The UFC has been getting a lot of flack lately. Whether it is denying an one-armed undefeated man to compete within the organization or for refusing to allow a transgender woman to compete, people have been voicing their distaste for the organization. ChaelSage Chael Sonnen, a Caucasian UFC fighter, was on ESPN to promote a fight he has coming up against Jon Jones when in the middle of the interview he asked to touch the anchor’s hair. This all seemed harmless so Sage Steele, the African American anchor, leaned her head forward and allowed Sonnen to touch her hair, to which he responded “That’s real hair, people! Soft too!” There is something you do need to know about Sonnen – he comes across as very ignorant on his twitter. When faced with another opponent from Brazil, Chael mocked the fighter’s religious beliefs and those of his country. Many people found Sonnen’s actions to be racist and extremely offensive. Others have pointed out that if Sonnen was an athlete within the NFL, NBA, or MLB he would have been reprimanded and punished, even loosing endorsements for his actions. I have to first say that I’m Caucasian and cannot even being to understand the stigma that goes with African American hair. I thought Chael’s actions were completely uncalled for and very inappropriate. To ask an African American woman if you can touch their hair and then announce that it is real is just beyond offensive. What Sonnen did was both racist and sexist. If he had done the same thing to a Caucasian anchor, people would say he was being sexist. Why is it that this kind of behavior is OK to do to female reporters, why is it that these things are mostly just laughed off? It felt as if Sage Steele didn’t know how to react in the situation and she seems slightly uncomfortable afterwards. While I understand that the UFC won’t punish Chael for his behavior (they haven’t in the past), I do hope he’s learned something from it. I hoped he’s learned that touching someone of a different ethnicity’s hair is inappropriate and acting surprised by it’s texture and authenticity is considered racist. To do this action to a female anchor is considered sexist. I can bet you that he wouldn’t have tried the same tactic on a male anchor.

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