Jon Jones Facing Adversity
I want to apologize to Dominick Reyes. A few days before the Jones V. Reyes fight, I was planning to write an article criticizing the UFC Light-Heavyweight division for being shallow. Jon Jones undefeated streak in championship fights reflects that he needs better opponents to elevate his marking status among casual fans to see him face adversity in a fight.
A marketing strategy in combat sports is having an undefeated or great fighter tease the idea he or she might lose in their upcoming match. Floyd Mayweather and Anderson Silva had that marketing strategy in their career. When fighter becomes too dominant in their weight class, fans might not care to watch them perform. Dominick Reyes performance against Jon Jones became the opportune time for Jones to elevate his marketing status to fans seeing the possibility of Jones losing.
Immediately, after the Jones V. Reyes fight Jones being declared winner by decision, the overall MMA community was split on who won the fight. Online MMA journalists scored the fight Reyes 3–2 or Jones 3–2. Most observers of the fight would clearly point out Reyes won rounds 1 and 2, but Jones won rounds 4 and 5. Round 3 could have gone either way. Statistically, Reyes slightly out struck Jones, and Jones landed 3 takedowns in the fight. Dana White, President of the UFC, said in the post-fight conference that he scored the fight for Reyes and plans for a rematch.
Besides Jones V. Reyes having a controversial ending, the undercard of Jones V. Reyes had questionable wins by decision and UFC commentator Joe Rogan claimed an MMA judge during a fight was staring at the floor. The controversy of the fight card should not change the narrative that Jon Jones, being arguably the best MMA fighter of all time, almost lost.
The last time Jones almost lost a UFC fight was against Alexander Gustaffson in their first fight in 2013. In their second fight, Jones decisively beat Gustaffson in a third round technical knockout. In the last seven years of Jones’ MMA career, he has been dominating the UFC Light-Heavyweight division.
If Jones would have won the fight decisively against Reyes, the narrative after the fight would have been that the light-heavyweight division is hollow and the only competitive fight for Jones is moving up to heavyweight, or UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya challenging Jones for his light-heavyweight title.
If either of those two scenarios did not occur, then Jones defending his light-heavyweight title does not interest casual fans to buy his pay-per-view to watch a non-competitive fight. Dominick Reyes’ performance against Jones changed the narrative. The rematch between Reyes V. Jones will entice the casual MMA fans to see if Jones faces another competitive fight as in the first match. More importantly, Jones facing adversity will elevate his status in the MMA community.
Historically, big names in combat sports need a competitor to elevate their status. Muhammed Ali facing Joe Frazier three times cemented him as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. Especially in the third match, “Thrilla in Manilla” in which Ali was severely hurt, but won the fight. Ali narrowly beating Frazier in the third fight did not hurt his legacy, but added more to his already legendary status.
Similar to Ali having Frazier, Jones might have found his tough competitor Reyes to elevate his status. Jones status is not invincible as once thought before the Reyes fight, but Jones overcoming early adversity shows his fight I.Q. is just as good as his MMA skills. Dominick Reyes’ performance against Jones shows the light-heavyweight division has tough competitors.
The rematch between Jones and Reyes will create much fan interest in buying the pay-per-view just to see Jones lose. The more pay-per-view buys the more Jones will make financially by the pay-per-view points. Besides the financials, having a large audience waiting for Jones to lose, only to see him come out on top in a classic, non-competitive way, then fans will only be reminded of Jones’ greatness.
If Jones wins a competitive fight again, then fans will appreciate his ability to overcome adversity and could possibly become a fan favorite fighter. If Jones loses his marketing brand of being undefeated, he will be diminished such as past fighters Ronda Rousey, Anderson Silva, and Jose Aldo.
