UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is one of the most talked about fighters in the sport—but not all of that talk is positive.
There is a considerable group of MMA fans (and perhaps a jaded pundit or two) who harbor a dislike for the UFC’s youngest champion. Some of these people would even go as far as to say that Jon Jones isn’t legitimate—that he’s naught but a fraud.
The talk of Jones being “fake” in the sense that his pious, humble shtick is just that—a shtick (that poorly mirrors that of Hulk Hogan’s “eat your vitamins, say your prayers” gimmick)—has been around since Jones began to rise to prominence.
But is it true?
The only people who know for sure are Jones, his friends and his family.
However, that doesn’t stop us from speculating.
In truth, much of the talk about Jon Jones not being humble and actually being conceited and “evil” in real life are likely exaggerations fueled by one of three sordid motivations.
First, many MMA fans have a favorite fighter and live vicariously through them. It’s possible that many people hate Jones because he destroyed or is set to destroy their favorite fighter. So the only way these people can have a victory over Jones is to have a moral victory over him; “at least my fighter is real.”
Second, people may see Jones, his accomplishments and his young age and become jealous of his success.
Why would they be jealous? Delving into the anti-Jones psychology would be far too boring and complicated, suffice to say that they are miserable cretins who probably regret the fact that they didn’t train earlier in their lives or wrestle or have certain opportunities.
Jones might be the ugly “what if” that follows these sad people to their death beds: “What if I trained? What if I had the athleticism of Jones?” But “what ifs” can never defeat Jones, so these people have to find some way to tear the man down. Since he can’t be beaten physically, they attack his character.
Third, Jones is religious. People hate being preached to and overly religious athletes in general.
So, is Jones a fraud?
It doesn’t matter when it’s all said and done; occupying an imaginary moral high ground can’t take away Jon Jones’ title. Love him or hate him, Jones will be around for a long time, so you better get used to him, accusations of being “fake” notwithstanding.
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