For all the heat MMA takes for appealing only to the basest human instincts, the sport has been relatively free of the recent racism that has marred most other major sports. Maybe it’s because MMA is inherently multicultural, not only in terms of its athletes but the techniques those athletes have to master—Brazilian grappling, Thai kickboxing, Russian wrestling, Japanese hip-tossing—but MMA has yet to birth a star like baseball pitcher John Rocker (who famously ranted against foreigners, homosexuals, and New Yorkers in general in the late 90s) or incidents of race-baiting like those professional soccer can’t seem to rid itself of. And sports writers rarely ponder the cultural impact the arrival of a fighter of a particular race will have on the sport, the way they did when Tiger Woods showed up on the PGA tour, the Williams sister started to dominate tennis, or Jeremy Lin took over basketball for a few delightful weeks last winter. Which isn’t to say the sport is clean, only that it’s cleaner than others.Still, the issue of racism is rarely far from the surface in American life, though these days it usually only makes itself known through coded language and dog-whistle criticism. In this recently released promotional video spotlighting Rashad Evans before his fight this weekend against Rogerio Nogueira in Las Vegas (a video shot by Fightland friend and collaborator Ryan Loco), the voices serving both as the source of Evans’ disenchantment with MMA and his inspiration to improve in it aren’t just criticizing the fighter’s character—they’re criticizing his blackness.Watch the video and read the rest at FIGHTLAND.