An impressive victory that earned him the light heavyweight title again makes one wonder where his career could be without personal mistakes.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — When Jon Jones is on point, he walks, talks and acts like a great athlete should. He was the best version of himself on Saturday night as he returned to the octagon to defeat Daniel Cormier with a spectacular third-round knockout that reclaimed the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight belt.
He represented himself with distinction afterwards, calling an immediate end to his long-running feud with bitter rival Cormier. He was the main event victor in one of the UFC’s most successful pay-per-views of recent times. He spoke about taking the sport to a new level by attracting fans outside of traditional sports circles. He teased a potential fight with WWE star Brock Lesnar that would make the UFC organization a truckload of money. He talked with clarity and presence without needing to scream or shout or rant or boast. He was a marketer’s dream.
It was impressive stuff, yet more than anything it left a lingering feeling of «what if?»
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What if Jones hadn’ t made some or all of his highly-publicized personal mistakes? What if he hadn’ t lost his title for his part in a hit-and-run driving incident and ruined a flagship event, UFC 200, by testing positive for a banned substance?
What if he had lived clean and avoided addiction to marijuana, which he admitted to using far too much and far too often? What if he had devoted himself to his craft in the obsessive way other greats in various disciplines have managed?
Dana White asks himself the «what if» question plenty often, especially on nights like this.
“I truly believe Jon Jones is the best to ever (fight in the UFC) , ” company president White said. “If he hadn’ t had these things go wrong in his personal life who knows who he would have beat and where he would have got?”
White doesn’ t particularly like Jones. They don’ t talk a whole lot but White couldn’ t hide his wonderment at the fighter’s physical skills. Having fought just once in the previous 30 months, Jones concussed defending champ Cormier with a brutal third-round flurry that began with a head kick and ended with a stoppage that came too late.
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The UFC has had a lot of cult heroes and men (and women) of the people, beloved for their character or charisma or fearlessness or smack talk. Yet it has had precious few phenomenally gifted athletes with the professionalism to match, the kind of figure Jones might have become if he hadn’ t become waylaid by external distractions.
The 30-year-old’s troubles have cost him millions in endorsements but UFC has lost a lot too. We saw what impact Ronda Rousey had in terms of crossover appeal for a brief and exhilarating window. If Jones (23-1) had kept winning and nothing more, it is likely he would be the face of the UFC right now, Conor McGregor’s popularity explosion notwithstanding.
His comeback victory gives him a shot at redemption, but too much may have happened for him to ever become a figurehead for the sport. Even Jones accepts that while he is actively working on confronting his demons, it is premature to say he has changed permanently.
“I don’ t want to sit up here and say I’ m going to be a saint because I’ m… wild at the end of the day, ” Jones said. “But I will try to be a better person. I feel like this is a start of a new career and I want to better a better champion than I was in the past. This is the time to start over and be the champion the fans deserve. As far as saying I have my life together, life is a day by day thing. My life is still a work in progress.”
A revitalized Jones is clearly good for the UFC, giving it another PPV attraction of note and gravitas. A fresh and hungry Jones who is trying to set up a bout with Lesnar is enough to make the suits in the UFC’s accounting department giddy with excitement.
“I think it would be great for the mixed martial arts world, ” Jones added, after calling out Lesnar — a challenge that Lesnar, according to the AP, is receptive to. “It would definitely bring more (of the) public to the sport of MMA. That’s what we need, so I’ d like to be the guy who is a part of that.”
Perhaps this is the era for combat sports spectacles. The extraordinary circus of Floyd Mayweather v. McGregor is less than a month away from being settled inside a boxing ring. Now the UFC could get its own showdown that taps into a different audience and a different set of emotions.
Jones v. Lesnar wouldn’ t do the same kind of ridiculous numbers that Mayweather and McGregor are tracking towards. It’s seat prices won’ t top out at five figures, there won’ t be a black market for tickets to a promo tour.
But it would make both men a fortune and generate interest well outside the circles of hardened MMA fans, because of Lesnar’s wide appeal, the legion of WWE fans he brings with him and, most of all, because the huge gap in weight means it offers something different.
Jones is the kind of performer who can create momentum behind himself in an instant, and he did so against Cormier at UFC 214. If it lasts, if he is really different or just momentarily on track, is still to play out.
