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[Thread] Being someone who has actually competed in the ring & the 'cage', it is not just about QAnon, it is also about ethnonationalism. However, it is also important not to draw misleading conclusions, as they may direct the hate towards the whole sport and its protagonists. https://twitter.com/milleridriss/status/1340067934375456771
Many current and former UFC/MMA fighters (Cub Swanson, Gary Goodridge, Jeff Monson and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, to name a few) have all been vocal supporters of "leftist" organizations. Many UFC fighters have called for establishing a fighters' union.
My own experience of competing in several countries has shown that, e.g. MMA and kickboxing gyms in The UK are likely to be supporters of the Labour (or even hardcore socialists). The support for QAnon in the UFC and also by its very leadership is worrying indeed.
However, the picture is, as always, incomplete. The individual "nature" of combat sports brings about a distinguishable logic of the protestant ethics and the imaginary of a "self-made warrior" that follows it.
At the same time, the conditions in which fighters "operate" (a raw meat for entertainment) and the treatment they get from the promoters means they are susceptible to the "resentment" sentiment that (left-right) populism capitalizes on.
