UFC bantamweight champ, Henry Cejudo is in a bit of a messy situation after ESPN’s UFC anchor, Karyn Bryant called him out for a racist tweet.
On Monday, Feb. 17, Cejudo retweeted a segment of his interview with ESPN where he talked about who he’s looking to fight next. In the caption, Cejudo addressed the men he called out in the video. One of them being Aljamain Sterling, who happens to be the number two contender in the division where Cejudo currently reigns as king.
“Triple C doesn’t even pay attention to Aljamima Sterling Silver secondly, Triple C wants to fight you Petr (Yan), but your English needs to get (better), you ugly communist potato, and last but not least, my tune-up fight, the cabbage patch head Jose (Aldo).”
Following Cejudo’s tweet, ESPN’s UFC anchor, Karyn Bryant took particular issue with the play on Aljamain Sterling’s name when Cejudo referred to him as “Aljamima,” refering to the world-famous Aunt Jemima syrup brand.
“Champ, I respect your talent. And I have thick skin. BUT, if you were wondering if calling (Aljamain Sterling) “Aljamima” was racist, the answer is yes. Yes it is. Please stop.”
The issues with the Aunt Jemima syrup brand stem from the logo. Aunt Jemima’s logo is supposed to represent the typical “mammy,” which was a term used during slavery to describe a black woman who would have been a devoted housemaid and servant to a white family, to the extent of neglecting her own family.
According to an article written for The New York Times by Riche Richardson, the logo represents a visual of the stereotypical “mammy” in the days of slavery, “an asexual, plump black woman wearing a headscarf.”
Since Bryant’s tweet, Cejudo’s post still remains up on his profile. It will be interesting to see what comes from this in the next couple of days.
Cejudo is currently gunning for his next title fight to be against former featherweight champ, Jose Also. Despite Aldo losing the only fight he’s had in the bantamweight division against former title challenger, Marlon Moraes.
