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UFC fighter Marcelo Rojo claimed he didn’t think it was racist to use a monkey Instagram filter on pictures of Deiveson Figueiredo.

Ahead of Brandon Moreno’s UFC flyweight title winning performance over Deiveson Figueiredo at last night’s UFC 263, his cornerman Marcelo Rojo—a UFC featherweight—caused controversy by posting racist images depicting Figueiredo.

MMA Fighting reports that Rojo uploaded pictures to Instagram using a filter that replaced Figueiredo’s head with that of a monkey. The original images were taken by Rojo during the UFC 263 press conference on Thursday.

Rojo, a white Argentinian, has since told MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz that his posts regarding Figueiredo, a Brazilian of Indigenous ancestry, were not intended to be racist. Rojo also claimed that he was ignorant to the history regarding ‘monkey’ being used as a slur towards Brazilians.

In his piece Cruz, who is also Brazilian, explains that there have been multiple incidents of Argentinian soccer fans calling Brazilians monkeys over the past few decades.

Recently Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez also caused controversy when he said, “Mexicans emerged from Indigenous people, Brazilians emerged from the jungle, but we Argentines arrived on boats.”

Ahead of UFC 263 Figueiredo’s manager and coach Wallid Ismail expressed his outrage at Rojo’s posts and called for “every racist” to be “banned from the sport.”

Later Rojo posted an apology, in Portuguese, on his Instagram page. In that post he said sorry “for offending people yesterday, which wasn’t the intention.”

“I apologize to everybody, to people I don’t even know,” Rojo told MMA Fighting. “Wallid is making this bigger than it is, I was just was putting filters on the [Instagram] live. I put a lot to all the fighters, I use the baby Yoda, the moustache filter, the monkey, on every fighter in the press conference, we were joking around… Then [Figueiredo] push Brandon and we start shouting, and someone screenshot the live and pass me the image. I upload it for fun, to make jokes to get [Figueiredo] more angry than he already is, but not to make this a racist thing.

“I do not know Brazil history, I’m from Argentina but I hate [soccer], I never watch an entire game, I did not know that was a real offense to the Brazilian people. I make a big mistake and regret it. I apologize to the people, I apologize to Wallid, I even apologize to master Rafael Cordeiro who I know him, who train me six months, and he explained it to me. Also, this is nothing to do with the Argentinian president, I am not living in Argentina since 2015. It was al a big mistake. In Mexico we joke around every time like this and it’s a big cultural gap that I missed. And I’m sorry again.

“[I’m] telling you it was a big misunderstanding, I never know that was a historical offense in Brazil. A girl who works in the UFC later on told me a little bit of Brazilian history, what happened, and then told me about the soccer games and everything around. But Wallid is making this bigger.

“I know it was a weird situation ‘cause I’m from Argentina … And also in Argentina the stupid president was taking about that things. But that was not the intention. We just making fun joking around like we do all the time in I was putting filters on [Instagram]. Now I’m terrible. Sorry, I’m not a bad dude. I’m not a racist.”

At the UFC 263 weigh-ins on Friday UFC President Dana White was asked about Rojo’s comments by Combateis . White shrugged off the controversy, asking “what are you gonna do?”

“I heard about it this morning. I don’t know enough about it to speak on it. I know that something happened. I know that whoever did it apologized. And there was some horrible stuff being DM’d to Israel Adesanya, too, that I saw today. It’s just, like, you know… I don’t even know what to say. It’s disgusting. You know, I don’t even know what to say, but, listen, at the end of the day, this is the fight business. A lot of mean things happen here, a lot of bad things are said. Racist, disgusting stuff make me sick, but you know, what are you gonna do?”

Combate also asked Moreno about the situation.

“I feel so bad for that because I really am an ambassador of the love in the world and that’s happening in my team. Like, come on guys, come on,” Moreno said. “I was a little bit angry at first, but, I mean, everybody make a mistake. Everybody makes a mistake. And in this era with cancellation, you never give the opportunity to the people to learn, to make some progress. So it was a mistake and in the name of my team, I apologize. It is what it is. We try to learn to make some progress in this new era.”

At UFC 263 Moreno clinched the flyweight title with a third round submission. That fight was a rematch from late 2020, where Figueiredo and Moreno fought to a majority draw in a Fight of the Year candidate.

Rojo is currently scheduled to face Kevin Croom on August 28 at the UFC APEX. The Combate Americas veteran is 0-1 in the UFC having lost his promotional debut to Charles Jourdain in March.

UFC President, Dana White, sat with press for more than 30 minutes after UFC 263 updating us on the lay of the land following another big card for the promotion. Here’s what he said …

Dana White was in a talkative mood following a successful UFC 263 event in Glendale, Ariz., last night (Sat., June 12, 2021) that saw the company smash the Gila River Arena’s gate record with more than 17,000 fiesty fans in attendance. UFC’s president held court on every topic the assembled press corps could think to ask about (watch full video here), and rather than break this down into 50 articles we figured why not consolidate everything White had to say into one article. So let’s break this down point by point.

On Israel Adesanya’s Dominating Performance Over Marvin Vettori (HIGHLIGHTS):

“Adesanya, before this fight happened, maybe two or three days ago, we got the word that he wants to fight again in October. It’s like, he hasn’t even fought yet and this kid is already talking about his next fight. I love that, Adesanya has become a very badass champion for us. So we’ll figure out him and Whittaker ASAP.”

“You’re talking about New Zealand or Australia? I would highly doubt it. That’s like asking if we can go to Canada in October, they’re pretty much in the same boat.”

“Adesanya’s feint game is off the charts and he looks better with every fight. This guy has been an outstanding kickboxer his entire life, but what I’m really impressed about is his wrestling. You’ve gotta imagine that Team Vettori worked a lot on getting him against the fence, taking him down, getting on top of him and roughing him up. And they literally could not do it tonight. So he got into a position where he couldn’t take him down and he couldn’t stand with him. Every place was a bad place for Vettori tonight.”

On Brandon Moreno Defeating Deiveson Figueiredo To Become UFC’s First Mexican-Born Champion (HIGHLIGHTS):

“I’ll be brutally honest with you. Going into this fight, I didn’t see how Moreno wins this fight. Figueiredo is a savage, and I thought the second fight was going to be much different than the first. And I was right, but I was wrong. Good for him, incredible performance tonight. Looked like Figueiredo couldn’t get off. He was slow. Moreno made it look easy, man. And he’s the first ever Mexican born champion for the UFC so good for him.”

“I think Moreno is [a star] already. Winning the title tonight and being the first ever [Mexican born UFC champ], I think that’s it. I think we’re on our way with that kid. Now he’s in a place where he’s gotta win. This kid starts rattling off title defenses, then holy shit, I bet we’ve got a big one.”

On Figueiredo’s Performance:

“[The weight cut] has to be [an issue]. The guy’s an absolute savage and he hasn’t been in his last two fights. Again, I don’t want to take anything away from Moreno — Moreno looked great.”

White’s Thoughts On Leon Edwards’ Win Over Nate Diaz (HIGHLIGHTS):

“Leon Edwards, kid with the worst luck ever in UFC history, goes in tonight in a five-round fight against a tough durable Nate Diaz who is always dangerous. And tonight was a great learning experience for him. And he looked incredible. The entire fight. Even when he got hurt. Kept his composure, and I think it was a little bit he got stung and he got tired. If you think about it, that kid hasn’t fought in a year and a half too. So great performance.”

“[Jorge vs. Leon] is always a fight we can make. That fight’s always going to be hanging out there. I think Leon tonight, Leon’s the number 3 ranked guy in the world. We’ll see what’s next for him, I’m not sure it’s Masvidal but Colby Covington is the next guy in line for the title, so we’ll see what happens.”

What’s Next For Nate Diaz:

“He’s a fan favorite, people love him win lose or draw. I don’t know, we’ll see what’s next. The punishment he took … his leg was done in the first round. He went five rounds and took a lot more leg kicks. Bleeding out both sides of his head, one was squirting this way and one was squirting this way. And he was still … doing what the Diaz brothers do. Working the whole fight to get into Leon’s head and trying to make him make a mistake, and then he eventually caught him in the fifth round. He’s unbelievable. He’s going to be asking us for a six round fight next time.”

On More Five-Round Non-Title Or Main Event Fights:

“I guarantee everyone in this room has watched a badass fight and said, ‘Man I wish this was five rounds.’ There’s been so many of these fights that I wish … but we can’t keep doing that. We can’t. Diaz really wanted to do it so we sat in that room that I talk about that we’ll be in on Tuesday and decided we’d do it. I don’t want to make a habit of it. Co-main, main event, if it’s championship. And all main events are five rounds. But yeah, we can make that decision sometimes. Not saying we will, but we can.”

White’s Update On Who’s Next For Francis Ngannou:

“Derrick Lewis is getting that fight. It’s Derrick Lewis’s fight. And then Jon Jones, hopefully, will be ready for the winner.”

White On Paulo Costa Pulling Out Of His August Fight (Details):

“Our relationship is fine. He said some nutty shit and I straightened it out. That’s how I look at it. Do I know what’s next for him? Sounds like nothing. Sounds like he’s going to sit out and hang out for a while. I don’t know what. He said ‘I want to be paid more’ because of what all these YouTube stars are making. Apparently he didn’t see his last fight.”

White On Demian Maia Retiring:

“I think that was his last fight. It was the last fight on his deal, he’s 44 years old. He’s been so good at getting in there and getting the takedown, getting on top of people and just strangling them or grabbing something and twisting it until you quit. He just couldn’t get it done tonight. He’s 44 years old, he’s a great guy, he’s had a great career, and yes I would say that’s probably it.”

If UFC Would Help RIZIN FF Come Back To America:

“I like Sakakibara, even when we were really hardcore competitors he was a fun guy to compete with. I don’t know. I’m not saying that I would but I’m not saying that I wouldn’t either. At the time that we competed, when UFC and PRIDE were first coming up, it was such a different time in the sport. I don’t know.”

Clarifying UFC’s Position On ‘Long-Term Health Care’ For Fighters:

“Listen, we’re working on stuff like that all the time. We’re working on this brain stuff. We’ve been spending millions of dollars on brain stuff for years and now all this psychedelic stuff is happening. So we’re trying to figure out, a lot of guys are interested in that, we think a lot of guys are interested. We’re always looking to make things better, safer for the fighters. I don’t know about health care forever. Does anyone have a job where they get health care forever when they leave? That’s pretty crazy. Let’s all go work there. I don’t think anybody does it.”

Whether UFC Will Hold ‘Fight Nights’ Outside The APEX:

“I’m going to ride the rest of the year out at the Apex. If everything opens … I don’t know. The answer is I’m just looking at doing the Apex. If things go the other way much faster than it’s looking like it’s gonna, maybe I would travel some of the fight nights. But as of now I’m not planning on it. It’s just easier to stay home and do what we’re doing now. Not saying it’s the right thing to do.”

“I keep telling you guys it’s like these people still sitting at home with a nice shirt and no pants doing Zoom calls all day. That’s what the Apex is like for us. We do need to get back out there and start going to do different Fight Nights in different arenas, but I’m cool doing them at the Apex for the rest of the year.”

For complete UFC 263: “Adesanya vs. Vettori 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE.

“At the end of the day, I feel like he won but I’m the better fighter still regardless. The peak of the fight is what matters in the fight.”

Nate Diaz must be the only man on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster who can lose 23 minutes of a 25-minute fight and still walk out with everyone feeling like he won via some mysterious street law judging criteria.

For four rounds, Edwards played it smart and kept Diaz on the outside, winning the war of exchanges when the Stockton slugger was forced to close the distance and lunge in. But in round-five, Diaz caught Edwards with his patented right Stockton slap to left cross combo and rocked the Brit. For the final 90 seconds, he stalked Edwards and nearly put him away.

It redeemed a performance that felt a bit lackadaisical, something Diaz blamed on that month delay caused by a bad cut suffered in camp.

“I got cut in training that’s why we had to push the fight back,” Diaz said during the UFC 263 post-fight press conference. “I kind of lost all motivation to train and work out hard and all that, so I kind of just lingered around for a month waiting for war. At the end of the day, I feel like he won but I’m the better fighter still regardless. The peak of the fight is what matters in the fight, no hate on Leon, congrats to him and why would you fight anyone but the top guy if you’re gonna fight at all? I wish it would have gone my way but it’s all good.

“I know he knows how to get through fights and win fights, and this is the highest level of fight, so that’s cool,” he continued. “I just kind of winged it all, kind of walking through that fight trying to get to that next point in this whole game. I didn’t feel like I was ever in any danger, of course I got cut and that f—king sucks but I was unmotivated in training and I was just trying not to use any energy anywhere, I was just cruise controlling.”

As for what Diaz thought of the final moments where he finally took the upper hand?

“I thought the fight was a wrap,” Diaz said with a laugh. “In a real fight, in the real world, that fight’s a wrap. He was sleepwalking.”

This was Nate’s first fight since losing to Jorge Masvidal in Nov. 2019, so a big question on everyone’s mind was how long it’d be before the mercurial younger Diaz brother might return for another fight. Sometimes he turns things around in three months. Other times it’s three years.

“I wanna fight in three or four months, I’m ready to hop back in there,” Diaz declared. “Just heal up, if I was unscathed I’d come back in next week. I was just unmotivated to train because I already put in all the hard work for the fight in Texas where it was supposed to be and then I had to linger on for another f—king month and that just sucked. Whatever, roll with the punches. Do what I had to do to get here.

“I don’t have anybody in mind, I’m going to go back home and look at what’s poppin’, who’s doing what, and whoever wants to fight. Let it be known, if it makes sense and it’s a good idea for both parties, let’s dance,” he concluded.

Of course, no press conference would be complete without a question about fighting one of the Paul brothers. Following the fight Jake Paul threw down the gauntlet and said he wanted to fight Diaz after he fights Tyron Woodley, and Nate seemed mildly open to the idea if a bit more excited about boxing legend Andre Ward declaring him a real threat in boxing.

“Hey, those are all options,” he said. “And it’s great to hear Andre Ward talk about me, he’s one of the greatest of all time in boxing, I believe, pound for pound that’s the man so it’s cool that I’m getting recognition from him at all.”

With Diaz’s head once again a hamburger mess of scar tissue, we doubt he’ll return until the end of 2021. But, with that last-minute rally against Edwards proving in many fans’ minds that he can hang with the boys at the top of the 170-pound division, there’s a lot of interesting options for Nate’s future.

For complete UFC 263: “Adesanya vs. Vettori 2” results and play-by-play, click HERE.

UFC president Dana White has some good news regarding Jamahal Hill’s nasty injury at UFC 263.

Another seemingly nasty injury happened at a UFC pay-per-view event. During the main card opener of Saturday’s UFC 263, light heavyweight Jamahal Hill found himself in a nasty armbar at the hands of Paul Craig.

Hill’s left arm looked badly bent after he got out of the submission. Some speculated it to be broken just by how mangled it appeared to be.

During the post-fight presser, UFC president Dana White confirmed otherwise, saying Hill’s arm was just dislocated and had been popped back in.

“If you can believe this one, ‘cause I can’t f—ng believe it. Jamahal Hill’s arm was not broken,” White told reporters. “It was dislocated. They popped it back in and he has full range of motion, and the guy’s OK. That’s nuts.”

Many are holding local Arizona referee Al Guinee responsible for supposedly failing to stop the fight at the right time. White, who’s usually vocal about his opinions about officiating mishaps, refused to say anything that could create friction with the Arizona athletic commission. He did, however, have some words for Guinee, whom he described as “the Arizona Mazzagatti.”

“If you don’t know a guy’s arm is broken… When an arm is flopping around like this and going both ways, he should probably stop the fight.”

Hill says he’s ‘OK’ despite what happened, as he also came to referee Guinee’s defense.

As for Craig, he won $50,000 for Performance of the Night.