UFC fighter vows never to fight in 's***hole' Mexico again



UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer vowed he would never fight in Mexico again. Then, after apparent backlash over the comments, Pyfer doubled down and said he will "stand firm" and never fight there again.

Pyfer, who was born in Vineland, New Jersey, was scheduled to fight veteran fighter Kelvin Gastelum in Mexico City on March 29th. However, Pyfer's experience preparing for the fight in Mexico led to him referring to the country as a "s***hole" that is rife with corruption.

'That's why I said Mexico is a s***hole and I'll never go back.'

Hours before "UFC on ESPN: Moreno vs. Erceg" in March, Pyfer revealed he became "super sick" and pulled out of the event, per MMA Junkie.

The fight was rescheduled for UFC 316 last Saturday. Pyfer explained exactly what occurred in Mexico during a June 4 press conference.

"Fourteen out of the 15 meals, I cooked. I didn't cook on the last day, and I got super sick and I was sick for weeks," Pyfer told reporters.

The fighter said that after losing 14 pounds in just seven hours and sleeping only one hour, he was very disheartened to see fans threaten and taunt him over his decision to pull out of the fight.

"That's why I said Mexico is a s***hole and I'll never go back. I won't fight there, but the people were nice. I have no problem with the people. It's just fighting there as a professional athlete makes no f**king sense to me. That's just my personal opinion."

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Pyfer said that while in Mexico, his coaches and teammates were stopped by the police, who tried to shake them down "for cash that they didn't have."

Pyfer rhetorically asked why fans would take issue with his comments.

"Why anybody would dispute that it's not the best country; all we have to do is look at how many people have crossed the border in who knows how many f**king years, like, come on man. Don't act like it's such a great place. It's ran by gangs ... and law enforcement's paid off by gangs. It's not that great of a place."

Following a unanimous decision win over Gastelum at UFC 316 — in New Jersey — Pyfer slightly walked back his comments in a post-fight press conference.

"Ultimately, things did not go well, PR-wise, for me in Mexico," Pyfer admitted. The 28-year-old again stated that his remarks were never a commentary on Mexican culture or people, but reiterated his stance about fighting in the country.

"I should've rephrased it a lot kinder and I didn't, so it is what it is. But I do stand firm that I will never fight there again. It's too big of a risk for a bitch like me," Pyfer added.

RELATED: US Supreme Court unanimously shoots down Mexico in lawsuit alleging gun smuggling to cartels

Featherweight and former UFC fighter T.J. Laramie told Blaze News that preparing for fights in foreign countries can be painstaking, particularly regarding the available amenities.

"Just preparing for the amenities they may or may not have for the weight cut is the most crucial," Laramie said. "Some of these places have nothing."

Laramie explained that fighters even need to be aware of cultural differences in some countries. While in Japan for a fight, Laramie said he was kicked out of a sauna simply for having tattoos.

UFC's parent company, TKO Group Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether or not the company will change protocols (for safety or otherwise) with fighters while in Mexico or if it plans to host events there again.

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Controversy erupts when purported Univision reporter tells Kamala Harris, 'I voted for you,' before question



Controversy erupted late Tuesday when a purported Univision reporter told Vice President Kamala Harris, prior to asking her a question, that she voted for Harris in the 2020 election.

What happened?

During a news conference in Mexico City, Harris' press secretary Symone Sanders called on a woman that she identified as "Maria Fernanda from Univision," who was one of only five people called on for questions.

The alleged reporter said:

Thank you, madam vice president. For me, it's an honor because I actually got to vote for the first time as a naturalized citizen, and I voted for you. My question is, what would you say to these women, those mothers and also women of color on both sides of the border, farmers, many of them who I see every day, as a message of hope but also as — What will you do for them in the next coming years?

Harris responded, "That's a great question, and thank you."

"It's an honor... I voted for you," says a Univision reporter before asking a question at VP Harris' press conferen… https://t.co/sZKIJx7DtZ

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) 1623194567.0

The incident immediately triggered criticism online for a myriad of reasons.

Not only do journalism ethics encourage reporters to abstain from participating in partisan activity, including voting, but journalism ethics certainly prohibit a reporter from displaying clear bias.

What did Univision say?

Daniel Coronell, president for U.S. news at Univision, responded by denying the woman identified as "Maria Fernanda from Univision" was, in fact, Maria Fernanda from Univision.

"In Mexico an individual which has no association with @Univision claimed to be a reporter for @UniNoticias in order to ask the @VP a question and to compliment @KamalaHarris," Coronell tweeted. "Let it be clear to everyone that Ms. Maria Fernanda Reyes is not part of this media organization."

In Mexico an individual which has no association with @Univision claimed to be a reporter for @UniNoticias in order… https://t.co/gSt3P4Az3l

— Daniel Coronell (@DCoronell) 1623197259.0

Coronell's denial that the alleged reporter was one of his employees prompted security concerns. How could a civilian be misidentified as a credentialed media member?

Who was the woman?

The name of the woman who asked Harris a question is Maria Fernanda Reyes.

"Reyes, a San Francisco Bay area entrepreneur, said she spends much of her time traveling and works with farmers in the U.S., Mexico and India. Reyes was in Mexico City Tuesday assisting Mayan farmers and working with the country's poor to help them navigate COVID-19 when she was asked by fellow entrepreneurs to attend the vice president's event," Fox News reported.

Univision, however, does have a Miami-based reporter named Maria Fernanda Lopez.

"My name is Maria Fernanda LOPEZ, I have never traveled in my life to Mexico. I was in Miami during the incident where a lady named Maria Fernanda REYES was presented by mistake as a Univision reporter, which is incorrect," Lopez told Fox News.

Jose Zamora, senior vice president for Univision News, said that Univision did have a reporter in the room at the time, Mexico City correspondent Jesica Zermeño.

What did Harris' team say?

Despite the case of ethical concern turning out to be, seemingly, a case of mistaken identity, serious questions remain about how Maria Fernanda Reyes managed to gain access to the room.

Neither the White House nor Harris' office has addressed the incident, aside from Sanders saying that her team is "looking into" the incident.

New White House press secretary dodges question about abortion as Biden prepares to overturn Trump abortion policy



The press secretary for President Joe Biden dodged a question about the administration's stance on taxpayer-funded abortions. New White House press secretary Jen Psaki instead took the opportunity to tell reporters that Biden attended "church this morning."

Owen Jensen, a correspondent for the Eternal Word Television Network, asked the press secretary about the Biden administration's plan on the Hyde Amendment and the Mexico City Policy.

"Well, I think we'll have more to say on the Mexico City policy in the coming days," Psaki told the EWTN correspondent on Wednesday, before shifting to highlighting Biden's faith.

"But I will just take the opportunity to remind all of you that he [Biden] is a devout Catholic, and somebody who attends church regularly," Psaki digressed. "He started his day attending church with his family this morning, but I don't have anything more for you on that."

Jen Psaki spins out of Hyde Amdt. & Mexico City question by saying Pres. Biden is a "devout Catholic". Either Pre… https://t.co/gOzJ1sibJi
— Cassie Smedile (@Cassie Smedile)1611190617.0

The Mexico City Policy, which is referred to as the "Global Gag Rule" by pro-abortion groups, bans federal funding of foreign nongovernmental organizations that promote or perform abortions, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The U.S. government policy was first announced by the Reagan administration in 1984 at the International Conference on Population in Mexico City, Mexico.

A 2019 report published in the Lancet claimed that the Mexico City policy increased the abortion rate in some countries by as much as 40%.

Since 1993, Democratic and Republican presidents have taken turns rescinding and reinstating the Mexico City policy. Most recently, former President Donald Trump brought the legislation back to life in January 2017. Trump expanded the Mexico City policy by adding "Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance," a "directive that no U.S. taxpayer money should support foreign organizations that perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations."

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser, said Thursday that the new administration will revoke the Mexico City policy. In a prepared statement to the World Health Organization's executive board, Fauci said the Biden administration is overturning the policy "as part of his broader commitment to protect women's health and advance gender equality at home and around the world."

For decades, Biden supported the Hyde Amendment before reversing his position during his Democratic primary campaign. The Hyde Amendment, which was enacted in 1976, blocks federal funds from being used to pay for abortions, except to save the life of a woman, or in pregnancies from incest or rape.

During a Democratic presidential primary debate in July 2019, Vice President Kamala Harris challenged Biden for supporting the Hyde Amendment for years.

Harris grilled Biden for flip-flopping on his Hyde Amendment position, "On the Hyde Amendment, Vice President, where you made a decision for years to withhold resources to poor women to have access to reproductive health care, including women who were the victims of rape and incest, do you now say that you have evolved and you regret that?"

"Only since you've been running for president this time, said that you in some way would take that back or you didn't agree with that decision you made over many, many years, and this directly impacted so many women in our country," Harris told Biden.

During the debate in Detroit, Biden defended himself against his now-vice president.

"Once I wrote the legislation making sure that every single woman would in fact have an opportunity to have health care paid for by the federal government — everyone — that could no longer stand," Biden said of the Hyde Amendment. "I support a woman's right to choose. I support it as a constitutional right. I've supported it, I will continue to support it and I in fact will move as president to see to that the Congress legislates that that is the law."

The Hyde Amendment has punished low-income women and women of color for too long. #DemDebate https://t.co/KNrLeWAnJ3
— Kamala Harris (@Kamala Harris)1564626033.0

The official Biden campaign website states, "Vice President Biden supports repealing the Hyde Amendment because health care is a right that should not be dependent on one's zip code or income. And, the public option will cover contraception and a woman's constitutional right under Roe v. Wade."

The website also says that President Biden will "rescind the Mexico City Policy that President Trump reinstated and expanded."