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UFC Tells Marcus Davis to Ditch 'Hand Grenade' Nickname

To the extent that he's known at all, the mixed martial arts fighter Marcus Davis is known by his nickname, "The Irish Hand Grenade." But the Ultimate Fighting Championship has told Davis, an Irish-American, that he can't use his nickname when he fights in Belfast, Northern Ireland at UFC 72.
"I was told 'The Irish Hand Grenade' was not acceptable in Belfast [because] it would translate poorly," said Davis. "It'd be like calling yourself the Taliban Bomber and fighting in New York. So, it's a temporary change implemented by the UFC.

"However, I will always be The Irish Hand Grenade when I fight in the U.S."

My feeling about this is the same as my feeling about the NBA team in Washington changing its name from the Bullets to the Wizards: In theory I think it's good that a sport is saying publicly that it doesn't see violence as something trivial, but in practice I don't really see what good it does.

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