“The women in this room have dealt with before,” Megan Olivi was genuinely hurt by Stephen A. Smith’s recent tweet


“The women in this room have dealt with before,” Megan Olivi was genuinely hurt by Stephen A. Smith’s recent tweet

The American sports personality and ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith is being constantly criticized by many people for his controversial comments. Recently when Smith said he didn’t like women fighting in MMA, he has received a lot of hate on social media.

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Now the UFC host, Megan Olivi was hurt by him due to his recent comment. In one of his recent tweets, Stephen A. Smith praised the talent of UFC broadcasters but he left Megan Olivi out of it.

Smith says, “Forgive me for bragging, but we’ve got the best @ufc coverage in the world on ESPN+. Ya got @dc_mma, @joerogan & @Jon_Anik cage side. @ChaelSonnen & @bisping providing color. My bro @michaeleaves Hosting post-fight coverage and @bokamotoESPN & @arielhelwani always on the scene.”

To which Olivi politely replied, “Ummm hey there – you’re forgetting someone”. Although, this isn’t clear he did it intentionally or he missed her but this left Megan Olivi genuinely hurt.

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Talking about this after the UFC 261 weigh-ins, Olivi says, “That was actually tough for me, I don’t love social media in general, but then to play such a big role in terms of pre-and post-fight interviews, like, I’m the one onsite doing them.”

“Then to do all the hits on the broadcast and be a part of this team and literally the only women on the pay-per-view team – there’s no other desk host, there’s no one on the pre- or post-show. It’s literally just me. And I’ve worked to be here. I wasn’t handed this.” {H/T MMA Junkie}

She added, “It’s been a very long journey, as people who have seen me 10 years ago I’m sure can attest to. I’ve done everything the right way to get here, and to not get the acknowledgement as my male colleagues got, I genuinely was so hurt. It was nice to see the MMA community have my back on that.”

“It’s unfortunately something the women in this room have dealt with before and will have to continue to deal with, I don’t think he did it on purpose. I don’t think there was any (bad) intent. I don’t think he was trying to be rude by any means. I just think it didn’t really matter to him. … I don’t know how much he actually watched.”

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She continued, “I know he’s supposed to be an MMA insider and he does his best, but he has a lot on his plate, as well. I don’t know how much he actually sees. … I don’t want to make it about me and be like, ‘I don’t know how much he noticed me.’ I just don’t think he was genuinely paying attention.” {H/T MMA Junkie}

Megan Olivi is hopeful that one day Stephen A. Smith will make things right

Megan Olivi
Megan Olivi

In the end, Megan Olivi said that she’ll continue to do her thing with the UFC and hold her head high as a broadcaster and Olivi is hopeful that one day Stephen A. Smith will do the right thing.

Megan Olivi concluded, “Funny enough, Stephen A. Smith and I have had nice conversations in person, It would be nice if he was like one day like, ‘Oh sh*t,’ I didn’t see this. But I don’t think that’s the character we’re dealing with.’”{H/T MMA Junkie}

Also Read: UFC 261 (Main Event): Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal 2 Preview and Prediction.

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