"To make fun of tragedy is a true sign of ones character"
Forbes reports that UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Weili Zhang has slammed her opponent Joanna Jedrzejczyk for making a racist Coronavirus joke.
The pair are set to fight at UFC 248 on 7 March in Las Vegas.
In a now deleted Instagram story, Jedrzejczyk posted an edited fight poster of her wearing a gas mask standing behind her Chinese opponent. She captioned the post with laughing emojis.
Responding to Jedrzejczyk’s insensitive post, Zhang took to her own Instagram to slam the Polish fighter for mocking the pandemic.
“To make fun of tragedy is a true sign of ones character,” Zhang said. “People are dying, someones father, someones mother, someones child. Say what you want about me if it makes you feel stronger but do not joke about what’s happening here. I wish you good health until March 7th. I will see you soon.”
Jedrzejczyk then attempted to apologise for the post, asking the Chines fighter to “not get emotional”.
“Hey, champ, hey Weili, so sorry to make you feel bad, but I would never make fun of sick people with illness or virus,” Jedrzejczyk said in a video. “So I didn’t want you to get offended. But I just made fun of the funny internet meme. So, so sorry. Still, I will see you March 7. And don’t get emotional, OK?”
The death toll from the Coronavirus currently stands at 170 with 7,111 confirmed cases in China.
Coronavirus test kits was recently likened to “winning lottery tickets” in Wuhan.
In related news, a 13-year-old Chinese boy was reduced to tears after a group of Italian racists hurled slurs at him about the virus.
Meanwhile, a 62-year-old Chinese doctor in Wuhan has died after treating patients for the virus.