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This article originally appeared on BleacherReport.com.
Follow Bleacher Nation on Twitter: Follow @BleacherNation, @nba, @Basketball, @NFL, @NBA, @Redskins, @ClevelandBrowns, @PeteThorson, @Eagles, @Patriots, @Raiders, @Packers, and @Falcons.
“The problem is not the athletes, but the society in which they live,” the former UFC star said.
“The athletes don’t live in the society.
They live in a society that’s completely indifferent to their safety and well-being.”
In his post, “My Race Pass,” MMA fighter Jhene Aiko, who is of Indian descent, said that while he is a UFC champion, he does not support the #MeNoMe movement and believes that the #YesAllWomen movement has done more to change the way people view and perceive women than any movement.
In a series of tweets, Aiko said he has been a champion since 2006.
“I know it’s a little hard to believe, but I have fought at the highest level for nearly a decade now, and I’ve been to a lot of places.
I’ve fought at Cage Warriors, I’ve won a number of fights there, I have a few fights that I won’t be able to fight for a long time, and my opponent in that last fight was a Brazilian woman,” he wrote.”
My life, my career, my accomplishments, have been taken from me by a culture that has become a ‘sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and misogynistic society.'”
Aiko, whose career spanned three UFC bouts, also said that “this is an epidemic” in the UFC and that he is now “furious” over the treatment of women.
Aiko wrote that he has “a lot of respect for those women and they deserve to be respected and celebrated for their achievements.
I do not think it’s fair that I have to pay a female athlete to fight my next fight.”
In a post on Twitter, Aoki added, “I know there are many of you who will tell me that this is not a real issue and that we should be focusing on the bigger issues of race, gender and the like.
I would just like to make it clear that I am not interested in that.
I am here to fight, and if that means taking a stand and speaking out, so be it.
I will continue to fight.
#MeYesAll.”
Aiko also said he would support his teammates if they need it.