‘We Are In Danger, All Of Us’

The Amazon rainforest is on fire, and continues to burn despite the fact that it’s getting a decent amount of press and concern.

Like that messed up situation where 168 million gallons of oil spilled into the ocean during the Deepwater Horizon disaster, there doesn’t seem to be a lot the average person can do about the situation … other than highlight it and call for change in the world. That’s exactly what Bellator bantamweight Alejandra Lara did leading into her fight at Bellator 225.

Lara became the star of the event’s weigh-ins after writing messages on her body bringing awareness to the situation in Brazil. “Stop deforestation” was one. “Respect Nature” and “Respect Animals” ended up on her biceps. “#SOSAmazonis” poked out from her bottoms. “Our lungs are on fire” and “Salva La Selva” (Save the jungle) were on her thighs. Most urgently, there was “WE ARE IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION!”

The images went viral and Lara backed up her words with action on fight night by starching her opponent Taylor Turner 3:44 into the first round with some mean ground and pound. Afterward she spoke to MMA Fighting about the Amazon rainforest message.

“It’s something that just came from me,” she said. “Like the [pre-fight] dancing, it’s something that I feel I have inside. It’s just my way to be with the world. It’s my way to relate to the world. It’s something that goes to the people who can accept it and that’s it.”

“Some people react with some hate but you can give what you have inside you,” she said. “I don’t feel like the bad reactions … I’m glad some people say, ‘Thank you for that, thank you for thinking not just about winning and getting money.’ It’s what can I do for my world. I felt it was an emergency for doing something. We are in danger, all of us. If we don’t do something now, it’s going to be too late.”

“I just want everyone to know that every single thing you can do in your every day, counts,” she told MMA Junkie. “I try to do it every day, I try to reduce my impact in the world, I try to respect nature, to respect animals and I think that counts.”

While individual action and choices can indeed make an impact, at this point we need to make fundamental changes to the way we allow industry to pillage and destroy natural resources. The Amazon rainforest fires are a direct result of Brazil’s aggressive push into the Amazon basin to utilize the land for farming and lumber.

Can individual decisions actually stop those industries from continuing to push the environment to the brink of destruction? I’d argue no, but then again we are talking about this because a previously unheralded WMMA fighter decided to exercise her individual power to speak out.

Lara’s successful move up to bantamweight snaps a two fight losing streak and improves to 8-3.