Shaun King published a lengthy piece Tuesday claiming that legendary UFC fight Conor McGregor is a racist.
The piece, which was published for the New York Daily News, is titled, “KING: MMA star Conor McGregor is a bigot — but he’s been given a free pass.”
In the article King argues that people shouldn’t endorse McGregor because of things he has said during promotional events to hype his fights.
He wrote in part:
See, I don’t think McGregor is faking his bigotry come fight time. I think it’s most likely a reflection of who he truly is.
Leading up to his 2015 match against Brazilian fighter Jose Aldo, McGregor repeatedly resorted to disgustingly bigoted attacks. In a reference to colonialism, McGregor said, “If this was a different time, I would invade his favela on horseback and kill anyone that was not fit to work.” McGregor later said, “What I really want to do is turn his favela into a Reebok sweatshop.” McGregor also said of Aldo, in an apparent joke targeting Latinos, “I think I’m going to have him come and clean up my airplane.”
Any one of those comments should have been enough to have every mainstream company he works with drop his endorsements.
Since it looks like Colin Kaepernick will never step foot on a professional football field again, King has found a new subject in sports so he can remain relevant.
Meanwhile, McGregor will pocket about $100 million when he fights Floyd Mayweather August 26 in a boxing match in Las Vegas.