The U.S. Marine Corp quietly ended its recruitment advertising and sponsorship contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship just before Christmas because of sexist and homophobic slurs used by the sport's athletes.
The UFC has had a long problem with fighters using discriminatory language. In 2012, Budweiser threatened to pull its sponsorships of the UFC after UFC president Dana White used anti-gay slurs in a video and presenter Joe Rogan used the C-word to refer to a female blogger. One fighter, Brandon C. Saling, was allowed to compete in a UFC-affiliated event, according to Big Lead Sports, even though he is a convicted sex offender who raped a 12-year-old girl, and he wears Nazi tattoos.
The Marines spent $4.5 million sponsoring the UFC during a contract that lasted three years.
Maj. John Caldwell, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command, said:
“Due to evolving mission requirements, budgetary constraints, marketing analysis and the recommendation of our contracted advertising agency, resources previously allocated to the endeavor have been applied to alternate priorities.”
The move came after a campaign by UNITE HERE, a labor union with a veterans' wing, that had campaigned to persuade marketers spending money with the UFC. The group produced this video of the UFC's ugliest politically incorrect moments, claiming that women and gay men and women were routinely the subject of offensive commentary from UFC members. Warning, the language in video is not appropriate for the workplace:
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