The UFC is getting ready for the reign of Jon Jones as Light Heavyweight Champ. The Wall Street Journal ran a feature on Jones in lieu of his title fight against Mauricio Rua. In addition, Jones will have his own pre-event preview show, “Jon Jones: In the Moment.”
From the WSJ article entitled, “Has UFC Found Its Transcendent Star?”
The gap between a status as underground freak show and grudgingly tolerated niche sport, though, may be smaller than the one between fighting as it is now and as it aspires to be. If it is ever to become anything near a major sport, it will have to present a transcendent athlete. Jones may not be that man, but he’s likely closer than anyone yet has been—which in its way just shows how far fighting has yet to go.
The WSJ probably didn’t read the GSP feature written by the NY Times last September which touted GSP as the face of the UFC. Just seven months later, Jon Jones is the “chosen” one.
Which leads us to Spike TV’s pre-event preview featuring Jon Jones.
Via MMA Junkie:
“UFC Presents Jon Jones: In the Moment” covers the fighter’s quick ascent in the UFC’s 205-pound division and his first-ever UFC title shot. The special takes viewers inside his training camp and family life both in his home state of New York and in his camp at Greg Jackson’s New Mexico gym. With strong ratings, the “UFC Presents” special could return ahead of future events.
The MMA Junkie article indicates that Jones is the favorite against the champion.
Payout Perspective:
The UFC is making a calculated gamble on featuring Jon Jones leading up to this Saturday. He has been featured in many of the UFC promotions. Jones’ sponsors also have taken advantage of his sudden ascent to the top of the UFC. A win Saturday and Jones become the face of the UFC. Moreover, in the new world order of MMA, Jones can take his place at the top of the mountain. Arguably, he could one day surpass GSP and Brock Lesnar as the top draw. He is young, marketable, exciting and seems to be willing to be a crossover star.
While there are rumblings of a fight with Rashard Evans is in the distance (which would be a huge PPV bonanza), Jones still must beat Rua–which is not a sure thing. The leadup for Jones is immense, which has put a lot more pressure on Jones to win. Does anyone else wonder what would happen if Jones loses Saturday?
I think that if Jones loses, the money on the promotion might still be fairly well spent. Because say he loses the title shot, he’s still going to be around, winning matches, maybe mostly main-PPV-events, and earning another shot at the LHW title?
So fans, especially the ones that are newer to sthe sport/or the casual fan can, in the future, say “Yeah, hey I know/remember THAT guy! Looks like he’s successful again, I’m siding with him.”
In other words: it’s the best situation to hype up an asset that’s going to last long, right before the Title Shot when rights for promoting him are cheap the attention is high. a) if he wins: even better you promoted. b) if he loses: he’s still a contender, he’s still young, will fight some more, and people already know him a little better during his prospected long carreer.
Exactly.
Win or lose on Saturday, Jones is an asset that Zuffa will continue to leverage for years to come.
Also, let’s not forget the elephant in the room. As an African-American, he represents a demographic that the UFC would love to gain the kind of traction with that they hold with white males 18-35. Guys like Jones, Rashad, Rampage, & Phil Davis are incredibly important to expanding their fan base beyond the Affliction wearing ‘bro’ set.
We wouldn’t be very smart MMA fans if we didn’t consider the possibility of Jones losing 🙂
I usually don’t have much to say about fighters but I don’t particularly favor Jones in this fight as much as the odds do. Rua at+150 does seem like a safe buy.