The Jon Jones Persona

Jon Jones is undoubtedly the hottest fighter in the world right now. This guy is just on fire. He has bested four former UFC champions in his last four fights. At best he has been in trouble once – rocked by one of the most skilled strikers in the world Lyoto Machida.  He is sponsored by the organization he fights for. He is on the verge of major athletic mega-company sponsorships from the likes of Nike or Adidas.  Jones is charismatic, clean cut, young, good looking, and always seems to say the right thing.  But in May of 2012 Mr. Perfect slammed his car into a pole in the middle of the night.  It wasn’t because he is a bad driver with insomnia. No, the new poster-boy of the UFC was drunk.  Now let me be clear, I have been accused more than once of being a Jones hater, a reasonable critique.  However, I am simply not a fan. Jon Jones is a great fighter. I might not think he is as good as some others do or think that he is the second or third best fighter in the world, but I think Jon Jones is a beast and I will not deny that he is a world class fighter.  But that is neither here nor there.  This issue brings to the fore exactly what many – like myself – just don’t like about Jones, what rubs many the wrong way.  This story gets to the heart of why not everyone loves the good guy, no matter how good he really is. 

            I will try to put it as simply as I can. Some people invest emotionally or intellectually in sports because they reflect reality, some to escape it. Not that there are “two kinds of people” because that is stupid (every single time) but these mentalities do exist. For those who invest in sports to escape reality a guy like Jon Jones is just what the doctor ordered. He is a super hero. He makes picking a favorite fighter easy.  For the rest of us he represents the fraud of selling us a superman persona.  Not to say that HE is a fraud but the way he is sold to MMA fan, the way he is, at times, shoved down our throats is misleading.  What makes people interesting, what makes them human is that they are flawed, that they have a personality.  For some of us it is insulting to be sold the “perfect” persona, especially when it is clear that isn’t accurate. That Superman persona backdrop makes flaws and indiscretions less than endearing.

            What made the situation harder to swallow for fans that just don’t care much for Jon Jones is the anger he demonstrated at fans whom criticized him for this incident.  He called fans that criticized him sickening and then in the same breath says he gives them leeway. Now let me be clear, Jones went on in the same interviews and articles to say that he understands he messed up and he wants to show how everyone can rise up and fix mistakes.  Again, Jones says all the right things but there is a lack of humility that is somewhat troubling. Oh, he speaks his humility but he doesn’t act on it.  First, you don’t get to drive your car drunk into a pole and then say that fans are sickening for criticizing you for it. Did fans say things that were out of line, of course they did! Fans say things that are out of line all the time – in every sport – for every occasion.  Then you follow it up by talking about how great you are and how much of a role model you are going to be.  Right now the distinction between Jones’ words/ persona and his actions couldn’t be clearer.  Fans like myself, the critics, don’t want to hear about how great Jon Jones is going to be. We hear that all the time. We don’t KNOW Jon Jones but we are seeing inconsistencies in what we do know that are just not appealing. The problem is not that people hate Jones it is that people get tired of hearing how great someone is, especially when – in this age of hyper visibility, 24 hour news cycles – personal lives and statements are on display all the time.  To put it simply, I don’t want to hear about how great a guy wants to be the day after he messes up. I want him to shut up and be a good guy – don’t tell me, show me.   

 

            In short, I recognize that Jon Jones doesn’t care about me but I suspect that he cares about the mass of fans with a similar mentality.  Those people he dismisses as fickle or haters – those people aren’t friends; they aren’t family. They are sports fans. They have the right to like or dislike anyone they want and if they are anything like I am they are put off not by Jon Jones as a human being (which is how he seems to take criticism) but as a persona that is consistently painted as the sport’s superhero. Jones’ DUI and his reaction to fan criticism have widened the gap between person and persona.  For loyal Jon Jones fans it will never matter and that is just fine.  For the rest of us the talk is cute but it also cheap.  I don’t need a role model in Jon Jones but if he wants to be one its time to be one and stop talking about being one.