Burmese athlete’s picture shared in deceptive posts about him ‘becoming a member of anti-coup power’

A photograph of a Burmese blended martial arts fighter holding a gun has been shared in a number of Fb posts that declare it exhibits he joined anti-coup fighters in Myanmar, the place the junta has named scores of celebrities wished for arrest. Nonetheless, the picture predates the coup. The athlete — who often posts images of himself within the US — shared the picture in a July 2019 publish about becoming a member of a capturing apply in Las Vegas.

The picture of Aung La Nsang — a blended martial arts (MMA) fighter who’s also referred to as the Burmese python — was shared here on Fb.

It has been shared greater than 140 instances because it was printed on January 16, 2022.

The publish’s Burmese language caption interprets as: “Our MMA fighter, Aung La Nsang has joined the spring revolution”.

Screenshot taken on January 25, 2022 of the deceptive publish

Myanmar has been in turmoil for the reason that navy detained Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her authorities in a coup on February 1, 2021.

Quickly after the coup, the junta printed an inventory of some 120 celebrities wished for arrest, AFP reported here.

The picture was shared with the same declare on Fb here, here, here and here.

Some feedback on the posts prompt folks had been misled.

“It’s a nice signal that Aung La joined within the battle to destroy navy canines. Each citizen who needs for justice, be part of the battle”, reads one of many feedback.

Nonetheless, the picture has been shared in a deceptive context.

A reverse picture search on Google discovered the picture was initially posted on Aung La’s Facebook page on July 3, 2019.

The picture’s caption reads: “Out right here in Las Vegas for my good friend’s UFC battle and the MMA awards. We obtained some downtime, so we went out capturing within the desert”.

The fighter repeatedly posts images of himself along with his household and mates within the US.

Under is a screenshot comparability of the picture within the deceptive publish (L) and the unique picture from Aung La’s Fb web page (R):

Screenshot comparability

Though Aung La has spoken out in opposition to the Myanmar navy coup in interviews and on his social media pages, there have been no official studies as of January 27, 2022 that he has joined anti-coup forces.

AFP discovered digital proof that he has been working abroad in latest months.

He participated in a fight with Brazilian fighter Leandro Ataides in July 30, 2021 in Singapore.

The footage was uploaded here on YouTube.

He later appeared in public to help a charity event held by a US-based charity basis referred to as Seeds of Change in November 2021.

Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Submit not too long ago reported that he was making ready for a battle in opposition to Russian fighter Vitaly Bigdash scheduled for February 25, 2022 in Singapore.