Jump to content

General Combat Sports Dodginess


wandshogun09

Recommended Posts

  • Paid Members
40 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

Are there any names who have come out in support of Andrew Tate? 

A few. Jamahal Hill, Aljamain Sterling, Uriah Hall and Phil Rowe here. Sterling being the most disappointing for me. And of course Jake Shields. 

6CB48427-38A3-4DB3-982C-C8DEE682C375.jpeg

83257F40-BB9B-426D-8131-AB0ABEB182E2.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To add to the Aldo being a dickhead stuff. From MMAJunkie

"Aldo, from Brazil, is one of many MMA fighters from the country who publicly supported Bolsonaro while he was in office. Darren Till was born in England, but spent years living, training and fighting in Brazil. He announced his support for Bolsonaro in 2017 well before the election that saw him take office. Paulo Costa is another UFC fighter who has been outspoken with support for Bolsonaro, as have prominent fighters like Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Rafael dos Anjos, Royce Gracie, and Ronaldo Souza."

Edited by Cousin Jim Bob
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Depressing to know that RDA is amongst that number.

I'm just praying that Glover Teixeira isn't one of those cunts. 

How do people justify supporting a literal fascist?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
1 minute ago, David said:

It's rooted in nationalism usually, is it not? Same with Trump in the US.

True, but it's not exactly the same. Trump is a piece of shit, but he, like other right-wingers, operates under various pretexts that enable him to still claim he's democratic or still respects a minimum of human rights, because he knows that saying anything outright would ruin his chances of election.

Bolsonaro has openly stated, publicly and without regret, that the various fascist regimes of Latin America should have killed more people - he actually stated that the Brazilian regime made the mistake of "only torturing and not killing people". He's advocated murder and torture on numerous occasions, and has said that he would stage a coup to install a military regime and abolish congress. No pretexts, no inferences, he's outright said it.

I mean: I'm not naive. I know that the people who support Trump and Bolsonaro are broadly the same in their politics. Just that one side has a tendency to hide behind dog-whistles and excuses, and the other is just brazen and shameless. I guess I'm not really surprised.

I suppose I'm just used to living in a world where people with a media profile used to be careful about expressing support for fascists and Nazis, because it usually used to cost them dearly. But I did make the mistake of forgetting that it's Brazil: their education system and their history means they most likely don't have the same horror of the extreme right that Europe has. Not to mention Brazil has a long history of horrendous racism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
40 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

How do people justify supporting a literal fascist?

AGAB - All Gracies Are Bastards.

There's a long, long history of MMA and BJJ cosying up to Brazilian nationalism and fascism, it should come as no surprise at all. Helio was a member of a fascist party back in the '30s, Renzo has flirted with holocaust denial and general Neo-Nazi bullshit. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

True, but it's not exactly the same. Trump is a piece of shit, but he, like other right-wingers, operates under various pretexts that enable him to still claim he's democratic or still respects a minimum of human rights, because he knows that saying anything outright would ruin his chances of election.

Bolsonaro has openly stated, publicly and without regret, that the various fascist regimes of Latin America should have killed more people - he actually stated that the Brazilian regime made the mistake of "only torturing and not killing people". He's advocated murder and torture on numerous occasions, and has said that he would stage a coup to install a military regime and abolish congress. No pretexts, no inferences, he's outright said it.

I mean: I'm not naive. I know that the people who support Trump and Bolsonaro are broadly the same in their politics. Just that one side has a tendency to hide behind dog-whistles and excuses, and the other is just brazen and shameless. I guess I'm not really surprised.

I suppose I'm just used to living in a world where people with a media profile used to be careful about expressing support for fascists and Nazis, because it usually used to cost them dearly. But I did make the mistake of forgetting that it's Brazil: their education system and their history means they most likely don't have the same horror of the extreme right that Europe has. Not to mention Brazil has a long history of horrendous racism.

Without sounding like a knob, could some of it be cultural? Being raised in squalor in the favelas of Brazil, as many of these MMA fighters were, will lend itself a different mindset than someone raised in the western world? 

It's a different world in countries like Brazil, especially when you consider that many of these fighters formative years were in the 80's or even 70's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If by cultural you mean racism then yes. Racism is rife in Brazil where black people are expected to know their place in the hierarchy. Couple that with the alpha male bullshit that is rife in combat sports and that’s fertile ground for fascism. They see Bolsonaro as a strong man and not weak like others so that resonates with racist meatheads. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
1 hour ago, David said:

Without sounding like a knob, could some of it be cultural? Being raised in squalor in the favelas of Brazil, as many of these MMA fighters were, will lend itself a different mindset than someone raised in the western world? 

It's a different world in countries like Brazil, especially when you consider that many of these fighters formative years were in the 80's or even 70's.

1 hour ago, Keith Houchen said:

If by cultural you mean racism then yes. Racism is rife in Brazil where black people are expected to know their place in the hierarchy. Couple that with the alpha male bullshit that is rife in combat sports and that’s fertile ground for fascism. They see Bolsonaro as a strong man and not weak like others so that resonates with racist meatheads. 

Yup. People don't quite realise just how bad racism in Brazil is; I only have any kind of idea from having spoken to friends of my dad, who were political activists back in the day.

Also, the favelas are such that they lend themselves to a survivalist mentality, which in turn often manifests in extreme right-wing perspectives.

Another thing to bear in mind is that Brazil doesn't have as entrenched a history of democracy or popular revolution as other new(ish) countries - it first became independent from Portugal as a monarchy, the Empire of Brazil, ruled by the former crown prince of Portugal, and then by his son. They don't quite have the same narrative against absolute or autocratic rule.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's all this kind of stuff is why I try my best to avoid the personal news regarding fighters. I like MMA, and if I invested time in the people behind the raised fists I'd probably dislike about 95% of them, which would sour my enjoyment of the sport. Which isn't to be surprising, considering we're talking about people who punch each other in the face for a living. I guess it's not the kind of "sport" that attracts the more liberal, intelligent among society.

I tend to try to restrict my interest and support of fighters to their in-cage abilities. This is made easier by the fact that unlike a football team or other sports, I don't invest financially in MMA beyond paying for BT Sports really.

It sucks, but I think it's necessary for anyone of any kind of mental intelligence or morality if they wish to enjoy MMA. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
17 hours ago, David said:

It's all this kind of stuff is why I try my best to avoid the personal news regarding fighters. I like MMA, and if I invested time in the people behind the raised fists I'd probably dislike about 95% of them, which would sour my enjoyment of the sport. Which isn't to be surprising, considering we're talking about people who punch each other in the face for a living. I guess it's not the kind of "sport" that attracts the more liberal, intelligent among society.

I tend to try to restrict my interest and support of fighters to their in-cage abilities. This is made easier by the fact that unlike a football team or other sports, I don't invest financially in MMA beyond paying for BT Sports really.

It sucks, but I think it's necessary for anyone of any kind of mental intelligence or morality if they wish to enjoy MMA. 

No, you're absolutely right. I'm definitely feeling that right now, especially as, in recent months, one of the more frequent topics I've had to raise in counselling is the impact that politics has had on my mental health the past few years. It's become increasingly apparent that I have to find some way to insulate and/or distance myself from politics in any sphere in which they're not directly relevant. It's difficult, because I was raised to see politics as being intrinsic to life in general, that one's politics is indicative of one's values and morality, so it's proving not so easy to divorce that from my experiences of things where it's not particularly important.

I try to remind myself that we're not likely to see the most intelligent or knowledgeable insights from people who make a living from getting punched in the head.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...