UFC 79

[white is right]

The first match had Art Jimmerson getting choked out. Maurice Smith beat Marc Coleman in a classic battle way back. Black participation in the sport mirrors the participation of black athletes in wrestling and the martial arts(that aren't boxing).

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Hughes is a good guy, who has a few good options. After he goes back to Hillsboro and mulls things over with his family, we'll see what direction he goes in. I definitely think he could compete in a few more fights (if he so chooses), but he'd also be a pretty solid coach (especially wrestling, G&P and work ethic). I was hoping he'd pull out the victory, but GSP appears to be on another level. I love Matt's farmer's work ethic and grit, and wish him all the best!Edited by: DixieDestroyer

 

[JD074]

I do however believe the UFC wants to market black and Hispanic fighters in order to gain more viewers in those demographics.

I agree that the UFC is trying hard to market to blacks and Latinos, Dana White has said as much. I think that's a separate issue than looking for one "hope." Although, now that I think about it, perhaps one could define Huerta as the Latino "hope," even though there are already plenty of Latinos in the sport. I'm sure White would love for him to be a champ. I can't recall a fighter being promoted explicitly based on his ethnicity like Huerta has. Nationality, sure- and perhaps that's implicitly based on ethnicity. But being marketed as the "Latino Sensation" rather than the Mexican/ Puerto Rican/ Irish/ Italian/ British/ Filipino, etc., Sensation has clearly crossed a line, in my opinion.

 

[Maple Leaf]

NEVADA you spend a lot of time on these boards defending blacks and making sweeping generalizations about all of the posters here. Why are you so obsessed with defending blacks and not celebrating white athletes?

 

[white is right]

I do however believe the UFC wants to market black and Hispanic fighters in order to gain more viewers in those demographics.

I agree that the UFC is trying hard to market to blacks and Latinos, Dana White has said as much. I think that's a separate issue than looking for one "hope." Although, now that I think about it, perhaps one could define Huerta as the Latino "hope," even though there are already plenty of Latinos in the sport. I'm sure White would love for him to be a champ. I can't recall a fighter being promoted explicitly based on his ethnicity like Huerta has. Nationality, sure- and perhaps that's implicitly based on ethnicity. But being marketed as the "Latino Sensation" rather than the Mexican/ Puerto Rican/ Irish/ Italian/ British/ Filipino, etc., Sensation has clearly crossed a line, in my opinion.

In the last few years Frank Shamrock has been marketing himself in this manner. I generally don't have a problem with ethnic marketing, but sometimes it can have an ugly side to it. Ali vs Frazier and Holmes vs Cooney.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Black pride took a hard kick in the nuts during this card. All of the bruthas lost and were humiliated. The two main fights featured none of them.

 

[Sean]

I went on sherdog. Royce Gracie won the first UFC, and of the three black guys on the card non of them came out with a victory.

So you see then, that there were lots of black guys in the sport from day 1. Next you can go to sherdog again and review the results of UFC 14, where you will learn that UFC had it's first black champion over 10 years ago.

So contrary to the sentiment around here that black athletes are new to this sport, they are really just like any other athletes in the game. It is, in fact, guys like aussie who are new to the sport, not black athletes.

The attitude from some of the posters on this board, that blacks are not welcome in the sport at all, and how dare they even step in octagon, as if this were 1947 and Robinson was stepping on the diamond for the first time, is totally disturbing to me. Stuff like that is not why I decided to participate at Castefootball. Rooting for every single black fighter to fail, talking as if they have no business participating in the sport whatsoever, and complaining when any black fighter wins a match, is a huge letdown.

I think most everyone hear knows that there have been blacks participating in the UFC since the beginning.

The term 'great black hope' does not necessarily mean that the blacks need a champion, and as you pointed out there are already several good black mma fighters. The term 'great black hope' (to me at least) means a very marketable, dominant black fighter, who undisputedly rules his respective division. There has never been a black fighter like this, though there have been many who were lauded as such.

Also, I don't believe anyone here wants blacks to not compete in mma. They do, however, cheer for the white fighter (which is the whole point of this site: to cheer for white athletes).

 

[JD074]

The term 'great black hope' (to me at least) means a very marketable, dominant black fighter, who undisputedly rules his respective division.

Well, they may not have that exactly, but they're pretty close! I think it's pretty clear that Anderson Silva is a dominant champion at this point in time (albeit in a weak division.) Nobody's really come close to beating him in the UFC, although Dan Henderson should hopefully provide his toughest test to date. And you could also argue that he's not the most marketable fighter, given that he's not an English speaker. Also, as Shogun has pointed out, Dana White is trying to tap into the "urban and Latino" markets, and although he is both black and Latino, he doesn't seem to quite fit the bill!

I assume Black American fans want a Black American champ (like "Rampage"), and Latinos probably want someone more like... oh I don't know, the "Latino Sensation" Roger Huerta.

Quentin Jackson is undoubtedly the most marketable black fighter out there, but I imagine he needs a few more wins before you would consider him the undisputed ruler of his division.

 

[Liverlips]

Anyone think Forrest Griffin can hang with Rampage? They are slated to fight very soon.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Anyone think Forrest Griffin can hang with Rampage? They are slated to fight very soon.

I think (fellow Georgia Dawg) Griffin has better stand-up, better technical BJJ, more heart & grit than Rampage and he'll be taking that strap!

 

[Sean]

The term 'great black hope' (to me at least) means a very marketable, dominant black fighter, who undisputedly rules his respective division.

Well, they may not have that exactly, but they're pretty close! I think it's pretty clear that Anderson Silva is a dominant champion at this point in time (albeit in a weak division.) Nobody's really come close to beating him in the UFC, although Dan Henderson should hopefully provide his toughest test to date. And you could also argue that he's not the most marketable fighter, given that he's not an English speaker. Also, as Shogun has pointed out, Dana White is trying to tap into the "urban and Latino" markets, and although he is both black and Latino, he doesn't seem to quite fit the bill!

I assume Black American fans want a Black American champ (like "Rampage"), and Latinos probably want someone more like... oh I don't know, the "Latino Sensation" Roger Huerta.

Quentin Jackson is undoubtedly the most marketable black fighter out there, but I imagine he needs a few more wins before you would consider him the undisputed ruler of his division.

Yes, thats what I mean to say. Silva is not marketable enough amongst U.S. blacks because he is not American. They want someone like Rampage. Think what they've tried to do with guys like Goodrich, Randleman, even the hype the "Ghetto Man" Joe Charles got back in the day.

The leadership of the UFC is all about making money, and they want to have something for everybody. They have yet to find the "great black hope" that will be accepted by the US viewers.