MMA fighter Renato Moicano praises Constitution and private property at UFC 300, after PLF commercial airs
After winning his match during last weekend’s UFC 300 in Las Vegas, Brazilian mixed martial artist Renato Moicano delivered a rather unconventional victory speech.
Moicano did not use his moment in the sun to boast of his win against his opponent Jalin Turner or reflect on the long road he traveled to become champion. Instead, he grabbed the microphone from Joe Rogan and—very colorfully—offered praise to the United States Constitution.
“I love America. I love the Constitution. I love the First Amendment. I want to carry and own f-cking guns. I love private property. And let me tell you something, if you care about your f-cking country, read Ludwig von Mises and the six lessons of the Austrian Economic School, motherf-ckers.”
Lovers of the Constitution and the free market had to do a double take as we pinched ourselves and asked, “Did that really just happen?” It’s not every day you hear the Constitution and Austrian economics mentioned by professional athletes. After Moicano’s speech, more than 26,000 copies of Mises’ six lessons, titled Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow in America, were downloaded from Amazon.
But what’s even more remarkable is what came just before Moicano’s speech.
Whether by coincidence or an act of synchronicity unbeknownst to Moicano, his love letter to the Constitution occurred the very same night as Pacific Legal Foundation’s UFC takeover.
PLF at UFC
In the days leading up to the fight, a fleet of Chevrolet Suburbans took to the streets of Vegas wrapped in bold orange and bearing the words “Pacific Legal Foundation” and “Suing the government since 1973.”
As hard as these cars were to miss, they were nothing compared to the massive digital billboard on a busy Las Vegas streetcorner that played PLF’s new UFC-themed commercial “Don’t Let the Government Win by Submission.” But the commercial wasn’t available only for Vegas passersby to see; it also aired nationally during the fight to let millions of viewers know that if they find themselves in a cage fight against the government, they aren’t alone. PLF is here to protect them and the Constitution that Moicano so deeply adores.
Renato’s speech that weekend was a perfect complement to PLF’s UFC campaign. Both served to remind individuals of the dangers of a government that is allowed to go unchallenged when it tramples on individual rights. And who better to drive home that point than someone with firsthand experience living in a country where there is no guarantee to the precious constitutional rights Americans sometimes take for granted.
Menos Marx, Mais Mises
Moicano’s home country of Brazil is currently experiencing a “Mises moment.” Since 2014, a movement of young Brazilians have been advocating for “Menos Marx, Mais Mises.” As one publication put it, Moicano has been a “mouthpiece of the “Menos Marx, Mais Mises” movement.”
Moicano explained his statements on “The MMA Hour.”
I’m very concerned. A lot of people talk to me about money. But, the problem is, it’s not about how much money you get, it’s about how much money you can keep. And like with the inflation, this book ‘Six Lessons of Mises [Six Lessons, Economic Policy],’ I think in English it’s another name [Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow], this is the Portuguese name. But in this book you learn about capitalism, socialism, interventionism, inflation, foreign currency, and political ideas. And in this book, he explained what the government does with your money with taxes and the way they break out of debt.
He continued:
“I know some people are struggling and they are on [in] a bad place but the government wants that, they want people in bad places so that they can make that money, can keep the cycle of poverty. And if you start to learn and understand about economics, then about money, you don’t want to be rely [reliant] on government, rely on welfare, because in the long term this is going to destroy not only the rich but the middle class and the poor too.”
He added, “Many, many empires collapsed [due to] inflation and uncontrollable debt. The Roman Empire was destroyed not only because of barbarians but because they were falsifying the coins. They couldn’t print the money, so they were mixing metals with the silver and losing the [value]. So, the degeneration of money, the degeneration of society leads to a weak society. And I want to live in a strong society with good values, so that’s why I recommend you read Ludwig Von Mises, Six Lessons. It’s six lectures that he did on [in] Argentina, very easy topics, you don’t need to be a scholar, it’s very easy to understand.”
Don’t let the government win by submission
Moicano reminded the American UFC viewers that if they cared about this country, they need to stand up for the constitutional ideals that make individual rights possible—something to which PLF has dedicated itself for the past 51 years.
The day before UFC 300, PLF won our 18th Supreme Court case in a victory for private property rights. Moicano can rest assured that when it comes to caring about the U.S. Constitution, PLF is here to passionately defend property rights, equality and opportunity, and separation of powers by refusing to let the government win by submission.
