What I've noticed in the past 12 hours on social media is, mainstream MMA outlet members acting utterly dumbfounded at the negative backlash to Sage Northcutt's loss to Bryan Barberena at UFC on Fox 18. And the common theme seems to be that MMA fans are happy that Sage lost, because they 'hate' him.
I've got a question for these MMA journalists. Are you blind, delusional, or simply afraid to state the obvious? Because MMA fans don't 'hate' Sage Northcutt. What they do seem to hate however is, the UFC's obvious agenda to shove certain fighters down our throats, via overly obnoxious hype & promotion. They also seem to hate preferential treatment and the idea that there seems to be a chosen few. These things lead to people hoping a fighter will lose, so the UFC loses in some way.
So instead of accusing MMA fans of being haters, because it's the easy thing to do. Maybe, just maybe, these journalists would be better served by actually investigating (or admitting) the real reason this negative backlash tends to occur when one of the chosen few is handed a loss. Because guess what, the MMA media is part of the problem. They're either advised to get behind the UFC hype train, or they blindly do so...which only adds to this 'hate'. Either way, they may want to look in the mirror.
End rant.