The UFC flag ban still applies to at least one country according to bantamweight fighter Farid Basharat.
Basharat (11-0 MMA) is set to compete against Taylor Lapilus on next weekend’s UFC Vegas 84 fight card. ‘Ferocious’ has gone 2-0 inside of the Octagon thus far, scoring wins over Da’Mon Blackshear (decision) and Kleydson Rodrigues (submission).
Ahead of his matchup with the ‘Parisian Bruiser’, Farid Basharat was hoping to represent the people of Afghanistan by caring out their flag during his UFC Vegas 84 walkout. However, despite the flag ban allegedly being over, Farid’s request was apparently denied.
“I would love to walk out with the flag, but I don’t think they’re allowing the Afghanistan flag,” Basharat told MMA Fighting. “Not the Afghanistan flag. We tried in Abu Dhabi for [my brother] Javid, and they said no, because they don’t recognize the current government flag, and the old one is not an official flag. So what flag are you going to bring out? The Afghanistan flag is still a no-no.”
UFC CEO Dana White had previously announced at Noche UFC that the promotion’s flag ban had come to an end.
“Everybody’s too soft,” White said. “Everybody’s too sensitive about everything. When the decision was made to do this, I was just like, ‘Eh, what’s the big deal if they don’t have flags?’ Mexican Independence Day flipped the switch, and I was like, ‘That’s enough of the no flags thing.’ Flags are back. If any flags hurt your feelings, too f**king bad.”
Unfortunately for Farid Basharat, White’s strong words still don’t apply to Afghanistan, and thus he will not be bringing out a flag next Saturday night.
The current UFC Vegas 84 lineup can be found below:
205: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker
155: Gabriel Benitez vs. Jim Miller
125: Matheus Nicolau vs. Manel Kape
145: Westin Wilson vs. Jean Silva
265: Andrei Arlovski vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
135: Farid Basharat vs. Taylor Lapilus
170: Preston Parsons vs. Matthew Semelsberger
185: Phil Hawes vs. Brunno Ferreira
135: Ricky Simon vs. Mario Bautista
125: Felipe Bunes vs. Joshua Van
135: Marcus McGhee vs. Gaston Bolanos
155: Tom Nolan vs. Nikolas Motta
What do you think of the news that the UFC flag ban still includes at least one country?
