- Tony Kelley made a controversial comment about Brazilian fighters at UFC Vegas 54
- Brazilian MMA stars hit out at Kelley on social media
- “PrimeTime” insists he was not being racist
Andrea Lee made the headlines but not because of her performance at UFC Vegas 54 against fellow women’s flyweight contender, Viviane Araujo. Instead, it was due to the controversial comment of her head cornerman and UFC bantamweight, Tony Kelley about Brazilian fighters.
It appears the corner of Andrea Lee has lost some of its respect within the MMA community after Saturday’s fight.
Lee landed the headed kick, then Araujo flipped the script 🤯
Onto round 2️⃣ in this back-and-forth fight! #UFCVegas54 pic.twitter.com/CwfR35iRQu
— UFC (@ufc) May 15, 2022
Brazilians want the smoke
After the first round of the bout, Kelley was handing out some usual reminders to Lee during the break when he suddenly uttered “dirty f*cking Brazilians” as he spoke to his pupil.
“That’s what they’re going to do – they’re dirty f*cking Brazilians,” Kelley told Lee. “They’re going to f*cking cheat like that.”
Check it out below:
As expected, a number of Brazilian MMA stars were angered by Kelley’s seemingly racist comment and let him have it on social media. Among them was UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns, former Bellator bantameweight champion Dudu Dantas and current Bellator women’s featherweight champion Chris Cyborg.
Here’s what they had to say:
I don’t like to talk bad abt corners, not an easy job, but Lee corner need a lot study to do #UFCVegas54
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 15, 2022
Tony do you even fight bro? https://t.co/0YPBdATXWo
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 15, 2022
My guy @yanezmma get a finish on your next fight and I will send you an extra money 💰 #UFCVegas54 ✊🏾🇧🇷
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 15, 2022
This is what happens when your corner has a shrimp brain.🤮💩 A real idiot!
#UFCVegas54 Isso é o que acontece quando o seu corner tem cabeça de camarão. Um verdadeiro idiota. #Ufcnocombate @Luciandrade @RenzoGracieBJJ pic.twitter.com/Mtyd8YoxO5— Dudu Dantas (@DuduDantasMMA) May 15, 2022
“That's what they're going to do”…Congratulations @ViviAraujoMMA obrigado por calar essa boca do treinador gringo @canalCombate
— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) May 15, 2022
🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
Aaayyyyyy 🔥 🔥 🔥
But this finish will be on the house 👊🏼 https://t.co/0jPcWRxjiQ— Adrian Yañez (@yanezmma) May 15, 2022
Already wanted a finish, but now it'll be more satisfying.
— Adrian Yañez (@yanezmma) May 15, 2022
Kelley cleared the air
Due to the backlash, Kelley was prompted to address the issue and explained his side of the story. According to “PrimeTime,” he was in no way being a racist when he mentioned “Brazilians” and he was just a victim of the new online trend called “cancel culture.” He also pointed out that the “dirty” comment was because of an alleged eye poke from Araujo.
“Cancel Culture is real,” Kelley wrote on Twitter. “What I said was real and in the heat of battle, and in no way had any type of racist connotations meant…but if that’s the way you take it, [I don’t give a f***]. So many people quick to say racist..that s***’s getting so old. My reference was to a dirty eye poke.”
Cancel Culture is real. What I said was real and in the heat of battle, and in no way had any type of racist connotations meant…but if that’s the way you take it, idgaf. So many people quick to say racist..that shits getting so old. My reference was to a dirty eye poke.
— Tony Kelley (@TonyKelleyMMA) May 15, 2022
In the end, it was Araujo who got the judges nod, beating Lee via unanimous decision.
