Troubling silence over fighting talk
On Monday, Australian NRL star Jarryd Hayne was found guilty of sexual assault and is destined for a jail cell, his actions condemned by a legal system that represents all Australians.
The message sent is that sexual violence is such a travesty of the law, the law breaker must be locked up for his own punishment and the protection of society.
What then should we make of UFC middleweight world champion Israel Adesanya threatening on his social media channels to rape a rival?
If murder, manslaughter and threatening to kill are all crimes, threatening to rape should be worthy of condemnation? You’d think so, yet the silence within the sport has been deafening.
‘‘Bro, I will f .... n rape you,’’ Adesanya posted in a video to his Instagram story directed at fellow UFC middleweight Kevin Holland, who criticised Adesanya in an offensive manner last week.
His post is no longer visible. Yesterday afternoon he tweeted ‘‘Incoming clickbait NZ media in
3, 2, 1...’’
It is not the first time Adesanya has lashed back at an UFC fighter, he once told Jon Jones ‘‘Don’t mention my father. I don’t give a f..k if your mom is dead.’’
So far, the only discouraging words uttered to Stuff in two days of chasing have been from a rape prevention group.
‘‘These kind of comments where rape is used as a threat create a culture where it is acceptable to make sexualised comments with the potential to cause further harm.’’
No Adesanya-related sports organisation contacted by Stuff had anything to say.
So the normalising of rape to
4.6 million Instagram followers by a charismatic world champion was – if not accepted – left unchallenged.
Ducked. Eluded. Ignored. So, on the one hand Adesanya uses his profile to crusade for causes that do a lot of good for a lot of people and he’s good to his mum, yet on the other he uses that profile to make utterances ‘‘with the potential to cause further harm’’.
Here is what Stuff was told in two days:
■ UFC: Organisers Ultimate Fighting Championship did not wish to fight this one. Adesanya was in quarantine and could not comment, Stuff was told. So, he is able to post on social media, just not speak about it.
■ City Kickboxing (where the fighter is based): It’s not a story, it’s clickbait.
■ Israel Adesanya: Tweeted yesterday after the story broke, ‘‘Incoming clickbait NZ media in
3, 2, 1...’’ with a popcorn eating meme.
■ Puma: Adesanya signed with sports gear giants Puma last year, as its first Mixed Martial Arts athlete. Puma has been asked to comment. Stuff was referred to Puma HQ in Germany.
■ Halberg Awards :Inan awkward position, as they have no influence over Adesanya, but he is in the running to be Sportsman of the Decade.
So in total, an elite and powerful athlete has said he will rape another UFC fighter and the net response is zero. Sorry, it’s not enough to say that’s how the UFC rolls, that it’s a tough and edgy sport.
It still has social responsibility. It should still condemn poor behaviour by its own. It looks as if it’s simply a case of money talking louder than the pain of those who have suffered (and will suffer) rape.
Core UFC fans may not care about that, but others (count me in) will feel uncomfortable, finding it harder to support Adesanya, less inclined to pay to watch the UFC, or swallow to his views on other matters.
We have here a powerful, talented athlete who is raking it in for the UFC, his gym his
sponsor, and himself, who seems to say anything that crosses his mind, and it’s all acceptable.
What we have elsewhere is NBA side Miami Heat trading off player Meyers Leonard a week after he uttered an anti-Semitic slur while he live-streamed himself playing a video game.
Miami called his comments ‘‘very hurtful and disappointing.’’
What we have elsewhere is world golf No 3 Justin Thomas saying he ‘‘deeply apologises’’ to ‘‘everybody and anybody’’ who was offended, after using a homophobic slur on air.
His apology was on the halfhearted side but it was better than nothing.
And nothing is what the UFC, City Kickboxing, Puma or Adesanya have offered so far.
We have here a powerful, talented athlete . . . who seems to say anything that crosses his mind, and it’s all acceptable.