Advertisement
Blunder

EA Sports apologise to Muslim UFC star Khabib for portraying him as a Christian

Nurmagomedov’s celebration in the UFC 2 video game shows him blessing himself in the octagon.

UFC Orlando Khabib Nurmagomedov on the attack during his April 2014 win against Rafael dos Anjos. Reinhold Matay Reinhold Matay

UNDEFEATED UFC LIGHTWEIGHT contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has received an apology from EA Sports as a result of a blunder in the company’s UFC 2 video game, which was released last week.

As highlighted by the ‘Red Fury MMA’ account on Instagram over the weekend, the game shows Nurmagomedov celebrating a win against UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos by giving himself a Christian blessing.

However, Nurmagomedov is a practicing Muslim. The 27-year-old Dagestani fighter subsequently took to Twitter to let EA Sports know that he wasn’t pleased about their portrayal of his religious beliefs.

“I’m a MUSLIM and not Baptized. Please @EASPORTSUFC edit my after fight celebration. I have a lot of Muslim fans and you have to respect it,” said Nurmagomedov.

EA Sports now appear to have acknowledged the error. Nurmagomedov posted a screenshot of an apology from the company to his Instagram account earlier today.

“We’ve informed our development team about this issue and will change the celebration in our next update. Apologies if this has offended you in anyway,” the message read.

Nurmagomedov said: “I have nothing against Christians. Every man in this life has his own way, and my way is Islam. Developers of the game made [a] mistake. Let’s be honest, every human being made mistakes, and I’m not holding a grudge.

“They apologized and promised to fix it. Hopefully, next time they wouldn’t make mistakes like this, and take account [of] everybody’s religion.”

Nurmagomedov, who hasn’t fought since his April 2014 defeat of Rafael dos Anjos due to a series of injuries, will resume his bid to claim a UFC lightweight title shot when he faces Tony Ferguson in Tampa on 16 April.

The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!

‘The reason this is happening at 170lbs is because Conor McGregor is a bit of a wildman’

Mark Hunt’s one-punch KO of a former heavyweight champ the highlight of UFC Brisbane

Your Voice
Readers Comments
11
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.