An American fighter wore Pride Month shorts, received backlash, and said people should be 'more open-minded'

• Jeff Molina showed support for LGBTQ Pride month by wearing custom UFC shorts for his fight.
• The 24-year-old won his flyweight bout and then expressed dismay at the reaction his shorts caused.

LAS VEGAS — American fighter Jeff Molina received backlash for wearing customized Pride shorts for his UFC match Saturday and said people should be "more open-minded."

Molina edged flyweight rival Zhalgas Zhumagulov at the UFC Fight Night event inside the Apex, Las Vegas, wearing shorts that featured his surname in a rainbow font.

The outfit, Molina said, was to support LGBTQ Pride month that commemorates the Stonewall riots, which occurred in June 1969.

Molina's tweet appeared to split MMA fandom.

He said he's "a straight guy but flattered" in a message "to all the dues sliding in my DMs."

Then added: "For all the homophobic dudes upset by me repping Pride month on my fight kit, y'all some fruit cups."

Following his win over Zhumagulov, he spoke to Insider and other reporters about the reaction his fight kit generated.

"I picked the colors because I thought it looked cool, and then also it supports a good cause," the 24-year-old said.

"I'll support anything for a community that's been oppressed and ostracized for some time for something they can't help. I'll get behind any of that.

"It wasn't that long ago that there was school segregation, and that was like less than a person ago, something like Stonewall, that was like 50 years ago. That's not even a whole person ago, man. This is recent shit."

Molina said he expected people to "be a little more open-minded and not pieces of shit" in 2022. "I guess I was wrong," he said.

"It's just crazy to me. People were saying some crazy shit and like, dude, what would you do if your kid's gay? Mind your own business. It doesn't concern you. Get fucked."

Molina continued: "It's not even about being an ally — I'm not saying I'm not — but it's just like, just be a decent fucking person. Just be a decent human being."

He finished by remarking that the "hateful, spiteful" reaction his Pride shorts generated was "mind-boggling."