Although he still stuck by what he said, Cody Durden apologized if he offended anyone with his comments following his win.
Durden outpointed Qileng Aori in their flyweight encounter which took place on the UFC Vegas 43 prelims at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas last night.
However, his performance and win was marred by his post-fight interview comments where he told Daniel Cormier that he had to send Aori “back to China where he came from.”
There was an awkward pause afterwards while many fighters such as Julian Marquez, Belal Muhammad, Jamahal Hill, Casey O’Neil and more blasting Durden on social media for his racially-motivated comments.
However, in his post-fight press conference, Durden didn’t seem to care too much about the severity of his comments.
“If they don’t like it, do something,” Durden said. “Sign the contract, it doesn’t matter to me. I said what I said and it is what it is. Yeah, emotions were high. It’s the fight business. He’s punching me in the face and I was punching him in the face. It’s his family or mine, and tonight my family eats.”
“No,” Durden added when asked if there were any racial connotations. “No, man, it’s all good.”
Nothing less than what we expected from these two 👀🧨
[ #UFCVegas43 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/bLHkfYHHKJ
— UFC (@ufc) November 20, 2021
POWER SHOTS in the final seconds of RD 2 👊💥
[ #UFCVegas43 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/hPuIvz5Oca
— UFC (@ufc) November 20, 2021
Durden Explains Heated Emotions, Apologizes If He Offended Anyone
That said, Durden did take to social media soon after as he explained where the animosity with Aori came from. He also apologized if he offended anyone with his comments.
“Listen, the guy was disrespectful, and wouldn’t shake my hand at the weigh ins. After beating him, I simply meant he could go home wherever that may have been. I apologize if I offended anyone, that certainly was not my intention!! I love you all! See you at the top. @ufc”
Listen, the guy was disrespectful, and wouldn’t shake my hand at the weigh ins. After beating him, I simply meant he could go home wherever that may have been. I apologize if I offended anyone, that certainly was not my intention!! I love you all! See you at the top. @ufc
— Cody Durden (@Cody_Durden) November 20, 2021
While he did explain that, he has a lot more explaining to do after fans dug up some more questionable tweets from Durden many years ago.
explain these then Cody pic.twitter.com/vmjFxYIk7t
— Patrick McCorry (@Patrick_McCorry) November 21, 2021
Hmmmm but this?! Hmmmmmmm pic.twitter.com/PMT4Cudg8t
— ⚡️C A K E S ⚡️ (@C8K3x) November 21, 2021
You can watch his full post-fight press conference below:
