UFC Revokes JacksonWink Photographer’s Credentials For Cyborg Insults
The gender-based insults made by a JacksonWink social media staff member and photographer towards UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg have cost him his credentials to attend UFC events.
Following a highly-publicized backlash after an incendiary Instagram post where he called Cyborg a ‘dude’ and ‘he’ multiple times, Cyborg responded and understandably demanded an apology before JacksonWink MMA issued their own strange kind of non-apology statement that attempted to explain their side of the story.
Regardless, the incident was an extremely bad look for the losing team, so much so that the UFC announced in a statement today (via MMA Fighting) that photographer Marc Aragon had his ability to cover UFC events revoked:
“UFC is aware and troubled with the recent statements made by a social media representative from the JacksonWink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico as it concerns women’s featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg.
“UFC does not condone or tolerate the remarks that were used. The organization has reached out to the JacksonWink team to inform them that the individual in question will not be granted access for future events.”
Aragon later granted Cyborg’s request for an apology, issuing the following in a very lengthy Instagram post explaining his side in great detail:
“That being said I am embarrassed by my actions and I sincerely apologize to @criscyborg and her friends, fans, and most importantly her family for posting such an ugly misrepresentation of a great hard earned championship retention. I also want to apologize to the members of team Jacksonwink who were effected by that insincere post.”
You can check out Aragon’s full post here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bda6c4Un_Ht/
Cyborg accepted Aragon’s apology, but also stuck to the initial request for him to have his credentials to cover UFC events taken away, and it appears her employers listened to her.
With new(ish) UFC owners Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG) looking to make the dominant Brazilian woman one of their headlining acts, public comments like these obviously aren’t going to fly from a pure image-based stance, no matter how many names Cyborg may have called Holm backstage or in the cage.
Aragon’s apology is to be commended – he came clean about it all and admitted he was wrong and expressed remorse for his actions, which is more than we can say about many who make a mistake – yet his explanation of the reasoning for his outburst is still flimsy, and to hear both he and the entire JacksonWink team remain focused on a purely different set of supposed insults from Cyborg just makes it look like they may not really be all that sorry.
To make sure, the UFC clearly wanted to nip any potential problems in the bud, and they did just that.
