The UFC, which has many Muslim athletes, has been affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They include retired icon Khabib Nurmagomedov, middleweight Khamzat Chimaev, and welterweight Belal Muhammad. They all have demonstrated their support for Palestine in opposition to the state of Israel.
But they do want Israel to leave Palestine right now. They have never supported the crimes committed by Hamas over the past few days. Other UFC competitors, like middleweight champion Sean Strickland and Israeli fighter Natan Levy, are pro-Israel.
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Former or current UFC athletes have expressed support for Palestine throughout this conflict. The legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov shared a photo on Instagram supporting Palestine. Many of his supporters immediately voiced their disappointment with Khabib’s decision to take a side.
Khamzat Chimaev, a middleweight from Chechnya, went one step further. In order to release all the anger he felt as a result of this war, he posed a challenge to one of Israel’s strongest men.
Strickland criticised fellow fighter UFC Belal Muhammad for posting “Pray for Palestine” on X over the weekend in response to Hamas terrorists crossing into Israel from Palestinian territory, killing over 1,000 people and kidnapping over 100. Strickland recently surprised many by defeating MMA legend Israel Adesanya.
“This is what you’d call a coward response,” the 27-year-old Californian wrote of Muhammad’s post, which had drawn 10 million views as of Tuesday.
“Instead of taking a stand against terrorism and advocating for a peaceful resolution, you say this dumb s–t. Ignoring what just happened. You were born in America. Shut the f–k up.”
Muhammad, a welterweight from Chicago who is 35 years old and of Palestinian origin, did not appear to reply to his adversary but has subsequently been posting material in support of the Palestinian cause.
Strickland, who earlier acknowledged going through “a neo-Nazi, white supremacist phase” before changing his ways, urged the Palestinians to stop fighting Israel.
