Chuck Buffalo – that would be American welterweight Charles Radtke – hasn’t been making any friends in Canada this week.
Radtke has become public enemy number one ahead of his fight with Mike Malott at UFC 315 this Saturday, where the pair serve as the night’s featured preliminary card bout.
Never one to mince words (he got himself in hot water after a homophobic post-fight speech in Australia not too long ago), Radtke has played up Donald Trump’s “51st state” rhetoric, a reference to the U.S. President’s desire to annex its northern neighbour, almost certainly with the goal of stripping it of its resources.
Needless to say, such talk doesn’t tend to go over well in Canada, least of all in Montreal, Quebec’s largest city- that being a province that houses the majority of Canada’s French-speaking population, who would lose all sorts of benefits virtually overnight if the U.S. administration got its way.
On Wednesday, during a shall we say “colourful” (spelling fully intentional) media day session, Radtke bemoaned Canadians booing the U.S. anthem at sporting events. “I grew up on a bison ranch with my grandfather. A sergeant major in the Marine Corps. When ya’ll boo the national anthem somebody’s going to have to pay for that,” stated Radtke, while conveniently forgetting to mention just why the anthem was being booed in the first place.
Later, his message to Canada was a simplistic “f*ck you,” with another f-bomb lobbed at Canadian-founded social media outlet Full Send.
Friday, Canadian fans had a chance to let their voices be heard when it came to “Chuck Buffalo,” who might now become known north of the border as “Chuck Boo-ffalo.” Radtke was heckled early during his appearance at the UFC 315 ceremonial weigh-ins, which took place at the Bell Centre – but never more so than when he failed to shake opponent Mike Malott’s hand.
Malott, an Ontario native who has become one of the faces of Canadian MMA alongside Montreal’s own Aiemann Zahabi, and St. Catharines, Ontario-based Jasmine Jasudavicius. Older brother of NHL star Jeff Malott, “Proper” Mike Malott has steadfastly refused to be suckered into any of Radtke’s mind games in the build-up to the fight – and that continued Friday, with Malott brushing off the handshake snub. Quite literally brushing his hands together, after initially extending his arm to give Radtke the opportunity to shake it.
Of course, Radtke may very well be playing a part; he spoke on Wednesday of being “two different people.” Those include the person “outside the sport,” and the one “inside the sport,” where “I am the heel, naturally.” Then again, he also added that his controversial post-fight speech in Australia was “authentic, it was who I am.” So maybe not so much an act then.
