Jon Jones needs a win at UFC 214 to cement his legacy -- but so does the UFC
With a noted lack of star power in 2017, UFC is in need of Jones being everything he can be
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4 min read
It's somewhat incredible to look back on how many lives Jon Jones has lived in terms of his UFC fighting identity in the nine years since he made his promotional debut at UFC 87. It's just as incredible to realize he only turned 30 less than a week ago.
Jones (22-1) vaulted from virtual unknown to freaky uber prospect to the youngest champion in UFC history just one month before his third anniversary with the company. He vaulted to the pound-for-pound king over the next three years, (at times) the face of the UFC and, in many circles, affirmation as the greatest to ever step foot inside a cage. That was the high point of the story.
Then, of course, came the dramatic fall, where Jones acquired labels such as former champion (after twice being stripped), cautionary tale, drug suspendee and, for a short time, inmate. Talk about a dramatic life cycle for a fighter during his first decade in front of the public eye.
But despite the many well-documented issues outside of the cage that have plagued Jones in recent years, he still has the ability to essentially erase them from his fighting legacy by putting the train back on the tracks and defeating Daniel Cormier on Saturday in their rematch headlining UFC 214 in Anaheim, California.
No, fight fans won't exactly forget all the bad that has happened -- but they have proven plenty fickle enough to quickly forgive and still cheer Jones as a hero because of how untouchable and bend-but-never-break tough he has been as a fighter.
While it's true most fighters aren't afforded such a luxury in terms of being able to press pause and return like nothing ever happened, most fighters simply aren't as talented as Jones, allowing such dramatic leaps from G.O.A.T. to tragic fall and back -- all while still in his physical prime -- to happen in the first place.
By regaining the title he officially never lost, Jones would still have a shot to fulfill his otherworldly potential and maybe one day add the UFC heavyweight championship to his resume. All he has to do, it would seem, is defeat defeat an opponent he convincingly already did back in January 2015 during their competitive first meeting.
So while the pressure is certainly on Jones to shake off cage rust and be the "Bones" of old on Saturday for the sake of his legacy, there may be even more pressure for a Jones victory on UFC when you look at the current state of the promotion and the visible lack of star power at the moment.
It has been well publicized just how bad the hangover for UFC has been over the first half of 2017 in direct response to the record-breaking financial bonanza that was 2016, which included a sale of the company to WME-IMG for $4 billion. Pay-per-view numbers are down dramatically, as is just the general buzz as UFC has failed to produce consistent must-see cards while more and more big-name fighters talk publicly about their unhappiness with finances and matchmaking.
The major reason for the 2017 decline has been an empty cupboard of stars for various reasons. Jones (suspension), Conor McGregor (paternity leave and boxing match), Ronda Rousey (seclusion after KO loss), Georges St-Pierre (injury), Nate Diaz (indifference, waiting on McGregor) and even Cody Garbrandt (injury) all failed to appear inside the cage during the first seven months. On top of that, three of the more anticipated bouts -- Tony Ferguson-Khabib Nurmagomedov, Amanda Nunes-Valentina Shevchenko II and Garbrandt-TJ Dillashaw -- fell apart late because of injuries.
Jones' return to full-time competition couldn't be anymore needed than right now from UFC's standpoint, even if he isn't the most trustworthy after he cost UFC 200 its main event last July just days before (forcing president Dana White to vow Jones would never be booked into a main event again).
A Jones victory, particularly one in which he further presents himself from a marketing standpoint as the unrepentant heel he has publicly evolved into being, would allow UFC to release one of its biggest PPV stars back into full-time competition. A rematch with Alexander Gustafsson would make a lot of sense to do next, along with an eventual move up to heavyweight (although Jones has publicly soured just a bit in recent memory) which would also trigger big money, interest and ratings.
A loss for Jones might not be a short-term fiasco for UFC considering it could open the door for a trilogy fight against Cormier to be booked sooner than later.
Make no mistake about it, Jones' marketing potential has a much higher upside when he's being presented as a virtual unbeaten and controversial star in pursuit of finishing the greatest career in the sport's history. That right there could be MMA's version of Floyd Mayweather's run as a PPV star if marketed properly.
But it all comes down to Jones winning on Saturday and doing so in a manner that suggests he hasn't lost much from stepping aside for so long to clean up his personal life. The only image in the end that fans tend to truly care about is your reputation as a fighter when all is said and done, and despite his many transgressions in life, Jones remains just about perfect inside the cage.
