A photographer named Mark Aragon has reportedly been banned from UFC events after referring to Cris Cyborg as a “dude” on Instagram and describing her using male pronouns.
Aragon, who works for the gym where Holly Holm trains, posted the following message to Instagram after Cyborg defeated Holm last Saturday, alongside a photo of Cyborg: “This dude is tough as hell. That being said at the press conference he said Holly was the first one to make his nose bleed.”
Cyborg responded (also on Instagram) that, “It is not acceptable for an official representative of @hollyholm @jacksonwink_MMA to call me transgender following my Fight … I expect an apology or their ability to get credentials for future UFC events to be affected by these actions.”
The UFC promptly issued a statement condemning Aragon’s post about Cyborg an announcing that he “will not be granted access for future events.” Via MMAFighting.com:
“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,” the UFC statement read.
“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, for his part, apologized in a follow-up Instagram post while also criticizing Cyborg and her camp for various comments he claims they made.
UFC has famously gotten in trouble in the past for pulling credentials from media members, but this situation should be quite different. When you crudely and offensively insult one of the biggest stars, you can generally expect some consequences.