ESPN does pro black mma article

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"we had no mma fighter to look up to...blah blah..need more diversity"

Typical nonsense. I'm sure the irony of complaining about black sterotypes and then citing the rise Kimbo Slice as a positive thing isn't lost on them.

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=3928949

A burgeoning black influence in MMA

Several years ago, before he ever stepped foot inside a gym to train in the sport in which he would become a champion, Rashad Evans was just a fan watching on TV. And in his upstate New York hometown, that made Evans a rarity: a black fan of mixed martial arts.

"For the most part, I was watching it with my white buddies," he said.

Evans has since become part of a growing influence of blacks on the sport. In December, he became the fifth black fighter to capture a UFC championship (Maurice Smith, Kevin Randleman, Carlos Newton and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson are the others) when he scored a third-round TKO against Forrest Griffin, and he hopes to use his title reign to draw more African-Americans to the sport.

For those who would like to see more racial diversity in MMA, the trend is encouraging. Along with Evans and Jackson, there are a host of other UFC contenders and prospects, including welterweights Anthony Johnson and Josh Koscheck and light heavyweight Jon Jones. In other leagues, there is unbeaten heavyweight Brett Rogers, light heavyweight Muhammed Lawal and welterweight Jay Hieron.

Most of today's black stars didn't have many African-American fighters to look up to when they started out in the sport. That's no longer the case.

"Any positive faces we can put out there is a good thing," said Johnson, who at 6-foot-2 is considered a top prospect in the 170-pound division. "Black men get stereotyped as thugs and drug dealers, and that's not what we're about. We're good people that want to be something in life. I'm proud we have guys like Rashad out there doing their thing and making something of themselves, so the young guys have someone positive to look at."

"

Black men get stereotyped as thugs and drug dealers, and that's not what we're about. We're good people that want to be something in life. I'm proud we have guys like Rashad [Evans] out there doing their thing and making something of themselves, so the young guys have someone positive to look at.


But the reach of blacks in MMA has gone beyond the fighting arena. Even behind the scenes, the numbers are growing.

The man behind Evans' career is Jervis Cole, who managed Chuck Liddell and Griffin at MMA powerhouse Zinkin Entertainment before starting his own company, Cole Blooded Management.

Cole, who played professional basketball overseas for 10 years before starting his business career, has been involved in the MMA world for the past four years. It was Cole who struck the deal with Microsoft that made Evans the first mixed martial artist to appear in an ad for the software giant. But it hasn't always been easy. At 6-6 and 260 pounds, Cole often was assumed to be either a security guard or a fighter.

"Because there have been so few of us in the sport, they didn't really know of any major managers that were black," he said. "But not everyone can say they've worked with Chuck, Forrest and Rashad. When it comes down to sitting down and negotiating, they figure out who I am and what I'm about. I have my clients' interests at heart, and they take me seriously."

Ron Frazier, the head boxing trainer at Xtreme Couture, had similar experiences in his early days in the sport. Frazier, who has trained ex-champions Randy Couture and Forrest Griffin among others, laughs when he remembers that at the outset of his MMA career. "People thought of me as the black guy with the do-rag in the corner," he said.

But the issue isn't always so innocent.

When Evans fought Liddell in September in Atlanta, he and Cole heard the ugliest word you can say to an African-American and also received threatening e-mails.

"Down South, they weren't shy about being racist at all," said Evans, who's unbeaten at 13-0-1. "Outside of that incident and looking at the response on the Internet, some of the things people say, I feel there are some racial undertones. For example, talking about the possible matchup between me and Rampage, someone called it a 'ghetto brawl.' Why is 'black' and 'ghetto' synonymous? Why can't two black fighters just get in there and fight?"


The tension, however, should not overshadow the fact that if Evans and Jackson meet, it would be a historic event: the first time in UFC history that two black fighters square off in a title match. Johnson believes such a showcase would cause many to take notice.

"It can show a lot of kids that they can be something, no matter what anyone says about them," he said. "It's going to open some doors, and kids will want to follow in their footsteps. They'll see that dreams can come true, and for the right reasons."

Johnson, who was adopted by his grandparents Morris and Pearlene Johnson when he was 2 years old, doesn't just wait for the change to come around. Although he says he doesn't view himself as a role model, he actively helps troubled children because "it's just the right thing to do." Jackson and Cole also are working with urban communities and hoping to partner with Microsoft in building a computer center for at least one such neighborhood.

"It's going to take time to get more blacks and Hispanics," Frazier said. "We have to remember that boxing is entrenched in those communities where Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Julio Cesar Chavez are heroes. But some of the guys like Rashad and Rampage are breaking through those barriers. As the sport is exposed to those audiences, they'll gravitate here."

Frazier, who is on the front lines of the sport at a gym that teaches all levels of participants, says he already sees evidence of growing numbers.

The trend likely was helped by a pair of other factors: the unlikely rise of Kimbo Slice, who was the face of the EliteXC promotion when it aired on CBS, and the series "Iron Ring," which was a surprise hit for the Black Entertainment Television channel in 2008. Although neither Slice nor "Iron Ring" was embraced by the hard-core MMA community, it did introduce the sport to a demographic that rarely was specifically targeted. (A BET spokesperson said no decision has been made about whether a second season of the show will air.)

All of which means that around the country, young black fans aren't alone when rooting for their favorite MMA fighters, as Evans was years ago.

"I knew back then black fans would come on board," Evans said. "They didn't know anything about it, and they didn't want to spend money for the pay-per-views not knowing what they'd get. But once they got a taste, I knew black fans, white fans and fans of all colors ... everyone was going to love it."

Mike Chiappetta is a freelance writer who has written for NBCSports.com and FIGHT! Magazine. He can be reached at mgc324@gmail.com.
 
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Guest

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Stupid but all too typical article. Notice how the author states that Kimbo Slice and the black fighting show were "never embraced by the hardcore fans". He makes it seem as if they were persecuted because of their race. He never mentions that Kevin Ferguson was a piker of an athlete and not qualified for even the bush league promotions or that the BET show was totally racist and never promoted non-black fighters. Why would either of them "be embraced" by anyone other than negrophiles and racists?
 

celticdb15

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OMG are you kiddin me?? Come to the MMa and get messed up. There are not enough blacks to DOMINATE every sport! Holy sh*t, when will the media get that through their heads? Not too worried though, Brazilians and whites will dominate MMA for a while.
 

Poacher

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MMA is possibly the most racially diverse sport in the world. Unfortunately the US sports media only considers something diverse if it is majority black.
 

GiovaniMarcon

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I've never known ESPN to feature any articles that WEREN'T pro-black.

It really says something for the state of people's intelligence when they reflexively consider any sport where whites dominate "racist" or try to persuade the public into thinking it's not really worthy of their attention (hello, NHL) until blacks do dominate it.

Case in point -- if Michael Phelps were black, he'd already be a saint, and it would be racist to vilify him for his love of blunts. Swimming would be the greatest sport in the world. However, since whites dominate it in reality, it's of tertiary importance.

Anyway, the only way blacks are going to dominate MMA is if there's a bunch of Don King-like hucksters to fix the fights, or if for whatever reason whites decide to feel intimidated into thinking crushing some black opponent's face is like saying you think slavery should be legal again, and that Sydney Poitier is the antichrist.
 

DixieDestroyer

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Standard cultural Marxist drivel from that limp-wristed rag SI. There are more than enough (Caste pushed) blacks in MMA. EliteXC was a half-@$$ promotion that tried to milk the fallacy of "Bimbo Lice". When Seth P. (a C level UFC fighter) quickly dismantled "Bimbo" the EliteXC gravy train was derailed. Fyi, Anthony Johnson would get demolished by Jon Fitch & GSP, and Rogers would get his @$$ handed to him by Mir, Lesnar, AA, Sylvia & (of course) Fedor! As for YOshad, he acts like a typical showboat thug in the ring & wonders why they're referring to him vs. Rampage as a "ghetto fight"? BTW, YOshad would be soundly defeated against the allusive & cerebral Lyoto Machida.
 

j41181

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You're typical standard call for diversity procedure. The best fighters in MMA are still white, they are just a force to reckon with. These black lovers don't realize that every white is a descendant of the ferocious barbarians of Europe.
 

j41181

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These caste-backed blacks are better suited for running.
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Liverlips

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Poacher said:
MMA is possibly the most racially diverse sport in the world. Unfortunately the US sports media only considers something diverse if it is majority black.

I was going to comment but this post says it all.

I would only add that I don't dislike Evans and Rampage, but I hope they lose their fights because of the racist caste system and anti-white articles like this one.
 

nopictures

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I second that Liverlips, I really don't hate the idea of successful black fighters, but it's the fact that the media seems to hate or marginalize white ones that has me picking just about anyone over Anthony Johnson, "Bones" Jones, Rashad Evans, and Rampage Jackson. Even though, with the exception of Rashad, I think all those guys are what the nfl and nba typically don't have. Good Sportsmen.
 

DixieDestroyer

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Good point NoPix. I don't dislike or "hate" Rumble Johnson, Rampage, etc. but will always pull for the White fighters (to spite the Caste system). However, I DO dislike YOshad for his in ring showboating (TNBS). Anderson Silva seems like a nice guy and is a great fighter, but I'll pull for any White fighter against him. BTW, I'll be pulling for Rampage in the "Ghetto Fight" vs YOshad!
smiley36.gif
 

j41181

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The term "diverse" should mean there are as many blacks, as there are many whites. Not when there are more blacks. I'm not pulling for a white majority, just a near 50-50 ratio proportion of black and white fighters.
 

Alpha Male

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Forget that, sports should reflect the proportions of our diverse population: 65%white, 13% black,and the rest. Tell that crap to the NFL. How the hell is the NFL diverse? Majority black, minority white, and no one else. ESPN logic is irrational.
 

nopictures

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I'm pulling for Rampage too if only for that nut-grab bullsh*t (assuming he does what everyone thinks he does and runs through the often overwhelmed Jardine), but Rashad may just as easily knock him out as he did Forrest and Liddel.

Rashad seems to like to dance around for the entirety of the fight up until the point his opponent gets frustrated and takes a wide swing which prompts the launching of that sinister hook of his that KO'd Liddel and put Griffin on his back. Hopefully someone takes his 0 away from him soon, so he'll learn some humility in the cage as well as out.
 
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