Tony Kelley has received widespread criticism from the MMA community for comments he made while cornering Andrea Lee against Viviane Araujo at UFC on ESPN 36 on Saturday.
Cameras captured Kelley making what were widely perceived to be derogatory remarks toward Brazilians as he coached Lee between rounds at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Araujo is from Ceilandia, Brazil.
“That’s what they’re gonna do,” Kelley said. “They’re dirty f——ing Brazilians. They’re going to f—-ing cheat like that.”
Among those who called out the UFC fighter on social media were Cristiane Justino, Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. Upcoming opponent Adrian Yanez also criticized Kelley. Kelley has since responded to the backlash his comments received. “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 dont give a f—-k]. So many people quick to say racist..that [shit’s] getting so old. My reference was to a dirty eye poke.”
Lee ultimately lost a unanimous decision to Araujo in their flyweight bout at UFC on ESPN 36. The 35-year-old Kelley is coming off back-to-back victories against Ali AlQaisi and Randy Costa in UFC competition. His bout against Yanez is slated for UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin on June 18.
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