Tony Kelley is no longer on the UFC roster.
Thursday, algorithm-based Twitter account UFC Roster Watch posted the departure, which comes weeks after Kelley (8-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) suffered a TKO loss to Adrian Yanez at UFC on ESPN 37.
Yanez’s finish was celebrated by many viewers and fellow fighters, due to controversial comments Kelley made as a corner for his girlfriend and UFC women’s flyweight contender Andrea Lee weeks prior.
“That’s what they’re going to do – they’re dirty f*cking Brazilians,” Kelley told Lee, who was in the midst of a fight vs. Brazil’s Viviane Aruajo. “They’re going to f*cking cheat like that.”
After a broadcast microphone picked up his comments, Kelley received much criticism from the MMA community online and in interviews. He responded to the backlash in a tweet, which pointed to “cancel culture” as the culprit for the criticism.
“Cancel Culture is real,” Kelley wrote on Twitter. “What I said was real and in the heat of battle, and in no way had any type of racist connotations meant…but if that’s the way you take it, idgaf (I don’t give a f*ck). So many people quick to say racist..that shits getting so old. My reference was to a dirty eye poke.”
Kelley departs the promotion after two wins in his most recent three fights. After a debut loss to Ali Alqaisi, Kelley won back-to-back fights against Kai Kamaka III and Randy Costa, which set him up for the June 18 bout vs. Yanez.
