The real reasons DJ gets no respect.

[Squintz]

His division is lacking in variety. Thats all that is imo.

If by variety you mean height and weight? Yes I agree.

Ain't nobody wanna see grown ass men the size of children fight.

 

[JDawg9]

That and a humble black guy throws off the typical UFC fan's stereotype. They want him to start talking trash so they can label him "cocky and arrogant."

The only black guy to be labels cocky and arrogant was Jones and he is cocky and arrogant.

 

[RunawayRyan]

Every time DJ wins a fight by incessant cage leaning or top laying, he loses more fans, like me. The Horiguchi fight was brutally boring... and the last second armbar was annoying.

 

[Leonhard Euler]

The real reason nobody likes him is because he dominates his opponents. If only he could have a competitive fight packed with men with roughly equal opportunities. He never has to overcome adversity. Every one of his fights is pretty much one sided. This is boring.

 

[Ths808IsCatchy]

have you ever watched dj's interviews?

I can't stand hearing him talk...watching him talk is even worse...just a cringeworthy individual

he's a badass fighter though...great cardio, great subs, great striking...however, he's a pretty safe fighter so that lends itself to some of the criticism/lack of interest surrounding mm

also, 125 is just too fucking small...all of those guys could put on a little muscle and fight at bw...I have no problem with bw...it's got some cool fighters who fuck shit up...125 is a shallow div with a bunch of underwhelming fighters who couldn't cut it at bantamweight

 

[Ths808IsCatchy]

The real reason nobody likes him is because he dominates his opponents. If only he could have a competitive fight packed with men with roughly equal opportunities. He never has to overcome adversity. Every one of his fights is pretty much one sided. This is boring.

ever watch a gsp fight? howabout jon jones?

these guys have been in a couple of wars but, more often than not, they dominated their opponents

everyone likes a beatdown

mm had some tricky moments in his fight with dodson...there just isn't any worthwhile contenders in flyweight that have made a name for themselves...put mm against the guys at bw and I bet people will start showing some interest

 

[BonesNose**]

Even Walt *Fucking* Disney fired that guy, how can you ask me to respect him? What? Mighty Mouse? Oh my bad, wrong one.

 

[Towelie by TKO]

The most interesting thing about him is that there is nothing interesting about him.

Nailed it.

 

[Kel2590]

So you're essentially arguing that MM is unpopular because fans are racially prejudiced? Lol.

Combat sports are always biased against black champions.

 

[HaikenEdge]

Outside of the hardcore, does anybody even know RDA?

 

[Kel2590]

It's true.

You can tell me that skill wise he is the best MMArtist that has ever lived to date, but the first thing that pops in my head when I read that is "Yeah....at 125... let's see how he does at 135...oh wait he already dropped down... 145, he'd get killed"

of course the same could be said about 170's fighting 205'ers but the further down you go the worse it gets and the flyweight champion is literally at the bottom.



size-ism, yes

racism, no. That's a weak excuse that people use when people don't like them and they can't figure out why.

If racism was such a big factor in combat sports why is mike tyson the most beloved boxer of all time? Why is Rampage one of MMA's most popular fighters?

For the 2 or 3 black fighters I've heard talk about racism holding them back popularity wise, there's 2 or 3 other black fighters that people fucking LOVE

jones fans tried to say being black held him back (meanwhile he was acting like a total douche and that had nothing to do with it, but also) at around the same time Anderson Silva was one of the most beloved fighters in the sport.

You're an idiot.

Mike Tyson wasn't loved and many wanted to see him lose.

People hated rampage after he beat Liddel and the same went for Evans.

Sonnen, mcgregor and Gus are also douchebags yet they're loved if either of them were black they would be hated.

Cocky and humble black champions are disrespected.

Idiots like you always deny and whitewash history to cover up and support racism in combat sports.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Combat sports are always biased against black champions.

And your proof is what? This type of statement is almost always based on a racist assumption (white people hate colored people or some such) and then propped up with a lot of confirmation bias, where every criticism of a black athlete is because they are black and every compliment to a white athlete is because of white power. I think this form of thinking is a (usually benign) form of racism itself.

You say things like Sonnen is loved and Mike Tyson wasn't loved, which are inane. Fan opinion is not now nor ever has been monolithic. Chael Sonnen was loved by some fans and hated and held in contempt by other fans. Tyson was greatly loved and respected by many fans and hated by other fans.

I am not saying racism doesn't exist or that a black athlete is never disliked by any fans for being black. But you should actually have to show evidence that racist attitudes are in play. In a case like this, in which we have a myriad of comments about how short and small Johnson, and the other fighters at that weight class are, it is a safe assumption that Johnson's lack of popularity is due to his size.

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

It's because he beat a fan favorite in Ian McCall via controversial decision and then beat JoeB who was destined to rule the division with an iron fist. People decided then and there that he screwed up the plan and wasn't what they wanted so they came up with this personality bs to perpetuate the hate - because they could no longer hate on him for not finishing. Now compare that to Joanna who burst onto the scene by beating a boring and hated champion in Esparza and you'll see why first impressions make all the difference.

Meh, they saw him lose to Cruz, then saw him getting punked by McCall in their first fight. He has obviously improved since then, but there is the "primacy effect" after all.

 

[Kel2590]

And your proof is what?

In boxing:
Jack Johnson
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson
Roy Jones jr
Floyd mayweather

All of the were extremely hated in America

In MMA:
Anderson silva - lots of people claim he's "not black, he's Brazilian" got tons of disrespect
Rampage Jackson - hated after ko Liddell
Rashad Evans - hated after ko Liddell
Benson Henderson - disrespected for being "boring" aka humble. Criticized for being Christian while other fighters are religious too.
Jon jones - hated even before the dui and hit n run for frivolous reasons.
Demetrius Johnson - see Henderson except for Christianity.

Explain why white fighters get away and get excuses with cheating (sonnen), violence ( Gus) and cockiness (mcgregor) while non-white fighters don't,

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

You're an idiot.

Mike Tyson wasn't loved and many wanted to see him lose.

People hated rampage after he beat Liddel and the same went for Evans.

Sonnen, mcgregor and Gus are also douchebags yet they're loved if either of them were black they would be hated.

Cocky and humble black champions are disrespected.

Idiots like you always deny and whitewash history to cover up and support racism in combat sports.

To think that you don't have bias in your recollection of the "facts," and in your perception of reality, is you being obtuse.

Mike Tyson has always been a massive star, and the people who dislike/disliked him have legitimate reasons to given his behavior in the 1990's. Sure there are some people who disliked him just because he was black, but they are/were far from mainstream.

Although Rampage had some people dislike him, to say that he was hated because he was black, in a widespread way, just isn't true. He was a huge star. Liddell was a very popular fighter, but he had haters as well, for many reason, and a portion of that was focused on his appearance.

Rashad wasn't hated because he was black (obviously there is a segment of the population who hates every black athlete, but they are not mainstream), though some people disliked Rashad because of how he acted, at times, on TUF, and he lost a lot of fans due to the crotch grabbing thing during the Forrest fight.

Sonnen and Connor are loved by some, and despised by other, that is kind of the point of their pro wrestling acts. You obviously don't get what they are trying to cultivate. I don't like them, and I don't like them bringing their acts to MMA, but it would be obtuse to suggest I don't like them for being white, which is what some people would suggest if they were black. I like Rashad, but I haven't liked how he has acted at times, and it would be easy, and wrong, to attribute that to racism.

 

[SchlomoS]

The little guy gets less respect, that's not gonna change.

Conor changed it at 145. Silly Dilly gave the 135 a huge boost out of its horribly diminished state.

I think part of it is that MM is no real threat. Sure he's good, but when he's out there fighting, you aren't really thinking someone is getting finished. He has a weak attitude and likes whine about his popularity then say things that make people really dislike him.

Lineker could have been that guy. He had everything minus english

 

[Kel2590]

To think that you don't have bias in your recollection of the "facts," and in your perception of reality, is you being obtuse.

Mike Tyson has always been a massive star, and the people who dislike/disliked him have legitimate reasons to given his behavior in the 1990's. Sure there are some people who disliked him just because he was black, but they are/were far from mainstream.

Although Rampage had some people dislike him, to say that he was hated because he was black, in a widespread way, just isn't true. He was a huge star. Liddell was a very popular fighter, but he had haters as well, for many reason, and a portion of that was focused on his appearance.

Rashad wasn't hated because he was black (obviously there is a segment of the population who hates every black athlete, but they are not mainstream), though some people disliked Rashad because of how he acted, at times, on TUF, and he lost a lot of fans due to the crotch grabbing thing during the Forrest fight.

Sonnen and Connor are loved by some, and despised by other, that is kind of the point of their pro wrestling acts. You obviously don't get what they are trying to cultivate. I don't like them, and I don't like them bringing their acts to MMA, but it would be obtuse to suggest I don't like them for being white, which is what some people would suggest if they were black. I like Rashad, but I haven't liked how he has acted at times, and it would be easy, and wrong, to attribute that to racism.

You even corroborated some of my points.

Although I hate sonnen I am a fan of mcgregor. However I hate that many MMA fans and mcgregor fans shit on cocky black fighters while they praise mcgregor for even worse antics. At least be consistent.

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

In boxing:
Jack Johnson
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson
Roy Jones jr
Floyd mayweather

All of the were extremely hated in America

In MMA:
Anderson silva - lots of people claim he's "not black, he's Brazilian" got tons of disrespect
Rampage Jackson - hated after ko Liddell
Rashad Evans - hated after ko Liddell
Benson Henderson - disrespected for being "boring" aka humble. Criticized for being Christian while other fighters are religious too.
Jon jones - hated even before the dui and hit n run for frivolous reasons.
Demetrius Johnson - see Henderson except for Christianity.

Explain why white fighters get away and get excuses with cheating (sonnen), violence ( Gus) and cockiness (mcgregor) while non-white fighters don't,

People make excuses for people they like. For instance you make excuses for all of those fighters to the point that you think the only reason someone would dislike them is because of their genetic heritage.:wink:

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Explain why white fighters get away and get excuses with cheating (sonnen), violence ( Gus) and cockiness (mcgregor) while non-white fighters don't,

Sonnen didn't get away with cheating. He was suspended for a year following the Silva fight and then essentially forced to retire from the UFC and dropped from FOX Broadcasting after his last failed test.

Gus gets away with his violent past essentially because no one knows much about him. As details of his sordid past have come out more, his popularity has noticeably waned. It's a lot harder to find a Gustaffson AV around here than it was two years ago.

McGregor's cockiness is an almost constant source of complaining on Sherdog. Look on the front page and there will b e a thread about McGregor. open that thread and their will be complaints about his cockiness.

You don't notice those things because your mind is already made up. Which is why I said that your way of thinking is vulnerable to confirmation bias. Such bias is on full display in your latest comment.

Well put.

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

You even corroborated some of my points.

Although I hate sonnen I am a fan of mcgregor. However I hate that many MMA fans and mcgregor fans shit on cocky black fighters while they praise mcgregor for even worse antics. At least be consistent.

Consistent? Don't you get it? That is the issue, if one alternates between cocky and humble, like Jones and Rashad, then there is a huge backlash. Guys like Sonnen, McGregor, Mayweather, Ali, etc., are manipulating the public to make more money.