UFC Welterweight star Jorge Masvidal may have lost his last fight in the Octagon, but the fighting spirit is alive and well.
On Friday, Masvidal called former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick a “coward” over Kaepernick’s wearing of a Fidel Castro t-shirt in 2016.
“Know ur history and facts cowards like this fool should be sent to live in Cuba see what they say after a day there,” Masvidal wrote on a post published to the UFC star’s Instagram.
In 2016, Kaepernick wore a t-shirt depicting a meeting between Malcolm X and Castro. The phrase “Like minds think alike” was under pictures of the two.
Kaepernick was poised to educate the US on its oppressive history, then he wore a Fidel Castro shirt. #irony pic.twitter.com/M2KzSoNkbS
— Jordan Allott (@JordanAllott) August 30, 2016
At the time, a Miami Herald reporter asked Kaepernick about the shirt during a conference call before the San Francisco 49ers game against the Miami Dolphins.
When asked about the shirt, Kaepernick praised Castro’s education system.
“One thing that Fidel Castro did do is they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system,” Kaepernick said, “which we do not do here, even though we’re fully capable of doing that.”
After the game against the Dolphins, Kaepernick seemed to walk back his statements, but the damage was done.
“What I said was I agree in the investment in education. I also agree [with] the investment of free universal healthcare,” Kaepernick told reporters. “Trying to push the narrative that I was supportive of the oppressive things he did is not true.”
Masvidal’s post comes as massive protests have erupted in Cuba as citizens demand an end to the communist dictatorship that controls the country.
“In a country known for repressive crackdowns on dissent, the rallies were widely viewed as astonishing,” The New York Times reported. “Activists and analysts called it the first time that so many people had openly protested against the Communist government since the so-called Maleconazo uprising, which exploded in the summer of 1994 into a huge wave of Cubans leaving the country by sea.”
Earlier in the week, the UFC fighter took to Twitter to express his support for the Cuban people.
“My father escaped Cuba when he was 14 years old,” Masvidal said in a video posted to Twitter. “And I’ve only heard the horror stories since I could process thoughts of how s***** this communist regime, killing machine is. So I just want to shed some light on Cuba. Big SOS signal for them.”
“This oppression has been going on for 61 years. It’s not just because of the pandemic, or it’s not just because they ran out of medicine, because they’ve been out of medicine, they’ve been out of resources and food,” he continued. “Because of the corrupt government, the extreme corruption over there where only a few at the top eat and everybody else has to suffer. Those days have to come to an end.”
Masvidal went on to call for the entire world to “rally behind Cuba.”
“I think it’s time for the whole world to rally behind Cuba … I think it’s up to us to put the word out there. It’s the people against these corrupt governments. Let’s defeat these evil Communist m***** f******.”
#SOSCuba English pic.twitter.com/on5Z25H2q0
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) July 13, 2021
Masvidal is currently ranked seventh in the UFC Welterweight Division with a record of 35-15-0.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].