Stereotypically speaking, men hate talking about their feelings, refuse to acknowledge their vulnerability, and would rather die than be labeled “emotional.”

That stereotype goes even deeper when it comes to professional athletes — who have attainted status as the manliest of men among us — and especially with professional fighters, respected as the toughest of the tough guys.

UFC middleweight Abdul Razak Alhassan would, on the surface, fit within those confines. But the veteran mixed martial artist, a Muslim originally from Ghana, defied the stereotypes during a recent press conference ahead of this weekend’s UFC Fight Night show in Denver, Colorado.

In front of assembled media, Alhassan — who is scheduled to fight Cody Brundage at the event — opened up about when he was arrested and charged with raping two women, stemming from an encounter in 2018. The trial took place in 2020, and Alhassan was ultimately found not guilty.

“I really don’t talk about this much, but there was a time in my life that some bad accusation happened to me, and I’m not going to lie, it [expletive] me up mentally,” Alhassan said.

At the time his legal troubles began, Alhassan was a rising star in the UFC. In September 2018, the same month he was indicted for the alleged crimes, Alhassan had a 10-1 pro MMA record, with all 10 of his wins coming via knockout. He’d never been knocked out or submitted in his career. But the case cost him two years of his career — and when he returned to the octagon in July 2020, Alhassan proceeded to lose three fights in a row. During that stretch he missed weight twice (the universal symbol of an unfocused fighter) and suffered his first knockout loss. He snapped the skid with a KO win over Alessio Di Chirico in August 2021, and since then has alternated wins and losses. Going into the July 13 fight with Brundage, Alhassan is 12-6 with 12 KOs and unranked among UFC middleweights.

On Thursday, he talked about what he’s been through mentally and psychologically in a profanity-laced vent session.

“I swear, all the anger I have in me, all the anger — I’m going to unleash it on this [expletive], I swear to God. All the revenge I didn’t get on those evil [expletive], that revenge that the law didn’t allow me to get from that — those [expletive]. I swear, I’m going to unleash it on this [expletive]. I swear to God.”

In public speaking, as in combat sports, the sound and fury of the delivery is often more important than the content. Inside the octagon, Alhassan could use his skills to simply win fights, but if he’s not winning fights in a manner that’s crowd-pleasing and entertaining (a.k.a. big knockouts, creative submissions, exciting moments), he’ll have a harder time earning title shots and other star-making opportunities. Similarly, when he does an interview, the words he uses can be less impactful than the message he conveys with his tone and tenor. Had Alhassan expressed his feelings Thursday in a more calm and measured way, it may not have made headlines; the video clips probably would not be going viral.

No matter what the evidence or facts of the case have shown, and no matter the not-guilty verdict, Alhassan knows a lot of people will always believe he’s guilty due simply to his race, and/or his religion, and/or the fact that he fights for a living. That no doubt adds to his frustration, knowing that even an acquittal doesn’t absolve him in the eyes of many people.

“I would be walking (to the octagon), and I feel ashamed,” he said about trying to fight after the trial. “Because that is the most evil, the most disgusting thing you could attach. … To even have something to attach my name, it’s very disgusting. I tried to forget about it. I try to work on it mentally.”

Perhaps continued success in the octagon can bring some measure of contentment for Alhassan. Maybe the more he wins, if he gets his career back on track to being the star he was becoming in 2018, he’ll feel vindicated. In the meantime, he’ll keep having to fight against perceptions that likely won’t change, so long as people are prone to judgment.

(UPDATE: Alhassan’s fight with Brundage on July 13 was ruled a no-contest. Less than a minute into the first round, Brundage was unable to continue after Alhassan landed “accidental elbows” to the back of his head.)