What's new at Ludus Martial Arts

We’re so proud of our team! Find out how they’ve been doing, as well as what else has been going on at our gym lately.

Israel Adesanya speaks at Black Lives Matter rally: ‘I’m pissed off’

The Black Lives Matter protests following last week’s killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer have gone worldwide, and a prominent UFC voice has lent his name to the cause. 

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya addressed a BLM rally outside the U.S. Embassy in his adopted hometown of Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday (Monday locally) and made it clear that he is fed up with how police treat people of African descent and racism in general.

“I’m pissed off,” Adesanya told the crowd. “Wait, hold up. How many of you walk into a store and have to put your hands behind your back just so they don’t think you’re stealing? How many of you walk down the street and have to kind of smile and try to make you see the person who already is scared of you, you make them feel comfortable?”

Adesanya also said that even in his new home, he feels he has to be deferential to white people who presume him to be guilty of something when he hasn’t done anything wrong.

“I just moved to a spot,” Adesanya said. “I’m at the top. I go in the elevator, three times already I’ve had to have racist, sacred white people jump when they see me, so I smile at them. So now I gotta go to the side and let them walk through just so they don’t get scared when they see me.

“Why? Because I’m black. Just because I’m black. What did I do? I didn’t have a choice. If I had a choice, I’d still be black.”

The undefeated champion also understands that people like Derek Chauvin, who has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder in Floyd’s death, do not represent all non-black people, and he had a message for those of all races who showed up at the rally.

“We’ve been talking for so long, we’ve been marching for so long, but it’s not about us now,” Adesanya said. “Shoutout to all the white people, all the people of different races being here, because we need you. We need you to speak up. We need you to say something, because like he said, I’m sick and tired of seeing those face get killed because, guess what, I see myself in them. And it’s heartbreaking. man. I’m pissed off.”

You can watch Adesnya’s speech in the video below:

Matt Brown explains how UFC 300 snub finalized retirement decision, says BKFC signing ‘not out of the question’

Matt Brown thought he would get a dream retirement scenario to end his MMA career. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way. Brown announced Saturday that he was hanging up his UFC gloves after a 28-fight stint with the promotion in which he went 15-13 and racked up a number...

Nursulton Ruziboev says welterweight easy cut for UFC on ESPN 56, still wants middleweight fights

Just like he did throughout his career, Nursulton Ruziboev hopes he can bounce around weight classes in the UFC. Ruziboev (34-8-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) drops back down to welterweight to face Joaquin Buckley (18-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 56 (ESPN/ESPN+) co-headliner at Enterprise Center in...

come and try a ludus mma class free!

We want to make sure that Ludus MMA is the right fit for you before asking you to commit to a membership.
That’s why we’d like to offer you a FREE ONE-DAY PASS to our gym.

With your FREE PASS, you can:

  • Try as many classes as you’d like,
  • Explore the facility
  • Talk to our coaches one-on-one about what you can expect as a member

© Copyright 2024 - Ludus Martial Arts - 730 Beach Blvd, Unit 105, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250.

(904) 374-4186 / ludusmartialarts@gmail.com