Rashad and Rampage- The Demographics

The UFC, and MMA in general, seems to appeal to the 18-34 demographic of caucasian men in the greatest amounts. Sure there are fans that represent various racial backgrounds, and the sport has more than its fair share of female fans as well. However, since the UFC has exploded into mainstream and popular culture, it is safe to say the biggest supporters of the sport have been the aforementioned demographic.

in advance, I'd like to state that this written piece is not meant to convey any bigotry or prejuidice. I simply will be questioning the UFC's opprotunity to expand its African American audience.

This coming Saturday Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will be meeting Rashad "Sugar" Evans in the 8-sided circle in a bout that should have taken place last year. The hype coming into this fight is pretty warranted. Not only are both combatants title contenders, they are also two of the best trash talkers in the business. When it comes to the war of words, these two have put on quite a show, and the UFC has been right there to distribute the "beef" for all to see.



When it comes to capitalizing on opportunity, the UFC is second to none. While other emerging promotions or upstarts are looking to just turn a buck or convert to PPV, the UFC is going places with marketing and promotion that are unprecedented. The fighters write best-selling books. The Undisputed video game is selling in the millions. The Ultimate Fighter is still going strong......but the UFC has yet to really capture the imagination of the "black demographic". Rampage and Rashad may be the answer.



On a small scale, to punctuate a point, I am going to reference the school I work in. I teach in an urban district that is represented largely by minority students. I coach three sports at the school and am very connected with the students, athletes, and staff members. Most are all about boxing and the next Mayweather conquest, but this fight coming Saturday has created quite the buzz. I have heard multiple students and coworkers of color state that they "are getting that fight this weekend."

There had been an initial push to include the black demographic on the series of TUF when Rampage and Rashad coached. Kimbo Slice was brought in, and it appeared that this may become a defining moment in expanding the demographic to include black males. A lot of things backfired on Zuffa during this time though. First of all, Kimbo never won a fight on the show. He showed heart, but was ultimately stopped easily by Roy Nelson. Then Rampage backed out of the fight with Rashad to film The A-Team. What could have been a great moment in demographic expansion seemingly backfired.

Fast-forward to the present day, and the smack-talk has sky-rocketed to an all-time high. Some of it has bordered on being politically incorrect to say the least. Rashad has accussed Rampage of "dummying" himself down to fit stereotypes and making African Americans look bad. Rampage has countered with words that pretty much make him appear to be homophobic and intolerant of alternate lifestyles. I guess in the end, the only thing that matters is.....Is this good for business? The buy-rates will tell that story after this Saturday.

One thing I don't understand about this card in regards to picking up where the UFC left off in terms of inclusion of the black audience is the card itself. The only other fighter of African American decent fighting on the card is Melvin Guillard, and that is an under card fight that may not be seen. It seems Kimbo could have been saved for this card to propel the original thinking with that season of The Ultimate Fighter. Maybe Jon Jones could have been used differently? Hopefully, at the very least his VS fight w/ The Janitor will be highlighted . John Howard could have been fighting perhaps.

I like the card, and I'm not complaining. I'm just wondering if Zuffa is not doing all it could to maximize its growth potential demographically. For one reason or another, they have not been able to captivate the black audience. Rampage vs. Rashad seems like the perfect backdrop to highlight other African American fighters and expand the overall fanbase. As a fan, I'm kind of shocked it's not happening. Instead, the company has replayed Jackson's "black on black" crime sentiments over and over along with the two opponents nose to nose "drilling" one another and purpotrating stereotypes. I confess to finding this as intruiging as the next guy, but in the end, I'm not sure it's whats best for the growth of the sport or educating fans.

MMA- The Recent Insanity!

Every now and then in all sports crazy things happen. Recently, we saw Anderson Silva display about 5 different Shaolin Kung-fu styles in his running shoes while doing a better job mocking his opponent than Andrew Dice Clay did women back in the late eighties. We saw a great "immortal " in BJ Penn come to fight perplexed and underperform vs Franky Edgar. (AT 155 lbs ) We saw a WWEesque Battle Royal in Strikeforce. We got to bear witness to shit talk that included hateful rhetoric, including deragatory usage of language typically and hatefully directed at homosexuals, by Paul Daley. We then got to see a bad acting job by Josh Koscheck followed up by a sensless and classless act by, none other than, Paul Daley. This act actually and ultimately cost Paul Daley his job with the UFC.



Then there is the fans. As a four year posting member of a top MMA website, I am just flabbergasted by the way many are treating Loyoto Machida. Photoshoppe is one thing, but writing about Machida being overrated, and never that good to begin with? HUH? I mean ...hang on, I'm not done scratching my head on this one...I just don't get it. I'm not a big Ed Soares fan, but Loyoto Machida clawed his way to the top of that 205 lb division in devastating fashion without so much as getting a scratch. Before Rua, I think you'd have to go back to BJ Penn to find a round he arguably may have lost. I just don't understand MMA fans sometimes. Loyoto will be back, and within 18 months I believe we will see a third bout with Rua. By the way: HUGE PROPS TO MAURICIO "SHOGUN" RUA. That win was well deserved, and he will be a great champion.



The MMA landscape is certainly looking pretty crazy these days. Throw in the recent string of arrests of fighters, and it is even crazier. However, I feel that because MMA in still considered an emerging mainstream sport, a lot of the critical press has been BULLSHIT. All sports undergo these things.



Of the top of my head, I'll list some crazy sports moments I remember. I'm not going to do any research. I'm going to just recall them as I remember them.



NBA- I remember a fight a couple years ago between Detroit and Indiana involving Ron Artest and fans that made it's way into the seats.



NBA- Kobe- rape



NBA- Horry throws a towel in his coaches face.



NBA- Sprewell splaps his coach.



NBA- Paul Pierce ...gang symbols...



NBA- Gilbert Arenas brings a gun into the locker room to settle some beef.



NFL- Michael Vick- Dog lover of the year.



NFL- Lawrence Taylor....Cocaine/alleged rape.



NFL- Brandon Marshall refuses to play



NFL- OJ SIMPSON



NFL- Ray Lewis and murder charges



NFL- Ben Roethlesberger and rape accusations.



NFL- Spygate



Golf - Fuzzy Zoeller- racist comments



Golf- Tiger Woods- cheating hubby



Boxing- Golatta and Bowe camps melee



Boxing- Oliver McCall has a "breakdown" in the ring



Boxing- Tyson takes a bite out of Holyfield



Boxing- Tyson rape



Boxing- Tyson says he'll eat Lewis's children



Boxing- Don "Fucking" King



Baseball: Pedro slams old man Zimmer



Baseball: Clemens throws piece of bat at Piazza



Baseball: STEROIDS



Hockey: McSorely assaults with his stick



Hockey: Bertuzzi darn near kills somebody



My point is just that in sports things happen. MMA is no different, and it really upsets me to see the bad press the sport has been getting. It's no different than any other sport. There are "good eggs" and "bad apples".



As for the fans. I know fans are as fickle in other sports as they are in MMA. I'm willing to wager Tiger Woods will show us how fickle golf fans are by the end of next spring.



One thing is for sure. We'll never see Joe Rogan or Michael Schiavallo fall asleep during a broadcast ike Keith Hernandez did during a Mets game.