MELBOURNE, Australia – UFC featherweight Shane Young well understands the downer of a message about suicide prevention in a victory speech.

But Young, 25, plans to keep delivering it when he’s in the octagon. He points to exploding youth suicide rates among Maori youth in his native New Zealand and said the issue needs to be addressed.

“I’m going to keep saying it until it’s the opposite,” he said. “I know last year two kids under 13 that killed themselves,” said Young. “That’s realer than this – (expletive) UFC. If some little kid is killing themselves because the circumstances they’re going through, why am I here making $100,000 in a fight? I’d rather give that kid a chance, or give him something to be inspired by.”

Young spoke openly about his struggle with mental health after his second UFC fight. He said he nearly retired before finding his love for the sport and embarking on a mission to celebrate Maori culture.

But Young wasn’t the only fighter to talk about struggles with depression during this recent fight week. UFC 234 fighters Nadia Kassem and Lando Vannata also spoke about battles with mental health surrounding their careers.

After a gutsy win over Austin Arnett (16-6 MMA, 1-3 UFC), Young (13-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) shouted a message of encouragement to Maoris.

“I think because New Zealanders, we’re a bunch of warriors and we all enjoy fighting culture,” he said. “For someone to come out as a fighter and be like, ‘I cry, and I look after my mental health, and I talk to men and we talk about our emotions’ – to know that’s all good – if I can cry and get stronger from it, anyone can do it. You don’t have to be a UFC fighter to be tough.”

To hear more from Young, check out the video above.

For complete coverage of UFC 234, check out the UFC Events section of the site.