Best. Punch. Ever.
If anyone else can think of another time a larger person punching a smaller one on the street during a verbal confrontation has been more celebrated than world featherweight champ Cris Cyborg Justino’s alleged smacking of UFC strawweight Angela Magana, please let us know. We sure can’t.
In case you missed it, Magana incomprehensibly decided to make fun of Justino’s appearance as she volunteered with sick children at a hospital some time ago. When Justino actually came across Magana in the flesh at the recent UFC fighters retreat, she told Magana that she should respect people, and then – allegedly – punched her in the face.
If Justino did hit Magana, it certainly wasn’t with all her might. Magana didn’t fall, partied later that weekend with Snoop Dogg at a concert and posted photos of her own flawless face on social media. In any case, Magana has insisted she’s a victim, says she’s pressing criminal charges against Justino, and the only person who seems to be sympathizing with her is UFC president Dana White – who, like Magana, also regularly makes fun of other people’s appearances of others online.
In fact, White has hurled misogynistic insults Justino’s way in the past. Everyone else but Dana White seems to see how if Magana did get punched by Justino she had it coming.
Former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar said so. Retired former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate said she wished Justino had hit Magana harder than she was alleged to have.
Even Magana’s Alliance teammates Brandon Vera and Cat Zingano took Justino’s side in the altercation. That’s alright…perhaps they’re all in the wrong and White and Magana are the ones looking at this whole situation with sober, fair eyes.
Oh, and when Justino released a statement about the confrontation and said how she believes that someone like Magana learned it was acceptable to make fun of someone as they lift the spirits of children with cancer because White long ago set the discursive tone and bar dirt-low, she is right. It’s basic institutional norms psychology.
If the president of a company can call reporters he doesn’t like, faggots, and specifically female ones he despises dumb bitches, insult UFC fans about their looks and call Justino names because he doesn’t think she looks like he wants a woman to look, for example, everyone in the organization realizes that such hate speech and harassment is acceptable.
About the author:
Elias Cepeda is a host of Sports Illustrated’s Extra Rounds Podcast, a staff writer at FloCombat, and has a weekly column for The UG Blog.
