Tag: Marcelo Rojo

Brandon Moreno’s cornerman, Marcelo Rojo, has issued an apology after he posted several racist images aimed at Deiveson Figueiredo – in which Rojo has replaced Figueiredo’s face with that of a monkey. 

Rojo, who is a UFC fighter himself, told MMA Fighting that he didn’t know that referring to Figueiredo as a monkey would be considered racist.

“I apologize to everybody, to people I don’t even know,” Rojo wrote in a text message. “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 mustache 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,” Rojo added. “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.

Earlier this week, Argentina president Alberto Fernandez caused controversy by saying that “Mexicans emerged from Indigenous people, Brazilians emerged from the jungle but we Argentines arrived on boats.” Fernandes later apologized on Twitter, writing “I didn’t set out to offend, but in any case, if anyone felt offended or made invisible, I offer an apology.”

“I know it was a weird situation ‘cause I’m from Argentina … And also in Argentina the stupid president was taking about that things,” Rojo wrote. “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.”

Rojo is currently 0-1 in the UFC and is set to face Kevin Croom on August 28. He was in the corner as Moreno won the flyweight title at UFC 263 last night

Do you think Marcelo Rojo made a genuine mistake and inadvertently posted racist images on social media?