A UFC cornerman and fighter Tony Kelley said his 'dirty Brazilians' comment was not racist
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- Tony Kelley was slammed Saturday for disparaging remarks made about Brazilians.
- The UFC fighter and cornerman said his comments weren't racist.
- Kelley then claimed the backlash was because of "cancel culture."
LAS VEGAS — A UFC cornerman and fighter Tony Kelley said the "dirty Brazilians" comment he made live on ESPN was not racist.
Kelley was helping coach his partner Andrea Lee during the kickboxer's flyweight fight against Viviane Araujo at the UFC Vegas 54 event broadcast Saturday from the Apex.
Lee almost kicked Araujo's head off in the opening round but the Brazilian fighter battled back to earn a unanimous decision with scores of 29-27 (x2) and 29-28.
Midway through the bout, though, Kelley could be heard making disparaging comments about Araujo to Lee.
"That's what they're going to do, they're dirty fucking Brazilians — they're going to fucking cheat like that," Kelley said between rounds, as previously reported by Insider.
The comment was rebuked by numerous people involved with the UFC at the time.
"Ok that corner work was terrible," UFC fighter Belal Muhammad tweeted, adding: "Lee keeps dating racists."
Lee's former husband Donny Aaron had multiple Nazi-affiliated tattoos, according to a 2018 article on MMA Fighting.
Kelley is Lee's current partner.
In a response to his own comments, and to the backlash, Kelley took to Twitter.
"Cancel Culture is real," he said instead.
"What I said was real and in the heat of battle, and in no way had any type of racist connotations meant … but if that's the way you take it, idgaf.
"So many people quick to say racist. That shits getting so old. My reference was to a dirty eye poke."
—Tony Kelley (@TonyKelleyMMA) May 15, 2022
Kelley fights Adrian Yanez on June 18 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, for a UFC on ESPN 37 event.