Do you think it is a series of unrelated coincidences that almost all black fighters are not liked?

[buzzku]

So dumb. I think most people like exciting fighters, no matter the race. I enjoy watching Anderson, Jon Jones, Black Beast, McGregor, Choi, Yair, Cyborg, Tony Ferguson, Edson Barbosa. Maybe as a white person I'm racist towards Caucasians based on my list.

 

[Jedi Judah]

Ban and wasteland this shit

 

[Threetrees]

Floyd Mayweather
Ali
Tyson
Anderson
Rampage

There are 3 of the biggest draws in combat sport history and 2 of mmas biggest draws ever too. This issue is annoying

All of these fighters were highly disliked for much of their careers
Except for Tyson

 

[Lucifer Alpha]

This is actually a really good point. Black fighters who don't at least act a little bit "street" tend to have a hard time building a fanbase.

They will generally find any reason to put the "cocky and arrogant" label on them, and if that is not possible, they will settle for "he's boring."

 

[ussf18e]

black fighters are not liked because they win to much. The white and red people dont like losing to black men. Btw im not racist. I just am stating a fact blacks are better fighters than whites. Im white. Im allowed to say that

Tell that to Nate Marquardt when he knocked Woodley out. By the way you are a racist, its like saying white people are smarter than black people. You wouldn't say that, just like you shouldn't say one race is superior than another. It comes down to individuals idiot.

 

[THECYNDlCATE]

Just had a look at the "Oh great. More Luke Thomas racism talk over at MMA Fighting.." thread and it went as expected Sherdog fans (Majority white and American) complaining that anyone would dare suggest that racism had any part to play in the unpopularity of black fighters.


Use your brain do you really think it is a coincidence that most black fighters are not really liked and that get more hate for the same crimes (EG Steroids.)


Sherdog at times can be a echo chamber but i think objectively you can only conclude that black fighters are not as popular or as liked as white fighters.


I know i will have multiple people reading the title getting triggered and responding with one liners or not addressing the points made.

What do you mean addressing the points made? You made the same fucking point as the context of your title.

It's the typical bullshit of being blinded by your own color or guilt.

 

[Threetrees]

Sherdog likes black fighters who play up the stereotype like Rampage. When they don't act like that, we get all confused and don't know how to react.

You can keep saying that, but no one is listening. And the sad thing is that you're completely right.

 

[LHWBelt]

Just had a look at the "Oh great. More Luke Thomas racism talk over at MMA Fighting.." thread and it went as expected Sherdog fans (Majority white and American) complaining that anyone would dare suggest that racism had any part to play in the unpopularity of black fighters.


Use your brain do you really think it is a coincidence that most black fighters are not really liked and that get more hate for the same crimes (EG Steroids.)


Sherdog at times can be a echo chamber but i think objectively you can only conclude that black fighters are not as popular or as liked as white fighters.


I know i will have multiple people reading the title getting triggered and responding with one liners or not addressing the points made.

Maybe. At HW I like Overeem, Lewis, and Nganou. LHW I like Cormier and Johnson, MW I like Anderson and Romero, WW I don't like any black fighters that I can recall, LW I like Guillard and a few others. I can go on and on and I realize a couple are Brazilian or European black fighters but I don't really care what the fighter looks like as long as they're entertaining.

 

[Bagatur]

where the fuck do you get this idea that all black fighters arent liked?
generalizing from cheaters JJ and AS and generalizing to all black fighters? moron.

 

[Better Every Day]

I like Angela Hill a lot! I think she has a "wicked" (in a good way) sense of humor, a lot of artistic skill with which to express that sense of humor, and I'm very glad that she is over her rough start in MMA and now an Invicta FC champion! Go "Overkill"!

Shannon Knapp once asked on twitter which of her Invicta FC fighters people would most enjoy sharing a beer with, and I answered Angela Hill, because she'd probably make me laugh the most.



An example of Angela Hill art:

 

[Threetrees]

I love the counter argument when people do try to bring up race in MMA.

"But.. but I personally like X, Y and Z black fighter!" As if it's an actual counter point to the issue.

 

[The Best JG]

Bj penn is well loved

 

[UltraMagnusReturns]

Jones gets a lot of shit to be fair, but besides him I would have said the 4 fighters I see shit on the most over the last few years was Bisping, Mcgregor, Rousey, and Hendricks.

but yeah, White fighters probably are more popular overall, and its probably more to do with fans identifying with white fighters more rather than actively disliking black fighters.

Just because you an affinity for one thing does not mean you automatically dislike the other.

 

[themainman]

To be fair, Floyd primarily drew because people wanted to see him lose. Same was true for Ali for a time, before he transcended it.

Floyd did that on purpose to be polarizing. His ppvs didn't do well when his gimmick was pretty boy Floyd. When he started saying I'm the best, throwing money everywhere, fighting on Mexican holidays numbers rose

 

[YukisHeart]

You're off-base. Derrick Lewis is very well-liked (though considered faintly ridiculous) and he's “the Black Beast”. People are also mostly rooting N'gannou despite (and partly because of) the fact that he's giant, scary and African.

Cormier is liked by most, as is Rumble (inexplicably, given his domestic abuse conviction).

Rampage and Rashad are both broadly popular, too, although Rampage occasionally grates on fans with his bullshit and Rashad is considered fairly boring.

Anderson was disliked for being a smug showboater in his prime, like Ali, but is well-respected now that he's a fading veteran, also like Ali – is normal.

Jacare and Yoel are pretty much universally popular.

Need I go on?

Prominent black fighters who are disliked, like Overeem (who I actually enjoy), Jones and Woodley, are all disliked for very specific reasons.

Overeem because he looked great shirtless and it hurt people's feelings (it wasn't the PED abuse; his opponents were almost all known juicers and none of them caught much flak for it relative to Overeem).

Jones because he's a terrible person.

Woodley because he's boring and entitled, and because there are some sour grapes over him KO'ing a fan favourite on an undeserved title shot and then refusing to fight the clear number one contender afterwards.

All in all it's pretty clear that the whole “unpopular black fighters are unpopular because they're black” thing is untrue.

Jones attracts no more hate than Rousey did, Woodley attracts no more hate than Hendricks did, etc.

 

[Prime Yossarian]

When Rampage vs Evans was on I made myself a mint julep and poured a little onto the ground out of respect to my Great Grandfather who's buried on our plantation.

Don't know what you're talking about TS.

 

[Respeezy]

It is kind of hard to talk about, on one hand i think we live in a climate now where if you say you dislike someone and he happens to be black half of the world will scream racism.

Its getting a little too much everywhere this victim culture.

On the other hand racism is real and should be called out and dealt with. I just wish people wouldnt scream racism or suspect it when there is absolutely no reason to believe so.

People are creating and seeing racism everywhere even when its not there, a random black guy gets shot by police and we are automatically discussing racism again .. why?

So what i'd like to know in this case is what makes you suspect racism in this case?

It seems like your perception that black fighters seem to be less liked than white fighters is it.
But this is imo just a perception as i would myself say that, like said before most of the all time greats are/ were black and i never noticed anything that would suggest black fighters are less liked.

So i think you should have some facts or clues or something else that point you in the direction of racism, at least more than a "hunch" to even question if this is an issue.

( Dont get me wrong you can question everything you like, i just mean for it to be a legitimate concern)

 

[effedup]

Sherdog likes black fighters who play up the stereotype like Rampage. When they don't act like that, we get all confused and don't know how to react.

This is honestly the realist post I've read on this issue.

 

[Ryoto Machida]

Floyd did that on purpose to be polarizing. His ppvs didn't do well when his gimmick was pretty boy Floyd. When he started saying I'm the best, throwing money everywhere, fighting on Mexican holidays numbers rose

Yeah. And his style got a lot safer too. It's pretty genius if you think about it. He was able to get more popular despite becoming less exciting and prolonging his career because of it.

 

[ZAFARI]

Sports fans are enthusiastic in both their love and hate for certain fighters, almost always for circumstantial reasons.

I loved Tank. When Frank Mir beat Tank easily, I decided I hated Frank Mir. He's nice. But I hate him.

I love Anderson Silva. When Weidman beat him (in a arguably flukey way) and then acted so smug after, I decided I hated him. He's nice. But I still hate him.

I hate Jon Jones. Am I racist? Weidman and Mir are white.

Reducing it to race is idiotic.