long ago that Woodley spoke in an interview with MMAjunkie about the problems he’s seen go on, including the constant assumption that because he’s athletic and muscular that he’ll gas in the championship rounds.
“I’ve beat so many guys that have great brands and great reputations,” Woodley stated. “How do you beat that person and technically consume their talent and consume their power, then you’re still this fighter that’s not a high-profile fighter? Carlos Condit, Robbie Lawler, Paul Daley, Josh Koscheck, you can even say that competing against ‘Wonderboy.’ How do I have to continue to excessively prove myself and always be the underdog? I don’t get the respect I deserve, and that leads me to believe that maybe it is a color issue. Look at guys like Demetrious Johnson, who’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Why isn’t he on the largest pay scale? Why are there people that aren’t even champions making more money? It’s embarrassing that fighters in our generation – and it’s not the promotion, don’t get me incorrect, I’m not saying it’s the UFC and that there’s such a huge conspiracy – but the mindset of our fans, we indirectly make preconceived notions about certain fighters. ‘Tyron has all this muscle and he’s going to fade out in the later rounds.’ … I think we subconsciously have these opinions and we don’t even know we have them.”
The subject of racism in the United States is news that’s always trending on social media, but President Donald Trump’s recent comments regarding the NFL really set the internet on fire.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired. He’s fired!’” President Trump said.
UFC champion Tyron Woodley didn’t go into a long rant this time though and instead decided to simply post a photo of the great Martin Luther King Jr. along with a quote from as the caption.
“The time is always right to do what is right” – Martin Luther King Jr.
