In response to President @realDonaldTrump’s recent alleged controversial comments on immigration, UFC heavyweight contender @Francis_Ngannou called Trump “a shame for America.” He said more, too. Hear his impassioned response below. #UFC220pic.twitter.com/qM6hJSqWYa
We are mere days away from Francis Ngannou rising to the biggest challenge of his career against Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 220. However, there is another fight going on for the surging contender involving our current political climate. Francis Ngannou was recently asked about president Donald Trump’s comments denouncing people coming from ‘sh-thole’ nations entering into the United States. What followed was an impassioned speech from the Cameroon native who knows firsthand the experiences of these immigrants.
“All those people that [Donald Trump] was talking about is people like us. It’s kind of difficult to accept a thing like that. To hear a thing like that. For myself, the goal for me was to lift [up] my country and see someone who just wants to break that dream, that hope that people are following. This guy is like a shame for America. America was built from immigration. America is the country that the poor people of the world look to like a model. Not expecting America to give them something, but just to look at them like an example. This country has been doing well with a great president like the last one Barack Obama — like Martin Luther King — people like that who really helped to work for that. Then today, we have some guy like Donald Trump who come and break all that down. So, it’s just a shame.”
“I don’t feel like a responsibility [to speak out about these things]. I’m an immigrant. I was, I am, and I will be an immigrant. This year, next year, 10 years after, I will still be an immigrant. So, I know that particular situation. I know how difficult it is. I know why those people leave their country. They don’t leave their country because they want to leave their country. They don’t leave their country because they love another country better than their country. They leave their country because they don’t have a choice. Because they are looking to opportunity, looking for change. They want change things for their family. They don’t want their kids to live in the same situation that they did. They want to give the chance for their kids to have what they didn’t have in their life. They want to sacrifice themselves for their family.” — Francis Ngannou speaking to MMA Fighting.
This comes fresh off the heels of self-proclaimed ‘Trump guy’ Dana White himself recently praising the preseident, calling him a ‘stand-up human being’. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention voicing his support for Trump. Granted, political allegiances between the boss and employees might not align, but this is a conversation more than worth having. Especially if Francis Ngannou is able to beat Stipe Miocic on Saturday, without a doubt being the key to opening an entirely new and profitable UFC market in Africa. When politics, sport and money collide, there are bound to be tensions.
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