Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
A UFC press conference saw Woodley answer every question with some form of Black Lives Matter, and his MAGA screaming opponent call him racist.
Tyron Woodley made a big statement during his time in the spotlight at Thursday’s UFC Vegas 11 press conference.
Ahead of his main event bout this weekend, the former welterweight champion showed up to the media event wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt and a red hat that said “Make Racists Catch the Fade Again.”
Instead of using the time to promote and talk about himself, his bout, or his preparations, Woodley redirected everything to an important social issue. When he fielded questions from the reporters in attendance, every single question was met with some form of answer involving the phrase “Black Lives Matter.”
“I’m just excited that black lives matter.”
“I feel like a victory here, just really shows how much black lives matter”
“No, I wasn’t surprised, especially since black lives matter.”
“I just hope they realize black lives matter.”
Even when reporters started catching on and asked him specifically about Black Lives Matter, Woodley had a pretty direct answer to which parts of the movement he also “wants to shine a light on.”
“Just the fact that black lives matter. I think it’s pretty simple.”
Watch the video below:
When it was his opponent’s turn to speak, Colby Covington gave a somewhat unsurprising response. The MAGA hat wearing fighter, who has heavily marketed himself toward Donald Trump’s right-wing base, saw what happened and then called Woodley a racist.
“He’s trying to copy what I do,” Covington said, while wearing a Keep America Great hat signed by the President. “He’s wearing some hat that says whatever is said, ‘make racists fade again.’ The only person that’s catching a fade is Tyron Woodley on Saturday night.
“He’s the only one that’s racist,” he said. “And the only race that’s in this fight, is the race to get him out of the UFC.”
Covington is just one of many UFC personalities who have gone all in trying to campaign for Trump’s re-election. He was recently with UFC President Dana White, Justin Gaethje and Henry Cejudo at Trump’s campaign rally in Nevada.