“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
These were the words spoken by Harvey Dent in “The Dark Knight,” and the quote couldn’t be more fitting for Jon Jones. Jones is no longer MMA’s white knight. Rather, he has become the most hated UFC fighter today and he has without a doubt transformed himself from hero to villain.
Jones was the chosen one. Fans around the sport watched this young and inspiring athlete grow over the years and transform himself into perhaps the greatest fighter this sport has ever seen. Humble in his approach, Jones dominated every opponent placed in front of him and created a buzz like never before. But just like Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side in “Revenge of the Sith,” Jones turned his back on the MMA community.
He dominated every man he has ever faced in the Octagon, and after he won the UFC light heavyweight championship from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in 2011, fans started to suspect a change in Jones’ demeanor. Slowly but surely, humility was thrown by the wayside. Arrogance grew around him and the hardcore fans began to resent his newfound attitude-or, dare I say-the real personality of Jon “Bones” Jones.
Fast-forward to eight days before Jones was scheduled to face Dan Henderson for the UFC light heavyweight championship on Sept. 1, and Jones’ popularity took an incredible downward spiral. After Henderson had to pull out of the scheduled bout with Jones, UFC president Dana White found a suitable replacement in Chael Sonnen. Keep in mind that Sonnen accepted this bout on eight days’ notice and was willing to fight Jones without a training camp whatsoever. Jones turned the fight down.
On a press call with the media, White went on a rampage destroying any credibility Jones had, and because of him, White was forced to cancel UFC 151, which lost money for the company, other fighters on the card and the fans who had already booked plane trips and hotels. Think Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture would have ever done that? Heck, Tito Ortiz would’ve never turned down the fight.
So now, Jones is the villain, and quite frankly, I’m not so sure he hasn’t been the villain all along. Just look back at his career. Claiming to be a devout Christian, Jones has given fans reason to doubt his faith. Leading up to his title fight with Rua, Jones signed autographs as light heavyweight champion. Really, this wasn’t a big deal at all, but fans grew angry with the disrespect shown to MMA legend, Rua.
Then, Jones fought Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and Jones battled Jackson in a war of words leading up to the bout, and after Jones choked out Lyoto Machida at UFC 140, his coach Greg Jackson was picked up on the audio shouting at Jones to go check on Machida to “get some fans.”
And that is without mentioning his rivalry with former mentor and friend Rashad Evans. The bottom line is Jones is a fraud. He is an amazing athlete and he is one of the most gifted fighters to ever embrace the octagon, but he has been claiming to be a saint when that’s just never been the case.
There is nothing wrong with a fighter being cocky. In fact, most fans gravitate toward fighters who speak their mind, but Jones has always been a cocky fighter that tried to play the humble card. He was exposed, and after refusing to step up and fight Sonnen for the company, he’s become MMA’s scapegoat.