With Brock Lesnar retiring at UFC 141, it’s time for Jon “Bones” Jones to become the new face of the UFC.
The UFC has been lucky enough to have seven pay-per-view events generate over one million PPV buys, and Lesnar headlined four of them.
The UFC’s popularity is expected to grow immensely with all of the exposure that cable television will give the company, but without it’s leading PPV draw, the UFC must look to a new face to carry the company.
Perhaps the greatest talent to ever grace the Octagon is ready to do that. He is ready to carry the UFC forward into the “Fox era.”
The man that was thought to carry the torch was none other than UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. However, due to a string of unlucky breaks, GSP hasn’t graced us with his presence since UFC 129 in April 2011.
He was expected to defend his title against Nick Diaz at UFC 143, but he had to pull out due to a knee injury that required surgery. That puts the champion out for most of 2012, so why not let “the new breed” of MMA carry the company?
The new breed is represented by the athletes who choose to take up MMA over other professional sports and blow fans away with their incredible athleticism.
Leading the new breed is none other than Jones, and he’s the perfect fighter to market.
Jones is as exciting as any fighter in the UFC with his unorthodox wrestling, unpredictable striking and underrated Jiu-Jitsu. He’s the complete package. Whether you love him or you hate him, MMA fans are drawn to him.
Jones has a strong fanbase that backs him no matter what, along with many hardcore MMA fans that absolutely hate his guts. He’s perceived by the MMA community in a similar manner to how Lesnar was perceived.
Hero to some and villain to most, Jones has become quite the hot topic in the sport. Some doubt his ability to draw PPVs because of how easily he dominates his opponent, so maybe Jones needs a rival to push him to the limits.
That rival could very well be Rashad Evans.
Should everything go according to plan and Evans defeats Phil Davis later this month, Evans and Jones will throw down in one of the biggest grudge matches in UFC history in 2012.
Not only is this a match fueled by bad blood, but Evans actually has a chance to dethrone Jones and the entire MMA community knows this. Evans used to train with Jones at Greg Jackson’s gym, and he has the skills to nullify the young champion.
While Jones’ wrestling skills seem to be untouchable, Evans might be able to shut down his wrestling game. Evans has power in both his hands and feet.
Should these two fight in 2012, the PPV buys could be enormous and it could be the permanent transition from Lesnar to Jones that the company needs.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com