With Jon “Bones” Jones set to take on former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on Jan. 3 at UFC 182, much more is at stake than hardware.
Before Jones makes his eighth title defense—he’s currently three behind tying Anderson Silva for the most in UFC history with 10—he caused a stir at the UFC 178 media day by inciting a brawl with Cormier that led to Nike dropping Bones from his sponsorship. Now, it’s easy to speculate who caused the brawl, as both men should share the blame, but UFC President Dana White appeared to believe the culprit was Jones. Then, to make matters worse, the pair of heavyweights engaged in a heated off-air exchange following an ESPN interview.
Jones and Cormier would be docked a portion of their purses for their upcoming championship bout and required to serve community service. The altercation and off-air banter will undoubtedly enhance the marketing power and overall buildup for this five-round showdown, but it changes some things, namely for the champion. Jones, whose reputation had already been questioned and attacked—even by his fellow fighters—now will have a much more difficult time getting back in the public’s good graces. But should he have to?
Jones stepped into the Octagon at the tender age of 21, quickly establishing himself as a destructive heavyweight prospect. He won and won some more, dispatching gatekeepers—but only one top-10 opponent—before landing a shot at UFC gold when former training partner Rashad Evans went down. Jones was a combination of speed, athleticism and unpredictability rarely seen in the UFC.
The now 27-year-old dominated former Pride champion Shogun Rua en route to becoming the youngest UFC champion in the promotion’s history. Jones went onto finish two of his next three opponents, Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida, before a firestorm ensued.
UFC 151 was set to take place on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 1, but an injury to title challenger Dan Henderson sidelined Jones’ fourth title defense. With the threat of the entire event being canceled, Jones had a choice of taking a fight with two-time middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen or forgoing the risky endeavor. As he told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (h/t Ken Pishna of MMAWeekly):
The reason why I’m so good at fighting is not because I’m this freak athlete with two brothers in the NFL and I’m just that great at fighting; my secret to success is being so prepared. I train five times a day – I really doubt that other light heavyweights train five times a day – and I study every night. Why would I go against everything I stand for and take a last-minute fight?
Regardless of whether one thought that Jones could manhandle Sonnen, like the men previously put before him—and he later did—it would be difficult to imagine adjusting to someone of Sonnen‘s ability on just eight days’ notice. As the champ pointed out, although similar to Hendo, Sonnen is quite different being that he is a southpaw and employs a different takedown style (with accompanying submissions).
Sonnen also smothers you on the offensive end as opposed to Henderson, who waits with his right hand cocked, baiting you into a brawl. Jones’ employer, White, had some choice words in a media conference call back in late August of 2012 (h/t MMAWeekly):
This affects everybody, UFC employees, Mandalay Bay employees, fighters that need that money, families that took vacations…This is one of those selfish, disgusting decisions that doesn’t just affect you, you just affected 16 other family’s lives, kids are going back to school, the list goes on and on. I don’t think this is a decision that’s going to make Jon Jones popular with the fans, sponsors, cable distributors, television network executives, or other fighters.
While Jones may have been looking out for himself, the fact that the UFC had to cancel an event for the first time in its history speaks volumes. It not only cost fighters but the Las Vegas economy, too. So while we saw Jones become a part of history in a dark light, we would later see bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw put in the same position a few months ago and still elect to fight, albeit against much less of a challenge and an unknown competitor.
If we backtrack just a few months before the UFC 151 fiasco, Jones crashed his 2012 Bentley Continental GT into a telephone pole in Binghamton, New York, and was arrested for DUI in May 2012. He received a $1,000 fine, and he was able to proceed with his UFC career uninterrupted. Surprisingly, the incident did not scare off sponsors.
“I actually believe my DUI set me free in some ways. It set me free from a lot of fan expectation,” Jones told Joe Rogan (h/t MMAWeekly). “I was definitely coming into a sport as a young man trying to be perfect for people, and that’s why people call me fake.”
That last nugget is telling for a number of reasons. For one, it means he cares. It shows that he’s honest. For some others, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Prior to the cancellation, Jones fought Evans at UFC 145. The fight was a test on multiple levels, marking the first time Jones’ character had been attacked.
Leading up to the fight, Jones had been a model citizen. He answered the call to fight for the title as Evans’ replacement and had finished three former champions in a row.
“Because it’s so hard to insult me technically — everyone has seen my performances — what else can you go to?” Jones told Fox Sports. “My character. How do you judge someone that you don’t know?”
Jones is right. In a similar situation, pound-for-pound great Anderson Silva had seen his reputation targeted by Chael Sonnen following his lethargic title defenses at UFC 97 and UFC 112. Are some people just better at putting on a front than others? More or less, but I do know one thing: Winners bother people.
However, there’s a flip side to Jones’ words. If he is so confident in his ability, and wants to make Cormier eat his own words, then why not say it in front of a national audience?
Yes, he has a brand to represent, but people would appreciate the honesty even more, and it wouldn’t seem like he’s hiding part of himself. Sure, the media and the public could criticize him for that, but it would remove the “fake” moniker and take some of the pressure off of the young champion.
When you’re a highly sought-after commodity, who does promoting, commercials and is on the front cover of magazines, it’s easy for the public to throw rocks at you. Granted, you should never get behind the wheel of a car intoxicated—if Jones hits someone or hurts himself then we’re singing a different song here—but he was a 24-year-old adult with a lot of time to grow. The process helped humanize the champion.
Jones is just one example of a polarizing sports figure. Let’s take Jones and the UFC 151 debacle and compare it with Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James’ decision to leave his home state back in July 2010. James was an 18-year-old savior when he joined Cleveland in 2003 and went on to lead the team to one NBA Finals appearance while earning back-to-back MVP awards.
In July 2010, James made it known, on national television, that he would be joining the Miami Heat. It was a catastrophic decision that left many of the locals in Cleveland, not to mention his former owner, distraught and bitter. The King would receive much flack for his elaborate spectacle on ESPN but also in how he handled himself upon his arrival in South Beach.
Never before had an athlete become so vilified. But then as time went on, and people eventually let go of all the angst, James shed the villain moniker—at least he himself did. James and Jones are both winners, and people easily mistake those smiles, and that happy-go-lucky-attitude, for cockiness. The bicep-flexing, the chalk toss, the crazy stances and acrobatic kicks all feed the general public’s desire to hate winners.
The hate goes back farther, though, as franchises like the New York Yankees and Boston Celtics have heard the public’s outcry in years past. Athletes like Sidney Crosby and Brett Favre have also felt public wrath.
What both James and Jones were thinking about is how their present situation would effect their career going forward. Jones could take a risk, and possibly lose his title, while being looked at admirably in defeat, or Jones could play it safe as he chose to do.
Now, in the thick of Jones’ title reign, he has given the media, and the public, brand-new ammunition. His transgressions have validated what Evans, and a portion of the public, have felt for years. Jones is a company prop who will say and do the right thing in front of a camera. With Jones appearing at least mortal in two of his last four title defenses, this would appear to be the opportune time for criticism to sink in.
Jones has successfully waded through it before, so there’s no reason he can’t again against Cormier, who is similar in style to former challenger Evans. Cormier is a strong wrestler—NCAA Division I All-American and Olympic trials winner—with a powerful clinch and striking game.
Jones doesn‘t owe anything to the media or public. Jones deserves to be forgiven over something that can easily happen in the schoolyard of an intermediate school. He is on the national stage, but that doesn‘t make him any less human or free from making mistakes. Jones is not a cheater, nor has he been accused of domestic violence.
Having remained relatively quiet over the last two years while adding to his legacy, Jones has went about his business. He has even had talks with Reebok over a new sponsorship deal. With a knockout of Cormier at UFC 182, the public will have no choice but to eat its words and move on.
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