Three Things You Need To Be a UFC Star: Does Jon Jones Have Them?

and become a bad guy.

This sounds familiar….

its okay to be super squeaky clean AS LONG AS….your opponent plays the part of the mean super-villian….every superhero needs a villian

Been lurking for a while, but I had to post on this because I never thought I would be typing this next statement: I completely agree with Snowden. I just hope Jones ends up having the same “it” factor when it comes to marketing that he has now as a fighter.

That’s what gives me great hope for Jones. His upcoming fight with Evans has the potential to be a grudge for the ages. Former training partners collide, a veteran betrayed by the young fighter he took under his wing, a family torn asunder. It’s a great story – one that will draw money if played right.

I agree, but for this to work wouldn’t Jones have to be the ‘good guy’ so to speak? Evans, for whatever reason, has become a guy fans love to hate and the feud with Rampage didn’t help matters since everyone loves Rampage.

….but is the Rushfit series over? There hasn’t been one in a month and I feel like it hasn’t been wrapped up.

Agree, agree, agree.

I think the UFC recognizes this and has been trying to create a grudge match between Jones and Evans — why else bring in Evans into the cage after Jones just won the belt? I wouldn’t even be surprised in a year or so Jones is coaching against a “bad boy” or even Evans.

Oh and,

School teacher Rich Franklin hasn’t even hit average – he’s the pay per view Mendoza line.

Some people who are not fans yet already think of all fighters as “bad boys”, anyway. I think a “good guy” can pull in people who might not normally be fans. As a good guy, he might not be as big a hit with existing MMA fans but he could have broader appeal to new fans. Personally, I usually like the good guys but that’s probably just me.

What’s interesting about the insistence that Jones is the good guy, when all signs point to the opposite being true, is that the “good guy” just doesn’t work in MMA.

It’s true he might not resonate with people who are fight fans already. Another way to look at it is that he might blow the doors open with the mainstream. I mean, so far we’ve had pretty intimidating and inarticulate guys like Liddell, Rampage, Kimbo, and Lesnar represent the sport.

What happens what a charming young man becomes the face of MMA? And what happens when that man constantly drops positive-thinking lines that could’ve come out of The Secret? I tihnk he’s gonna make MMA seem like an okay sport to a lot of older people, especially women.

Really??

Also, I don’t think he needs to have a bad boy image. If he keeps whooping asses people will wanna pay to see his fights

Regardless of whatever “three things” Snowden thinks a person needs to be a star.

I’ve had several coworkers ask about him since Sat and they NEVER ask about any UFC fighters.

+ the UFC marketing = hugely popular

Dude showboated after his first takedown in MMA. He’s self-assured and cocky and he needs to embrace that. Fuck the faux-humble “I have too much respect for my opponents” nonsense. When you can calmly brutalise your opponents to the extent that Jones does, you know he has to be hiding a dark side that he thinks the public don’t want to see outside of the cage.

Would be the best thing EVER! Imagine the drama with Greg Jackson working with JBJ team and Rashad trying to get under his skin. It needs to happen right away. Great idea Snowdrn!

What’s interesting about the insistence that Jones is the good guy, when all signs point to the opposite being true

Really? And you know this how? Because you linked to Jones predicting he’d beat Shogun, and to a story much more complicated than simply “Jones breaking up a united team”? These are ‘facts’ that counter his image of being clean cut and articulate?

Anyway, there’s another factor at play, and it has nothing to do with being the asshole people think you are, and that’s performance (and please no one say Anderson Silva in response). Liddell’s personality was as empty as Sean Hannity’s head, but he murdered his opponents. There’s a big difference between Jon Jones, and guys like Hughes, Franklin, and Couture…he’s not just dominant, but he’s exciting in the process. Guys like Hughes and Couture never would have made the All-Violence Team.

Give it time. He’ll get there. If he destroys Rashad, and then coaches a season a TUF opposite Rampage Jackson, the sky’s the limit (in MMA terms at least: the sport itself is still too niche to see someone transcend it, regardless of whether or not they’re a dickhead, or coached a season of a lame reality show) .

Something about Jones personality doesn’t sit right with me. If you’re a douchebag just be a douchebag, this fake nice and humble guy act is fucking tiring. And GSP sells by being a nice guy because it seems genuine, the more Jones switches management and breaks up teams the more ppl see through his act. No one wants to pay to watch a liar.

He’d not a sincere person

than he was going in.

If they set him up against Randy Couture(in the insane event he beats Machida) Jones will probably say some douchy things and be hated once again, but by casual fans as well as hardcores.

Other than Forrest Griffin and Rampage(who’ve both already done it), what English speaking contender at 205 would be worth putting on TUF? He would need to be a complete douche or a nice guy(although, I’m sure the editing team will do a good job creating that narrative).

I don’t know whose idea this was, but its time to abandon ship.

rule of thumb: if someone regularly uses the word humble, they are not humble.

I appreciate the fact that he stays true to who he is. The need to fabricate another persona is garbage and true fans will see through it. All John has to do is keep chalking up wins in the fashion he’s been doing it in and the fans will come to love or hate him.
Another reason people aren’t famiiar with him is his relative lack of exposure. He fell into this title shot so to speak.
Me personally…id much rather see a guy win with class than act with ignorance…just my preference.

If Rashad exposes him to be human.

And what I mean is, even if Jones ultimately wins the fight, I wonder what the fans perception of him will be if Rashad exploits a weakness that so far has yet to be seen. Something that shows that he is beatable.

Would it slow his rise to superstardom?

Speaks English, people love to hate him, just knocked out Shogun, made a bad situation even worse with Rashard, probably won’t lose for a while. People may not pay to see him fight, but they will pay to see him lose.

If he keeps dominating opponents then he’ll end up growing as a draw. If that doesn’t work he could always go with the flash and stuff he did when he was on the underground circuit(putting his arms up after slams and such).

He’s still extremely young and just headlined his first real show. I’m surprised at all the concern over his numbers when he was the young challenger. It is usually up to the Champ to draw all the viewers. I think the Rashad fight will help a lot and sell a lot of PPV’s if marketed like Rashad has a chance.

Look @ GSP. He’s hasn’t finished an opponent since Nixon was in office, and while still fun to watch is nowhere near as exciting as Bones. If Bones keeps kicking ass like he does and doing as much press as he did for the Shogun fight, the sky is the limit. He is a 23 year old, ultra-talented monster that happens to speak English unlike the Spider.

If people don’t want to watch the guy with the coolest fighting style out there right now because Jones doesn’t WWE it up, fuck em.

When the truth of the matter is that Jones is a MMA fan’s wet dream. Unbelievably athletic, dynamic in all sense, consistently violent, and always looking to finish. I don’t like certain fighters for who they actually are, but that’s always wiped out when I see someone go apeshit in a cage and look to dominate and destory their adversary. When you add high level athleticism and amazing technique, THAT is what I’m looking for in every fight. Bones is like a GSP with a mean streak.

As for this article- I think his PPV numbers suffered tremendously because of the NCAA tourney. I didn’t watch because the UCONN game was on, personally, and I find it increasingly harder to stomach paying 50 bucks, especially when it will probably be free in two months on spike. But the tourney is easily one of the biggest TV events in our country, and the effect it had on buys shouldn’t be understated. Especially if you consider a lot of sportsbars as well that occasionally buy cards if there is a lack of better sporting on free tv. I expect his next ppv against rashad to do much, much better.

he’s a cocky, God-fearing, family man with a chippy edge to him. He’s lived a life way beyond his years thus far, and has been forced to mature more quickly than he has actually been able to. He can spit out cliches to the media over and over, but he’s already broken the mold of a Jackson fighter (going off script and saying that he’d fight Rashad) and has shown an amazingly edgy in-cage personality (i.e. constantly putting his hands over his opponents nose and mouth, chin-butting, rape-choking, trachea-forearming… I think he’s shown much more of a dark side than he’s getting credit for.

1. Bad Boy presence? You mean like a simultaneously contrarian and occasionally condescending writing style coupled with articles intentionally designed to generate heat, a la page hits?
2. A vehicle for the exposure of the personality to a mass audience? Like one of the best, well-respected, and most popular MMA blogs on the web?
3. Feuds, especially with established stars? Would an oft-repeated series of ad hominems as part of an ongoing (and seemingly endless) tete e tete with a well known, bombastic, and polarizing commenter count?

Goddamnit Jon, not everybody can be you. ;-)

Some thinks he’s too cocky some love his demeanor

Jones should embrace his inner diva

Jones should embrace his inner diva

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