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UFC 140 Results: Can Jon Jones Become the Biggest Draw in MMA?

With UFC 140 now in the books and Jon Jones defending his UFC belt for the second time, it’s been established that Jones is for real. Jones answered his biggest question, “How does he react after getting hit?” and showed that he can come back from some…

The only question that remains now is not if he is for real in the cage. He has adequately proven himself to any of his detractors. It now becomes a question of whether he can become MMA‘s biggest draw.

The UFC certainly needs him to be. The promotion has grown to the point where it doesn’t need a huge name to sell out arenas, but the bigger draws are starting to get older (Silva), are injured (GSP) or are dangerously close to being irrelevant or retired (Lesnar).

The odd thing about his meteoric rise through the ranks has been his decline in popularity. Whether the gripes about his personality are true, the consensus has become that Jones is a fake.

While it’s hard for us, the fans, to truly judge whether someone is genuine, the perception has certainly become the reality and his reputation has taken a hit.

Perhaps in more than any sport, personality matters in MMA.

There’s no helmet to wear, no team to hide behind, you are your own brand.

While Jones’ confidence and personality may hinder his reputation now, there will be a point when it simply doesn’t matter. If sports has taught us one thing, winning conquers all flaws.

Example No. 1—Michael Jordan

Perhaps the most marketable athlete in sports history was Michael Jordan. There are many accounts of Jordan’s vindictive and bristly personality.

If Jordan had been an MMA fighter, chances are he wouldn’t have been a fan favorite. He would have been cocky, smug and probably wouldn’t have been the best guy to train with. He was merciless with his teammates in the NBA, always in the pursuit of perfection.

So why was Jordan so marketable?

He won.

It didn’t matter that in reality he was a tough person to play with and not the most likeable person; it mattered that he was the best winner since Magic and Bird.

When Jordan was playing on TV or if he was coming to your local arena, you were going to be watching. Not because he was a likeable guy, but because you were about to witness greatness.

Jones is reaching that level. Love him or hate him, you have to watch because you are witnessing greatness.

Example No. 2—Tim Tebow

Perhaps a more recent comparison to Jones would be Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. This comparison has been made before but it holds a lot of validity when wondering if Jones can become MMA’s biggest draw.

Tebow has also fallen under criticism because of his personality. The difference between Tebow and Jones is talent. Tebow is unconventional and doesn’t have the traditional skill set of typical NFL quarterbacks, and we don’t know if he will have staying power in the league despite a 7-1 record as a starter this year.

What we do know for sure is about Tebow is he is currently the NFL’s biggest draw.

If ESPN were to have a Broncos game on “Monday Night Football,” it would undoubtedly be the highest rated of the year.

Tebow has his fair share of detractors, from his personality to his unconventional skill set, and many people are just waiting to see Tebow fail.

Either way they are tuning in.

Jones is in a very similar situation. While his talent is far more proven than Tebow’s. He still remains disliked by a large portion of fans.

Eventually Jones’ winning ways will force people to tune in.

What Tebow has taught us is that winning is paramount when it comes to sparking up the debate and being the big draw.

Example No. 3—Anderson Silva

The only man to be more polarizing than Jon Jones, is the pound-for-pound king of MMA himself, Anderson Silva. “The Spider” is a fighter that is either loved or hated.

Those that love him, love the way he fights in the octagon and appreciates his impressive undefeated run in the UFC.

Those that dislike him point to his lack of respect for some opponents and his cockiness. Silva is another fighter with a polarizing personality.

He’s also one of the biggest draws in the UFC.

Silva fighting anyone is huge news, and Chael Sonnen has become one of the most popular fighters in the UFC simply because he almost beat Silva. Simply put, Silva sells.

It won’t be long until Jones reaches Silva status. Regardless of how many people don’t like his personality they’ll have to tune in because they will be witnessing greatness.

So, can Jon Jones become MMA’s biggest draw?

Absolutely.

Be sure to stay tuned to Bleacher Report for all things UFC 140. B/R is your home for complete coverage of the Dec. 10 fight card, including results and post-fight analysis.

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Jon Fitch Could Benefit Most from Georges St. Pierre Injury

With the breaking news that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has suffered an ACL injury, focus immediately shifts to the two fighters that will be fighting for the interim welterweight championship belt.Really, an interim title holds little mea…

Really, an interim title holds little meaning other than to serve as a physical representation of who the No. 1 contender is upon the champ’s return. Fighting for the belt are Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. Both have been scheduled to fight GSP at one time or another.

Both guys are obviously benefiting from GSP’s injury, as both have a shot at winning a “title” without having to beat the most well-rounded fighter in MMA. Even so, both are deserving of a shot and are certainly high quality fighters, so the fight shouldn’t disappoint.

The real question is what happens after their fight? Diaz and Condit were clearly the top two contenders for the division’s title and both were waiting in line for their shot at the Canadian superstar.

Enter Jon Fitch.

Fitch, arguably the second best welterweight in the world, already had his shot at GSP and was beaten very soundly in a unanimous decision victory. However, this could be his shot at finally getting his rematch with GSP.

Ideally, the UFC could unofficially have a four-man tournament where the winner of Condit-Diaz would then put the interim belt on the line against the winner of a Josh Koscheck-Jon Fitch fight. However, Fitch and Koscheck are good friends and training partners and have said on numerous occasions they will not fight one another.

Fitch is 5-0-1 since his loss to St. Pierre.

The only problem is that, over the years, Dana White has developed quite the disdain for Fitch and his less-fan-friendly wrestling-heavy style, continually passing him over for title shots.

However, as a result of GSP’s injury, Fitch has a more clear road to a title shot than ever before. He needs to finish his next opponent convincingly (his last finish was in 2007, so this won’t be easy) before defeating either Diaz or Condit for the interim belt.

While Fitch is often labeled as boring, he is still a dominant fighter who deserves title consideration. It will be interesting to see how the welterweight division plays out while GSP is on the shelf. Maybe this is just what Fitch needs to light a fire and start finishing fights.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: Creating the Ultimate Fighter

Yet another season of The Ultimate Fighter is in the books, and this season saw featherweight Diego Brandao and bantamweight John Dodson both come out victorious. For winning the show they are given a lucrative contract with the UFC and given the title…

We all know that neither of these guys are truly the “ultimate fighter,” they’re really just the guys that were able to win all the fights in this particular season and win their respective fights at the finale.

The truth is, the ultimate fighter doesn’t really exist.

The interesting thing about the sport of MMA is that anyone can be beaten. Even the best in the sport can be caught on any given night.

Anderson Silva, undoubtedly one of the greatest fighters of all time, has been beaten by Ryo Chonan and Daiju Takase. He has also looked very human on occasion, most notably in his UFC 117 victory over Chael Sonnen.

Fedor Emelianenko, considered by many to be untouchable for nearly a decade, now holds a 1-3 record in his last four fights.

Even current “untouchable” fighter Jon Jones could be beaten on any given night, perhaps even by a flying kick by Lyoto Machida in their upcoming bout.

So what would the “ultimate fighter” look like? What traits would an unbeatable fighter have?

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3 UFC Titles That Will Change Hands in 2012

The UFC Heavyweight Championship once again changed hands as the world watched Junior dos Santos need only slightly over a minute to dethrone former champion Cain Velasquez with one of his patented thunderous right hands. While there are still plenty of great fights to be seen in 2011, the UFC’s seven different championships appear to be at rest for the duration of the year.

Junior dos Santos became the fourth man to claim a UFC belt in the year of 2011 along with Jon Jones and the champions of the UFC’s two newest divisions, Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz. With the nature of MMA scheduling, when a belt changes hands it is big deal.

With many title pictures looking clear and some very deserving challengers lined up for the current champions, there is sure to be some change among the sport’s elite. 2012 could very well see many title changes, but three divisions stand out as ones that will see a shakeup at the top.

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Mark Munoz and 5 Fights We Don’t Want to See Anderson Silva in

Whether you’ve been watching MMA your entire life or you’ve just started watching the sport, you know that Anderson Silva is a legend. A very easy case could be made that he is the greatest fighter of all time.When Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, proclaime…

When Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, proclaimed that the reigning middleweight champion only had four fights left, everyone had an immediate opinion as to who those four fights should be against.

Since Soares’ proclamation, Silva has separated himself from his manager and stated he plans on fighting for at least seven more years. Either way, it is pretty clear that Silva isn’t going to fight forever.

Given all that he has achieved, Silva could retire today and be called one of the top three fighters of all time and the undisputed greatest middleweight to ever live. That’s why it is very important for each of his next fights to have significance—to remove all doubt that he is the best ever.

If Silva wants to cement this legacy, a move to light heavyweight appears imminent. That means that many of the fights that we don’t want to see would occur at his current weight class, where his dominance has been proven over and over again.

Here are the fights that we would rather not take up Silva’s remaining fights in his career.

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UFC 138: Why Anthony Perosh vs. Cyrille Diabate Will Be the Fight of the Night

This weekend’s UFC 138 may be short on name power, but it certainly has what matters most—firepower. When Anthony Perosh and Cyrille Diabate open the night’s main card, there may not be too much on the line, but the fight has “Fight of the Night”…

All too often, a card stacked with some of MMA’s biggest names fails to deliver the exciting night of fights that we expect. As the stakes rise, fighters become more likely to take the safe road—not a very entertaining one.

UFC 138 should deliver a truly exciting night of fights. While there aren’t many well-known fighters on the card, they just may become well-known after November 5th.

This fight could offer a little bit of everything—stand up, the clinch and ground work—and could really end in any fashion. Sounds like a recipe for Fight of the Night to me.

Here’s why.

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