Cody Durden may have won his flyweight bout against Chinese fighter Qileng Aori earlier today (Sat., Nov. 20, 2021) at UFC Vegas 43 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, but the Georgia native lost a ton of fans in the process.
The fight itself was a true slugfest featuring two fighters trying to capture their first Octagon win. Durden pulled out to an early lead with his wrestling before tiring and allowing Qileng to land some big shots on the feet. In the third and deciding round, Durden was able to take the fight back down to the ground to lock up the unanimous decision win.
Durden’s performance was all well and good, but it was his post-fight comment that has everyone calling for his head.
“I had to send him back to China where he came from,” Durden blurted out during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. The remark came out of left field and forced Cormier to cut off the interview and simply walk away.
Following the incident, Twitter went into a frenzy over Durden’s comment and rightfully so. Check out some of the reaction below:
And Cody Durden loses any good will that he may have earned after saying that he wanted to “send his opponent back to China”.
Not a good look at all.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) November 20, 2021
I guess he won’t be getting those IG followers now. Ouch. #forgivemyfriendhesdrunk #UFCVegas43
— Din Thomas (@DinThomas) November 20, 2021
Welp. I don’t need to watch anymore UFC today. Gonna go help bears find peace.
— esther lin ?? (@allelbows) November 20, 2021
Even Colby cringed at Durden’s go back to China post fight interview
— E. Casey Leydon (@ekc) November 20, 2021
And the sinophobia rolls on as the Chinese fighters continue to fill the role of The Iron Sheik for many in this space… who saw this coming
— Dan Tom (@DanTomMMA) November 20, 2021
FUCK CODY DURDEN! Racism is never cool POS #ufcvegas43
— Casey Oneill (@kingcaseymma) November 20, 2021
Cody Durden, that’s a quick way to lose any fans you may have had. Idiot. #UFCVegas43
— Sean Madden (@seanMFmadden) November 20, 2021
Some hick UFC fighter just bragged about sending his opponent back to China where he came from. Normal Saturday afternoon.
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) November 20, 2021
Well that dudes a cunt. #ufcvegas43
— Julian marquez (@JMarquezMMA) November 20, 2021
Dudes a real POS, I’ll gladly punch him in the face!! https://t.co/McLXd8puSh
— Jeff Molina (@jmolina_125) November 20, 2021
Cody Durden making white people look dumb again
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) November 20, 2021
I don’t like Cody Durden racist comment in his interview. Should I smash this guy for my UFC debut? @UFCEurope @ufc
— Muhammad Mokaev (@muhammadmokaev) November 20, 2021
For complete UFC Vegas 43 results and coverage click HERE.