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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"Who says Jones isn't popular? I mean, as far as our business goes, Jones is very popular. I think Joe is saying, 'Why isn't he this massive superstar? The guy is so talented, his brothers are two NFL players, etcetera, etcetera.' There's no doubt that Jon has had his share of issues since he's been the champ, but I wouldn't say that Jon Jones isn't popular... Mike Tyson is black. Muhammad Ali is black. LeBron James is black. There are a lot of guys out there that are black that people love. There's people out there that don't like them too. But you're a human being, man. Some people are going to like you and some people aren't. I'm white. There's a lot of people that like me and a lot of people that don't."
-Dana White responds to the idea that racism plays a part in some fan dislike of Jon Jones in the latest edition of The Download on UFC.com.
Penick's Analysis: Again, is it the only reason there are fans who don't like him? Absolutely not. But to deny a history of racist sentiment towards black athletes at that level is to simply be ignorant to reality. Even in the names White rattled off, they have had their share of detractors over the years, with race playing a part in a portion of it. It's not the whole story, it's not the only part of the story, but to suggest it plays no part is to bury your head in the sand about where things are still in 2014.
[Jon Jones art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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