UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell has taken to social media in a controversial rant against the LGBTQ+ community, vaccines, public schools, and even author and poet Edgar Allan Poe.
Mitchell, who made the comments via Instagram, in a post holding his baby son Tucker, began by describing vaccines as “poisonous,” warning others not to vaccinate their children, claiming it could cause autism.
“Tucker’s going to have to be homeschooled. We’re gonna have to homeschool all our kids, or they’re going to end up turning gay,” he added.
“I don’t want him to be a communist, I don’t want him to worship Satan, and I don’t want him to be gay,” He continued.
Mitchell then criticised public schools for replacing the Bible with works by Edgar Allan Poe, who he derided for marrying his cousin. “My son ain’t gonna be reading no Edgar Allan Poe. He’s gonna be reading the Bible. If you don’t teach your kids these things, he’s going to be fed right to the devil.”
Poe, best known for his poem ‘The Raven’, married his cousin Virginia Clemm in 1836 when he was 27 and she was 13. First-cousin marriages were not unusual in the early 19th century, although Poe reportedly lied about his bride’s age on the wedding certificate, stating she was 21.
Mitchell’s rant follows fellow UFC fighter Sean Strickland, who also sparked controversy with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric earlier this year in the build-up to his fight against Dricus du Plessis. Despite Strickland’s controversial comments, UFC chief executive and president Dana White defended his right to free speech.
