Jon Jones and the UFC 151 Debacle

Jon Jones has made his aspirations known. Pleasing the fans and promotion that have propelled him to superstardom are presently not on his list of priorities. Jones wants to be bigger than the sport of mixed martial arts. With two brothers currently playing in the NFL, the Jones family is currently riding the cash flow of professional athletic success. Success and money can change people. Jones’ former training partner, Rashad Evans, warned him of these pitfalls, yet Jones refused to listen.

Despite steamrolling through all of his competition, Jones has never truly earned the love of his countrymen such as Brazil’s Anderson Silva and Canada’s Georges St.Pierre. Yet, Jones has never really let his guard down to let fans in. Jones’ will likely never become a fan favorite until he finally starts treating fans with some type of mutual respect. Jones has painted himself as an arrogant, immature champion.

Now UFC 151 has possibly left his legacy tarnished forever. Jones will certainly continue to put on dominant performances, but he will now have to do so knowing that he is the most hated man in the sport.

Jones is everything Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Royce Gracie were not. Respect for his fellow opponent, respect for the sport, respect shown towards the fans who pay their hard earn dollars to watch these athletes fight. All of these traits are what Jones has raised his nose to. Jones thinks he is above it all.

Should he have accepted the fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 151?
One simple answer, yes.

Jones could have washed away all his prior errors in judgement had he accepted this fight. He could have given fans reason to cheer for him. He could have helped his fellow fighters, but most of all he could have helped the sport. Rashad Evans warned fans about the “real” Jon Jones and now fans have finally seen him for themselves.