This is a response to Brandt DeLorenzo’s article about Melvin Costa.

Why is it important to have a stance on this man. Why is it so important that we all run not only to comment, but in paying it mind we HAVE to say “what an idiot” or “he shouldn’t fight for Elite XC/ Rage in the Cage/ whatever company we’ve heard?

Sorry to be the white guy to say this (I know this makes me the target for White Sup. Defender heat), but he has the right to have his tattoo. He has the right to say what he wants as I do anytime I post something here. I don’t have to agree with him, but it’s really heavy handed to always qualify everything with “idiot” and so forth because everyone in our increasingly politically correct culture is so afraid to be labeled a racist or the center of a media fit over someone’s thoughts.

I also don’t think it’s a valid reason to deny the guy work. As long as he’s not using Elite XC or CBS sponsored media to get his feelings across, it’s his personal life.

Look, I very much dislike organized religion. I think people who follow it are rubes. That’s not popular to say, but it’s how I feel. I’m being truthful. I also can’t and never would try to stop those people from what they do. I grew up in Catholic school, and it was my right to debate it.

I understand the business counter argument: “we” - which really is MMA hardcores fans, and seems less at this point to be Elite XC management - can’t have this guy running around messing up the perception of “our” young sport. Okay, that’s valid. It’s also valid that there are racists and/or religious zealots in every aspect of life. Do you think I want to see Matt Hughes talk about his version of God on my TV? Why isn’t that “offensive”? The truth is it’s not, but our culture selectively labels things. In one breath your told life isn’t fair, and in another you’ll hear cries for accountability or fairness to a person or persons who don’t have to be accountable or fair. It’s one of the reasons I find the word offensive so obnoxious. Because you don’t have a legal right to NOT be offended. I myself am injured at times by people’s ideologies and words. But it’s ridiculous for me to attempt to MAKE them stop.

Unless this guy commits a hate crime or suggests others should in an interview, this shouldn’t be shaped as the fake P.C. story it is. None of you, nor me, is that “good” a person. The NFL, NBA, and MLB have criminals too. If MMA isn’t strong enough to combat media critism, than it simply won’t be national. Hardcores will still know how to watch their sport, and life will go on. That in itself has it’s ironies. If some op-ed writer for a major newspaper says for the 300th time that MMA is a brutal anything goes cockfight I can be offended. It would be weak of me to try and get the man fired. I’d find it beneath me to take food from the man’s mouth. Instead, my lobby would be for education and debate. I think the same of the fighter discussed for his tattoo. We are talking about a sport where the object is to strike or submit an opponent using violent tactics, after all. It’s up to you to see the art involved.

It’s pretty simple; ignore the physical appearance and listen to the message. It’s no surprise that fighters like King of the Cage fighter Melvin Costa have inked themselves with white power tattoos in an attempt to gain attention from both supporters and protesters of his cliche white power argument. Costa, like most (if not all) white power individuals are looking for someone to influence, someone to infuriate. David Holthouse from the Southern Povery Law Center wrote an article titled “The Last Word” in which he gives Costa more exposure from his interview with Sam Caplan last year. FightOpinion’s Zach Arnold posted up the article on his blog earlier today.

Amongst many topics in the interview, Costa goes on to explain that the swastika tattoo on his chest does have some meaning.

“A swastika, as far as I hold it true to my own, it stands for the purity of my people’s blood … I do believe in the purity, security, and the survival of the white race.”

That’s quite the compelling argument that we’ve all heard a thousand times before. Tell us something new and intellectual, Mr. Costa. Perhaps you should explain a bit deeper into the fact that the origin of Costa is actually Portuguese and Brazilian. Brazilians are Caucasian? According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 49.9% of Brazilians consider themselves white due to some white ancestry.

But Costa doesn’t come off as the typical ignorant fool. He answers each of Caplan’s questions thoughtfully without making any attempt to demean other races or beliefs - believe it or not. If one were to read his interview without seeing Costa, they might picture a skinny pale student who is just a little lost in life. But Costa, only 26 years old, has spent almost half of his life, 11 years, in jail serving his time for an assortment of charges from burglary to assault.

But then again, do I care about his life in particular? Not really.

Do I ever want to see him fight? Probably not.

Costa is just another fighter who wants to leverage his physical appearance in order to gain attention from fans in MMA. Unless he does have some talent, this whole debacle won’t last long and we’ll be back to regular business as usual. But maybe you are one of those fans who want to see him go down against fighter just for the satisfaction. As for myself, I’d rather just not worry about someone just looking for attention when there’s so much more to look towards in the sport right now.