In a revealing conversation with former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson, flyweight contender Manel Kape shared his previous prejudices about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, stemming from homophobic beliefs that initially prevented him from embracing the martial art.
The Angolan athlete, who is scheduled to headline UFC Vegas 103 against Asu Almabayev, admitted to once dismissing BJJ entirely. “I swear. I think this Jiu-Jitsu is bullsh*t, and I say, ‘This Jiu-Jitsu is gay, a very gay style.’ And he (training partner) tells me, ‘This is not gay,'” Kape confessed during the interview.
Kape’s controversial statements align with recent concerning trends in the MMA community, where similar discriminatory remarks have gone largely unchecked. This past September, following his victory over Felipe dos Santos in Australia, Kape made headlines for using homophobic slurs during a post-fight interview, directing them at City Kickboxing star Kai Kara-France and his teammates.
UFC CEO Dana White’s response to the incident was notably lenient. “You know me, we didn’t run over to [Kape] and say, ‘You better apologize.’ He did that on his own when he got backstage. He was embarrassed and got caught up in the moment,” White stated to the media.
The interview itself became more controversial as Johnson, the interviewer, shared his own problematic views regarding LGBTQ+ family members. “I have a sister who is a lesbian, my brother he likes men. It’s a hard subject…I keep it real tho. I tell my brother all the time, dog don’t be coming over here with that gay s**t,” Johnson remarked.
Critics and social media commentators have pointed out how such incidents reflect a broader issue within the sport. As one Twitter user, Jay Dasgupta, noted, “This is that weird kind of homophobia where people pretend they aren’t homophobic while constantly saying homophobic s*it.”
The UFC’s ‘free speech’ approach has faced criticism for allowing such behavior to continue without meaningful consequences, leading to what many see as a permissive environment for discriminatory rhetoric within the sport.
