MMA's week out of the cage: Fighters react to world news

Check out the best social media posts from fighters and their lives outside of the cage in the past week.

Social media has become a significant part of the sporting landscape. But few, if any, professional sports match the level of interaction and personal access provided by MMA.

In an individual competition in which nearly every athlete is chasing the same goal of financial success and championship glory, it’s important for fighters to provide insight into their lives in order to connect with fans and gain followings.

Although the life of a fighter often can be mundane and repetitive, there still are moments of interest that take place outside the cage, ring or training room. Here are some of the most interesting of those occurrences from the past week.

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Fallout from George Floyd’s death

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I’ve been debating on whether or not I should post about what’s been going on in the world today. Although I’m not black and I’ll never know what it’s like to be a person of color, I’m married to one. My husband is black, and he’s told me countless personal stories of racial incidents he’s experienced throughout his lifetime and what it’s like going through life constantly being judged for his skin color. It saddens me that we live in a world full of such hatred. I dread the day we have kids of our own and they experience their first act of racism in school. Having to teach them as young children to stand tall and ignore the racism, and remind them that they’re loved no matter what! Even though I’ll never know what it’s like, I still experience a form of racism for being married to a black man. Every post on social media I make with him, I receive hate messages and comments of people judging me for being with someone outside of my own race – being called such horrible things I wouldn’t dare repeat. I feel bad for those people, and I usually block them and delete their messages/comments… the looks we sometimes receive from people out in public for being an interracial couple speak for themselves – judgement and disgust. God created each and every one of us on this earth and he loves all of us EQUALLY. We are not born in this world with hate in our hearts, it’s something we learn, and it’s frightening. I love my husband for who he is, regardless of skin color, and I pray for those people in the world who cannot see past it. Jesus called us to love one another, and that’s what we all need to do #georgefloyd #justiceforgeorgefloyd #racism

A post shared by Colbey Northcutt Daniels (@colbeynorthcutt) on May 30, 2020 at 3:19pm PDT

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This doesn’t look like protesting for the death of #georgefloyd this is a straight criminal act ….and it is bullshit

A post shared by Hector Lombard (@hectorlombard) on May 30, 2020 at 11:26am PDT

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Please no more looting and rioting . Peaceful protests . We won, Look I have proof it’s not right but people are upset with cops behaviors

A post shared by Derek Brunson (@derekbrunson) on May 30, 2020 at 12:33pm PDT

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You have horrible people in this world that take power for granted. Never forget, that’s someone’s kid… just like yours and mine. Murdered on camera! However, you lose the battle by destroying your own neighborhoods. You give more power to police when you riot, not less. You think for a week that you showed the system, but in reality the system manipulated you into being the buy guy. Be smarter than that.

A post shared by Nik "The Carny" Lentz (@niklentz) on May 29, 2020 at 6:06am PDT

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So I was finally able to watch the video of the incident in Minneapolis and that shit cut me to my heart!!! How could u do something like that to a man u swore are suppose to protect and serve??? The blatant disregard those officers showed for George Floyd's life is heartbreaking and why they should lose their jobs and freedom…. #JusticeForGeorge

A post shared by Jamahal Hill UFC (@sweet_dreams_jhill) on May 28, 2020 at 5:00am PDT

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A post shared by Dustin Poirier (@dustinpoirier) on May 31, 2020 at 9:02am PDT

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It's that simple.

A post shared by Will Brooks (@illwavybrooks86) on May 30, 2020 at 8:02pm PDT

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It’s OK to be angry after watching this but it’s how we use that anger posting something with sad heart emoji’s doesn’t really help I am figuring out ways of how I can actually do something i’m not choosing to hate it does not solve anything but I’ve chosen to stand for something because obviously a lot of us are falling for anything. Besides being angry after watching this I have noticed that it was not only black people standing up I saw black white and other minorities and that’s what we need we need more people to stand up for shit like this because it has got to stop.

A post shared by Uriah Hall (@uriahhall) on May 27, 2020 at 2:42pm PDT