Jon Jones is one of MMA’s most polarizing figures—in large part because of his supposed “massive” ego.
Is this ego (or the fans’ perception of an ego) a problem?
No, it’s a blessing.
Think about the other six current UFC champions. How many of them have personalities as polarizing as Jones’?
Middleweight champion Anderson Silva and featherweight champ Jose Aldo don’t speak English and therefore their personalities can’t cause controversy among the American fans (although it’s worth noting that Anderson Silva recently spoke English in a FOX commercial, yet doesn’t do so at most press conferences and interviews).
Junior Dos Santos is the champ at heavyweight, but he’s a nice guy who speaks broken English—not somebody who is going to generate PPV buys fueled by ire. Lightweight champ Benson Henderson is also a mild-mannered individual.
Longtime welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is polarizing, not for his personality—which is calm, flaccid and a PR person’s wet dream—but for his fighting style.
And what of 135-pound kingpin Dominick Cruz? He may have a bit of a silver tongue but, sadly, many casual fans don’t seem to like the lighter weight classes; it’s historically failed to be much of a draw in MMA.
That brings us back to Jon Jones.
When Jones says or does anything, fans across the Internet analyze how that makes Jones a conceited jerk whose ego is spiraling out of control.
There was the time when Jones said that he disliked the toy UFC belts which made many people cringe. More recently, there was a Jon Jones magazine cover that mimicked an iconic picture of Muhammad Ali.
With the way fans reacted to that, you’d think that Jones conceptualized, photographed and edited the cover!
The situation was made worse when Jones stated that he wanted to be “better than Ali.”
While such a comment may be egotistic, what champion doesn’t have a bit of an ego? What champion wouldn’t think they’re the best?
Furthermore, if Jones’ ego is a problem for some fans, then his ego is actually a boon for the sport. People will pay to see a fighter they hate get humbled.
Some fans will always complain about Jones for one reason or another. But the fact of the matter is that Jones’ “ego” is one of the most positive developments in MMA, since it helps build a following (in favor of him and against him) for a fighter that will be a UFC champion for quite some time.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com