Jon Jones is on the trajectory to become the most dominant mixed martial artist of his era, breaking every conceivable record in the sport in the process.
He’s the youngest champion the promotion has ever seen, seizing the belt in only 14 fights at the age of 23, and holding onto it for four title defences.
That’s just one short of Tito Ortiz’s record of five title defences at 205 lbs, and there’s no reason why he won’t get it.
He’s young, he’s hungry, and he has massive momentum behind him. He’s only 25 and already one of the top-three most important men in the UFC. What’s more, he’s determined to do things his own way.
Back in September, Jones caused a storm when he refused to fight Chael Sonnen at short notice: an act of defiance that led to the cancellation of the first event in the UFC’s history.
Few men in the sport have stood up to the promotion’s bosses like Jones did.
There was a feeling, after the debacle, that Jones had overstepped the mark. The fighter himself appeared contrite, eager to furnish his reputation as a company man. But there’s no reason that this will be the end of it.
The UFC is built on the back of its fighting talent. It has consistently had to acknowledge this throughout its history.
Back in 2007, Tito Ortiz had been the most dominant light heavyweight the UFC had ever seen, but he was eventually dethroned by Randy Couture and failed to recapture the belt from Chuck Liddell.
But in those days, there were only a handful of men killing it at 205 lbs. Outside the three most prominent ment – Couture, Liddell and Ortiz – few had heard of Lyoto Machida, who was still fighting relative unknowns, or Mauricio Rua, who had lost in his debut to Forrest Griffin, or Dan Henderson, whose fight against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was yet to materialise.
Ortiz, despite entering a slide in his career, felt bold enough to leave the UFC, dissatisfied at his contract, only to return, having been given one of the most lucrative contracts of any fighter on the UFC’s roster.
That was a rare moment of capitulation for the UFC when it re-signed Ortiz in 2009. However, Ortiz isn’t the only one to have felt like he could call the shots with the promotion.
Couture was possibly the most popular fighter of his generation. A much more amenable character, he rarely ruffled feathers, but was, for much of his career, an outspoken fighter who looked to change things for the average mixed martial artist.
During his time, he earned the respect of UFC president Dana White and the casual MMA fan like no other.
He did more to bring the sport to mainstream attention than almost any other man and retired with a record 15 title fight appearances and thriving businesses selling clothing, his own gym and a lucrative acting career.
Jones similarly sees himself as a businessman. Like Couture, and like Ortiz, he recognises his time in the sport is short. As such, he’s determined to maximise the income he can generate as a fighter in any way he can.
At such a young age, that kind of approach does little to endear him to MMA fans. However, that attitude has allowed him to pick up the torch from men like Ortiz and Couture, and push the boundary for what is possible for an MMA athlete.
He was the first fighter to be directly sponsored by the UFC and has since become the first to win a global Nike sponsorship deal – sitting alongside mainstream stars like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods.
He’s already shown that he’s not afraid to butt heads with the UFC. And, despite having to eventually toe the company line and agree to fight Sonnen, it’s clear that he won’t be an easy champion for the promotion to deal with.
As long as he keeps winning, in the future his disagreements with the promotion could become more interminable and his ambitions could grow ever bigger, that he outstrips them all – Ortiz and Couture included.
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