Joe Rogan: Racism at the heart of why Jon Jones isn't more popular
Image and appearance are two major factors that always go into an athlete's perception with fans, but even in 2014 it's impossible to ignore that race and gender still play a part as well.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is currently ranked at the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and if he continues on the run he's been on over the last few years, he will likely pass Anderson Silva for the mythical title of "greatest of all time." Despite all of those fantastic accolades, Jones is still one of the most begrudged athletes on the UFC roster.
UFC color commentator Joe Rogan took a different approach when dissecting Jones and how he's perceived in the public light amidst popular opinion. Rogan's theory involves Jones' skin color playing a role in the backlash he routinely receives from fans. He also thinks it is part of the reason Jones is considered the best in the sport, but still isn't the massive draw a fighter like Georges St-Pierre was during his prime.
"I don't know why Jon is not more loved or popular than he is. I don't understand it. In my opinion, I will never miss a Jon Jones f--king pay-per-view. I've heard people say, 'Oh, he's cocky. He's this and [that].' I wonder what the f--k is going on with that and I'm going to throw this out there, I'm just going to say it: I wonder how much of it is racism. I really do," Rogan explained on his recent podcast. "You know why? Because I think they look at him as this cocky black guy and I think a lot of people have an issue with that."
Rogan takes it one step further when comparing Jones to a fighter like Chael Sonnen, who often times said far more outlandish statements when promoting a fight but not being even close to the current UFC light heavyweight champion when it came to his record, accomplishments or standing in the sport.
Still, Sonnen's popularity soared with every crazy statement he made while Jones is just often accused of being fake and cocky no matter what he does.
"I think that if he was a white guy and he was doing the same thing, ala Chael Sonnen, I think he would be way more popular. Chael was never the successful athlete that Jon is, but I think Chael was way more successful as a promoter than Jon is. Jon has not been nearly as cocky or outwardly braggadocious as Chael was," Rogan said. "I just always found it odd when everybody would get upset at him and say that they didn't like that 'he's cocky.'
"He's 25 and he's the UFC's light heavyweight champion. He's the youngest ever UFC champion. He destroyed Shogun (Rua) to win the title and I mean destroyed. He threw a flying knee and hit Shogun in the chin five seconds into their fight. I mean, Jon Jones is a motherf---er. He's a motherf---er, but for whatever reason people have had an issue with that."
During his podcast, Rogan was actually speaking to famed UFC nutritionist Mike Dolce when discussing the popularity of certain fighters in the sport. While Rogan is confident his statement regarding Jones and racism will be met with quite a bit of backlash and cynicism, he still thinks it's a relevant factor that should be discussed.
"I know I'm going to get a bunch of hate tweets. 'F--k you and your f--king bullshit. What do you got? White guilt? Calling out racism?' I'm probably going to get an equal amount from 'the Aryan race,' mad at me for defending Jon Jones, 'The cocky negro.' I really think there's something to that," Rogan said.
"I think people want a guy who is so physically gifted and young and brash and black and rich, they want him to have more humility or fake humility, as it were. I think Jon's trying that a little bit and that's one of the reasons Daniel Cormier was like, 'You are so fake.' Cormier was saying that to him because I think he's trying to counteract how people feel about him."
Jones hasn't commented on the situation and given the controversial nature of the subject, he may choose to avoid it all together. Either way, Rogan certainly sparked a debate and when it comes to racism, it's impossible to ignore there are elements that still exist in the world. How much it affects Jones in the public eye remains unknown.
