Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Zuffa will be banning Hoelzer Reich from the Octagon in both the UFC and WEC.
World Extreme Cagefighting general manager Reed Harris told Cagewriter that Zuffa fighters will no longer be allowed to wear Hoelzer Reich clothing in their fights. (Zuffa owns both the UFC and WEC.)
Payout Perspective:
MMAPayout.com was looking to address the issue of Hoelzer Reich in a much larger piece on ethics in MMA, but the timeliness of the latest information cannot be ignored.
The ethical issue here is really most important. By continuing to allow Hoelzer Reich into the Octagon, the UFC would be inadvertently endorsing the countless atrocities committed by Nazi Germany against humanity. It would be a direct contradiction to what the UFC and MMA as a whole have come to stand for.
The people that suffered, and continue to suffer, because of racism simply deserve better.
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Zuffa has made a good decision – albeit a late one – in banning Hoelzer Reich from the Octagon. Even ignoring the ethical issues at play here, no professional sports organization of any kind can afford to be seen as “in support” of another organization that looks to be tied to racism, bigotry, or hate and discrimination of any kind. It is, perhaps, the only type of PR that really is not good PR.
In a way, it’s a little surprising that the UFC didn’t vet Hoelzer Reich a little more closely. Surely, the decision must have been approved by someone. How could that individual possibly believe this was acceptable?
Does anyone think the NFL would be caught dead within 100 miles of anything even remotely tied to racism or discrimination? Then, why was this allowed to happen in the first place?
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Bloodyelbow has done a good job of profiling a bit of the back and forth communication between MMA and Hoelzer Reich over the last few weeks. It would seem HR’s argument for using the German-inspired imagery is not only highly inconsistent, but also illogical.
The iron cross and other symbols may have existed prior to Nazi Germany, but that doesn’t mean they’re acceptable to use. Today, no one in the Western world would dare print the swastika on their clothing, and then try to pass it off because it, too, had been around long before the Nazis. But that’s essentially what Hoelzer Reich is saying.
I think its important that the UFC/Zuffa come to the right decisions rather than a quick decision. You dont want to react to quickly and ban them without looking into it very closely and risk offending another large group of people.
I have seen a handful of fighters over the years fight in UFC and Pride who has the Swastika tattooed on them. Most of them were from European contires where i believe the symbol had other meanings and the Nazis stole the symbol.
I thinks its wrong to like at the time it took for the ban to come. The UFC needed Due Diligence to make the proper ruling not a quick one.
It is interesting how a mistake like this can happen with all the attention the UFC pays to sponsors to begin with. Its not good to say all sponsors have to be pre approved by the UFC then claim something like this just slipped through the cracks.
I’m surprised it took this long. The owners came into my store the weekend of UFC 100 and pitched the line for us to carry. To say I was appalled at the designs does not even begin to describe my feelings.
My question is – what fighter in their right mind would allow themselves to be associated with this imagery. Are Mac Danzig and Donald Cerrone that in need of sponsors? Could a relatively small, no-name company like this actually pay them enough to make it worth their while?
Sorry, but someone representing these fighters should have intervened here.
That and the fact that Zuffa let these people in as sponsors and representatives of this industry are mind-boggling.
Since offensive imagery has become a hot topic recently, should a figher like Cain Velasquez and his prominent Brown Pride tattoo be subject to the same scrutiny? Monson sports a hammer and sickle tat and other anarchist symbols. Surely a supporter of communism at this point in history has to be aware of the misery and death toll visited upon the people that were subjected to it. A death toll that would be the envy of Hitler and the Third Reich. Or doesnt that count? Im sure a professed anarchist would be aware and therefore supprtive of the violent thuggery that goes on in that movement. I certainly hope you address those issues as well but like most “anti-racists”, you wont because its just a pose.
This seems like the symptom of a company that is stretched very thin right now. You could also see it this weekend in the production of the TUF show (director/producer audio making air, graphic instead of fight for 1-2 minutes).
Things like this slipping through the cracks is one of the costs of expansion/growth.