American UFC star issues threat to Canada
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UFC star Charles Radtke has insisted 'somebody's going to have to pay' for Canadian hockey fans booing the US national anthem during the Four Nations Face-Off in February.
Amid President Trump's tariffs on America's northern neighbors - and his suggestions that Canada could even be annexed by the US - Canadian hockey fans loudly booed 'The Star-Spangled Banner' when it was performed in Montreal ahead of a US-Canada matchup.
Radtke is now set to fight Canadian Mike Mallott at UFC 315 in Montreal this Saturday, and he hasn't forgotten about the US national anthem being jeered. 'I don't give a [expletive] about hockey,' he said at a press conference before the fight. 'That's not my gig.
'But what I do hold dear is I grew up on a bison ranch with my grandfather, who's a Sergeant Major in the Marine Corps, and when you all booed the national anthem, somebody's going to have to pay for that. Somebody had said, 'Oh, well you booed them the week after.' Doesn't make it right," he continued, referencing how 'O Canada' was booed before the final in Boston.
Mallott, meanwhile, resisted making the fight into a sort of national rivalry like Radtke. 'If he wants to build that extra pressure for himself or you know if that's what he needs to do to motivate himself go for it,' Mallott said.
'I'm focused on the task at hand which is a fight in the Octagon. I'm not focused on all the outside things that you can possibly focus on.' The Canadian hockey fans met the US national anthem with anger in February after President Trump ordered 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
That led to the anthem being booed in Montreal, before the Americans beat Canada in the round-robin round. US fans later returned the favor before the final in Boston, as a controversial rendition of 'O Canada' from singer Chantal Kreviazuk was booed as well.
Amid Trump's hostile rhetoric about the country, the singer changed the line 'in all of us command' to 'that only us command.' Ultimately, the Canadians had the last laugh as they won the final 3-2 in overtime. Radtke, who has a 3-1 UFC record, will look to earn a win for America this weekend.
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