While the UFC has a roster full of fighters from various corners of the country, Dana White‘s promotion is based in the United States, or Las Vegas, Nevada, to be exact. However, not all the fighters tend to speak English whenever they appear in press conferences or during interviews in the US, which BJJ great Gabi Garcia spoke about during an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

Gabi Garcia claims that English has become an important part of her life as she’s been living in the United States for more than a dozen years. The multiple-time BJJ world champion also revealed that she’s been taking language classes to get better at English, as she realized her English wasn’t good enough at the beginning of her taking English tuition.

“It’s [English] important… I’m in the English classes right now, but I feel like when I entered my English class, my English be worse than before, and I’m like, ‘How?’…I am like 14 years here [in the US],” Gabi Garcia told Andrew Whitelaw during the exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. She also mentioned translators not doing right by her in her first MMA fight in Bellator, for which she had to take matters into herself and try speaking English.

“I am like 14 years here [in the US]… When I moved to the United States, I remember my first interview was for Bellator, for the face-off. And have the guy translate my side, and she’s [her opponent] like, ‘I go kill Gab, blah, blah, blah,’ and I’m like, ‘Really?’ And I speak in Portuguese and he translate [with] no emotion. And I pick up the microphone, like, ‘Guys, my English is s–t, but I go try,’” Gabi Garcia continued.

Thereafter, she mentioned having a conversation with Alex Pereira and Charles Oliveira, where she spoke about Dana White. According to the BJJ great’s understanding, she doesn’t think that the UFC CEO is a big fan of Brazilian fighters. And the reason behind that is their inability to communicate in English. Interestingly, Gabi Garcia sided with the 55-year-old promoter on this one, claiming that speaking English helps a fighter sell himself and his fights to the fans, especially in the US.

“You need [to] try. What I told for Charlie [and] to ‘Poatan’ is sometimes I feel like Dana don’t like Brazilians… because you need [to] sell [yourself], you need [to] express yourself for the fans,” Gabi Garcia added. “[Fighters should learn English] because you fight here in the United States. If you fight in Brazil, man, you don’t need… If you feel like you [want to] fight here… you need to understand. The fans need to understand you… It’s important. Doesn’t matter if you’re a good fighter or not. If you don’t speak, you don’t go sell… and it’s 99 percent important, in my opinion.”

Gabi Garcia is a famous name in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling, but she’s always been a big admirer of MMA. She has a 6-0 record, after all. She remembered seeing an interview with Brazilian legend Anderson Silva, which made her even more sure that English is crucial. This is what she said.

Gaabi Garcia reveals witnessing Anderson Silva’s translator messing up

Yes, Anderson Silva can speak English now, but during his prime in the UFC in the late 2000s to early 2010s, ‘The Spider’ didn’t really converse in English. He was even criticized once by fellow legend Chael Sonnen for not speaking the language, even though he resided in the United States. But coming back to Gabi Garcia’s story, where she witnessed Silva speaking Portuguese in a post-fight interview, but the translation wasn’t up to the mark.

The BJJ great claimed that the translator got most of what Anderson Silva said wrong, as she said, “I remember like when Anderson Silva. He give like interview in the Octagon that they translate everything different. You need to learn first. Like English is mandatory, in my opinion.” Well, English may not be her strong suit, but she understands the value of it, especially for an athlete competing in the United States.

Well, former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who once ripped Charles Oliveira for not speaking English, has echoed before Gabi Garcia’s sentiments about the importance of that language. Do you share the same opinion about this particular issue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.