Lashley and Lesnar, a racial double standard?
by Zak Woods on Mar 26, 2009 1:45 PM EDT
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Bobby Lashley is 32, Brock Lesnar is 31.
Both are former collegiate wrestlers, both won national championships (at least according to their wikipedia pages) and both took positions within the WWE.
Both men also decided to move from the entertainment business to professional athletic competition. Lashley is 2-0 in his young MMA career and Brock Lesnar is 3-1.
Yet Lesnar entered the UFC after just one professional fight and now he is the UFC heavyweight champion, while Lashley is still in the minor leagues.
Is this an example of a racial double standard?
Of course there are differences between Lashley's and Lesnar's career arcs, which can lead one to conclude there is no double standard. For instance Lashley never reached the popularity that Lesnar did within the WWE (because of race?). Lesnar was dominating in his first MMA bout, Lashley not so much in his second fight. Brock was also the beneficiary of Randy Couture's departure, while Lashley entered MMA with no such upheaval within the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
That all being said, why hasn't the UFC gone after a highly athletic heavyweight who has the correct pedigree to become a solid UFC fighter? Is race a factor?
Charles Walker, of MMAForReal, dives into the sensitive subject of race and MMA. This is a discussion that most Americans are uncomfortable having and I think it is necessary that we try to address these questions in an open forum with respect, so here it goes.
One of the chief arguments that boxing proponents levied against MMA and the UFC, was the sports high ratio of white fighters which helped create the popularity for their predominately white fan base. Boxing circles claimed that if their sport still had White American fighters there would be equal passion. For an analogous argument consider the NBA. Many writers bemoaned the fact that the sport was losing ground within white America. Some believed this was due to the lack of White Americans in the Association. Or for a African American perspective look to Major League Baseball. The percentage of African American ball players has been declining for some time and Bud Selig and MLB seems unable to interest the next generation of African Americans to enter ‘America's past time'.
Race in sports is always a touchy subject and no sport needs (nor should require) a "great white hope" to be legitimate.
[This is not a unique to the just the United States. The Premiership in England is suffering a similar talent drain with native born soccer players. The league is now a washed with foreign soccer players which have led some in the U.K. to predict an end of English dominance within soccer. New rules are being discussed to limit the amount of foreigners a team can hold in an attempt to increase the level of talent among young U.K. citizens.]
For MMA fans we know that this is not true. The UFC and MMA is filled with Brazilian and Japanese fighters. Hispanic and African American fighters are some of the most popular fighters within the organization.
Still, there are incidents that show a racial double standard. One example is the Rashad Evans showboating 'incidents'. Would UFC fans ever dare levy the same charges at Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes or Rich Franklin?
After all the UFC as a product is very Anglo-centric. The UFC's expansion has been focused on England, Ireland and Germany and curiously devoid of martial arts hotspots like Japan and Brazil.
Is there a double standard? Does Bobby Lashley represent the latest incident of said standard?
These are difficult questions that we need to ask ourselves and I have no idea what the answer is. But we should consider them with sensitivity and understanding.
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Interesting thought. A couple of points:
1) Some of the friction impeding Lashley’s advancement likely has to do with his flirting around with MMA (sort of on the Kurt Angle train) before fully committing. Clearly he is fully committed now, but many were put off by his attitude towards MMA at the beginning. Lesnar, by contrast, left pro-wrestling, flirted with football, disappeared for a bit, and then came into MMA guns blazing. I think the combination of these events left the impression that a wait-and-see attitude towards Lashley was prudent. If he keeps developing, he’ll likely get his shot.
2) The UFC’s lack of expansion into the hotbeds of Japan and Brazil is a bit of a red herring, I’d say. The UFC obviously DESPERATELY wants into Japan but can’t get there because of the impenetrable (to Westerners) business environment. As for Brazil, the Brazillian government is a tangle of corruption and chaos, and the majority of the population lives below North American poverty standards. Add in that clothing and such manufactured outside of Brazil costs an incredible amount of money there (standard pair of sneakers can be the equivalent of $300), and who does the UFC market $55 ppvs and $75 t-shirts to? The UFC is a LUXURY industry, and Brazil, by and large, has lots of cheaper, home grown MMA that speaks to the Brazilian fans on a cultural and nationalist level, while costing a fraction of the price.
3) There likely is some element of racism involved in how Lashley is viewed in MMA. I’m sure there is with Rashad, too. Difference being that many people look at Rashad, Rampage, Anthony Johnson and others and think, “These guys could be an in to the young black male market”. That’s still racism, or more accurately, racialization; it’s promoting someone based on their connection to a particular race and assuming that a black man will be more likely to capture a market of other black men. Racism in a business like this is funny because it’s internally contradictory and cuts so many ways at once. What I don’t think exists is a broad collusion of racist opinion; I don’t think anyone ever sits down and says “We can’t promote Bobby Lashley because he’s black”. Though I don’t doubt some people think that in the back of their minds…
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
Good points but I have to disagree with the your analysis of Brazil. My family has married into several Brazilian families and it is no where near the level of corruption you implied. Fareed Zakaria is calling Brazil an economic success and a new form of leftist capitalism. While there are still issues Brazil is not akin to Columbia in the 80’s or present day Mexico.
While your point about PPV buys within Brazil is accurate you are forgetting that they are in the same time zone as the East Coast. So any PPV event held in Rio could generate U.S. buys, at least more than a German or U.K. card that is broadcast at 3pm.
If the UFC had an event featuring the many Brazilians in their homeland fighting it could be the equivalent to this.
I do agree with your price models though.
watchkalibrun.com
Damnit, I had a whole response typed out, and then I clicked your link and wiped it clear. GAH!
To summarize: yes, Brazil is not that corrupt, especially at the higher levels of government. But corruption exists at the regional level in the form of nepotism, etc., some of which I wouldn’t even CALL corruption, but it’s something that the WB/IMF harps on all the time. So it’s an optics issue.
Personally, I’d kill for a UFC PPV in Brazil, like you said. Stack it with Brazillian heroes and watch the place go nuts. But I stand by saying that for most Brazillians, there’s a cheaper alternative closer to home. There’s MMA every damn day in Brazil.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
Thought this might be of interest:
Tatame talking about UFC expansion into Brazil.
http://www.tatame.com/2009/03/27/UFC-wants-event-in-Brazil-but-not-now
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
i dont think it has anything to do with race..
i think its that they already have this “wwe” guy in lesnar, and until lashley proves he is really legit, thats the only time they’ll try to pick him up..
Maybe if he had dominated guida in his last fight, he’d turn some UFC heads, but right now, he’s just a slightly popular fighter who is unproven..
Yes Lesnar was like that too, but i think they dont want to put too much prowrestling guys in there that aren’t proven.. I think that’s also the reason they put lesnar in a shark tank right off the bat because they wanted to see him sink or swim immediately.
With all the haters he’s got and the wwe stigma he brings, If he was to look real bad, then they’d drop him no problem, if he did well, he’d prove the haters wrong and they’d keep him. plus, as you said, brock lesnar was wayyyy bigger in prowrestling than bobby ever was.. I may be wrong with the reasons i gave, but i really doubt it has anything to do with race.. If brock was black, was as popular as he is, and followed the same path, i think the ufc would’ve still picked him up..
If brock was black, was as popular as he is, and followed the same path, i think the ufc would’ve still picked him up..
This is the tricky thing about race issues, though. (And I say this agreeing with you that race doesn’t have a ton to do with why Lashley is not being signed by bigger promotions – he’s clearly just not ready.) WOULD Lesnar be as popular as he is today where he a giant, athletically gifted black guy from Detroit instead of a giant, atheltically gifted white guy from middle America? We have no way of knowing. It becomes a chicken-egg scenario on some levels, but it’s also worth pondering. That’s a different kind of racism – popular as opposed to institutional – but worth thinking about.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
yup i get your point..
maybe he wont be as popular sure, but that is a different issue on it’s own.. i was saying, if brock was as gifted and as popular as he is, then the ufc would still get him.. meaning the UFC doesn’t use race issues that much.. as long as you’re marketable and talented, they’ll get you.. Lashley is marketable sure, but he isn’t that talented/developed yet..
by Anton Tabuena on Mar 27, 2009 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
100% agreed. The Guida fight sure showed that, and thankfully Lashley talked afterwards like HE realized that too. What will be interesting to see is: IF Lashley is able to round out his game and become the force that many expect him to be at HW (even if it’s never on Lesnar’s level), THEN will he get more recognition? Right now we’re comparing apples and oranges; when all else is more or less equal, I’d like to see what happens.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
i think the article was pretty much premature..
if lashley indeed became a bigger force and a legit fighter/contender, (and even if he’s not in lesnar’s caliber), but the ufc still doesn’t get him, maybe then should we be asking about his race probably being the decision for the ufc not wanting to sign him.. but right now, its nothing about race and really about mostly about development of skill / talent..
by Anton Tabuena on Mar 29, 2009 12:35 AM EDT up reply actions
the white fan base also stems from the considerably larger involvement of whites in BJJ and wrestling in America. Not to generalize, but I see waaaaay more white guys at BJJ tournaments and wrestling tournaments than I do Black guys. It’s just that simple. The sheer influx of those two sports skews the demographics of the sport from the outset. The last amateur boxing tournament I attended….other than two white kids in the pee wee division, there was only ONE white guy in the entire teen/novice division.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Mar 27, 2009 10:20 AM EDT reply actions
Again, kinda playing devil’s advocate here, but there’s evidence of some “racialization” in that too. Boxing has long been a sport that black kids were funnelled into, partially cause it costs almost nothing to train in boxing and poor black kids were seen as a perfect resource, and partially because of the latent racist perception of black males as combatative and aggressive. Meanwhile, wrestling programs have long been most heavily pushed in middle-to-upper class high schools, and then institutionalized in expensive and elitist post-secondary institutions. It’s important to remember that class and race are divided along similar lines; by and large, non-white populations are much poorer than the white mainsteam.
Like my comment above, that doesn’t mean “racism” is keeping Lashley out of the UFC, or even keeping black kids out of wrestling programs at this point. But there are some long standing barriers that affect ALL people along racial lines long before they are even mature enough to be aware of the tacit social pressures being applied to them.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
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