A NON RACIST Observation - The Super Athlete

[James Davis]

Black kids don't have parents.

why you gotta bring that up? Bastard.

[AJ Camacho]

Jones is a very good athlete, but his size for his weight class, and reach, are much more a factor than vertical leaps or 40 times. He also, unlike alot of very good athletes out there, doesnt mind trying to compete at something where he might get punched in the face. ALOT of athletic studs pack it in with combat sports the first time that bell gets rung.

Which brings up a good point, I think much of Jone's success is partially due to him being high on his own invincibility. He's a freakishly talented athlete with technical skill and the confidence to pull that trigger without hesitation or fear. It'll be interesting to see how he develops after he gets put on his ass by somebody else.

[James Davis]

Which brings up a good point, I think much of Jone's success is partially due to him being high on his own invincibility. He's a freakishly talented athlete with technical skill and the confidence to pull that trigger without hesitation or fear. It'll be interesting to see how he develops after he gets put on his ass by somebody else.

ain't that the truth. That's true in all combat sports. Even Muhammad Ali had a "boy you just got knocked da fuck out!" moment and had to rise above it. Granted, Ali just was knocked down...didn't get knocked out but got pummeled none the less.

[Thomas Ireland]

I also disagree that 'selective slave breeding' is a real factor in the seemingly disproportionate number of athletic african americans. I think it is much more likely that when Europeans sailed to Africa to get slaves, they probably didn't just grab the first ones they saw. Most likely they purposely selected the biggest, strongest men they could find. If I were going to buy a horse to pull a wagon all day, you bet your ass I would buy the biggest one I could find. (no, I am not comparing African Americans to draft animals, I am the work a slave had to do to the work a horse would have to do.)

In addition to that, most people dont consider that most African people live in a very harsh enviroment, hindering cultural development. Europe and Asia have been "civilized" (for lack of a better word) for a far greater time, thats why all the great empires of the world have been European or Asian. (China, Japan, Mongolia, Russia, Spain, France, England, Italy, Germany, ect.) African people have had to live a much more physical life over the past thousand years, keeping their bodies stronger. This is evident if you look at other primate species, we are by far the weakest, why? Because we were removed from a physical, natural selective enviroment, this is probably why we are virtually hairless with fragile fingernails, and terrible reaction times.

Thinking that a few hundred years of selectively breeding slaves is a bigger factor than enviroment for millions of years, or slave owners literally picking the biggest slaves is just silly.

[Frank R.]

"Racism is the belief that race is a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race"

If this is a "NON RACIST" observation, then what would be a racist one? Curious...

[Brandon Mccaghren]

[derrick ikwueme]

saburban kids play sports for fun, kids in the hood play sports to make it '' OUT & for FUN '' it has nothing to do with race, the hood produces the best talent black or white or latino " Anthony Pettis '' is a good example, I also listen to Joe Rogans podcast, & race really seems to be a theme & issue with him, & his many generalisations about my people. & those who are truly '' NON RACIST " never really have race on our radar. the reason i'm good in soccer is because i worked my ass off on my own, outside of team training. just because you lable something '' NON RACIST " dosn't mean it dosn't have a '' RACIST GENERALISATION '' & undertone

[David Stager]

just because you lable something '' NON RACIST " dosn't mean it dosn't have a '' RACIST GENERALISATION '' & undertone

You are right, and we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking that saying "I'm not trying to be racist, but..." will give us a free pass to say whatever race-based generalization we want. But by the same token, we shouldn't ignore racial trends in sports just because it's uncomfortable to talk about. The OP was pretty much wondering out loud if MMA was going to follow the same racial trends as basketball or football as it grows in popularity.

[Xsimon]

You disagree with what? And how are these "tired old arguments"? We're intelligently discussing a subject of legitimate debate.

I had it in parentheses.. I disagree with the idea of the (super athletic black guy).. I subscribe to environmental effect or whatever one would call it.. same with Latin kids in south Texas doing nothing but playing soccer and baseball(without going into detail I can even use myself as an example.. In hs my mom/coach insisted I actually dedicate myself more because.. I told them I wanted to be an engineer). And I say they're "tired old arguments" because they're the same exact arguments that are seen time and time again. Not saying it isn't a legitimate or civil debate.. anything else I feel like adding is going to add a wall of text.. I'm sure someones brought them up by now.

edit: I guess I will comment on the mma aspect.. also I disagree with that.. black population as a majority still falls under boxing. All they need as well is a single big fight and they'll be set for life. In Detroit they're either playing basketball or boxing lol. As mma grows what you will see is training techniques much like other professional sports so the quality of athlete will improve many many times over what we see today. But imo at least for the next decade its going to be pretty mixed overall until the pay day goes up.

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

The reason I stressed that I'm not trying to be racist by posting this is because I don't want to offend anyone. I understand that the subject is inherently "racist", but I have absolutely nothing against people of any race. I don't think of them differently, I have friends who are black, white, indian, asian, etc. I just wanted to be able to discuss this topic and didn't want people taking it the wrong way. For those of you who were offended I sincerely apologize. If there were any better way to approach the subject I couldn't think of it. Anyway, hopefully no one took this the wrong way because I just wanted to see what people thought on the issue, I in no way intended to insult anyone and I certainly don't want anyone to look at me differently because I don't consider myself to be a racist by ANY definition of the word.