The 'real' Jon Jones has stood up, and it's not a bad thing
To most keen observers, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has appeared to be a young man at odds with himself. He's appeared to try hard to cultivate an image of him floating above the fray.
In the cage, his epic accomplishments have supported that image of Jones -- as he's starched and dominated some of the best MMA fighters of all time, since becoming the youngest UFC champion in history in 2011. Out of the cage, Jones has courted and gained big sponsorships on the strength of his fighting skill as well as his son of a preacher man, squeaky clean narrative.
Jones has indeed been nearly peerless in the cage, winning flawlessly in most cases. However, like all great champions, Jones is a grimy, sometimes dirty competitor, in addition to being gifted and skilled.
As for his choir boy image and vocal Christianity outside of fighting, Jones, like all people, mixes his share of sins (a drunk driving car wreck, insulting fans and public homophobic slurs) with his preaching.
Of course, no one can judge another's heart or intentions. The Bible-reading fighter likely knows all too well the words of the apostle Paul who, in Romans 7:19 wrote personally of the struggle to keep our actions consistent with our ideals.
That said, Jones' detractors have long-imagined the 27-year-old as the type of guy who would smile and speak politely and humbly during an interview, and then turn around and act like a foul-mouthed bully once he thought the cameras were off. When that precise situation played out and Jones was picked up by cameras and microphones attempting to bully and degrade his UFC 182 opponent Daniel Cormier, he initially acted as a man distraught.
Jones had worked so hard to create a separate public face from his personal and, some might say, more real personality, that he seemed aghast not at his own petty but completely understandable behavior, but rather that the UFC would choose to use those fighting words of his to promote his fight with Cormier. Now, the champion says he's made peace with people getting a glimpse of the real him.
"Yeah, I've been pretty resistant," he says.
"No one wants to be the bad guy."
Jones now feels a sense of relief that his idealized identity had a few holes publicly punched through it. Having to wear two faces as a famous athlete can be exhausting, it would seem.
"At the same time I was like, 'man, the fans are going to eat this up. They are going to love it.' A part of me was kinda glad that it came out," he admits.
"As a professional athlete, as a champion, as a Christian, and also as a person who is not close to being perfect, I always try to, I try to be a professional, you know. And that's why I have so many great endorsements. I do carry myself like a person who you would want to endorse. But, me, when I'm with my friends and family, you know, I'm a real dude. I am just me. And for me to tell Daniel, I will kill him, for me to swear, I make a conscious effort not to swear in interviews for my whole career, just because I want to have a clean image, and I want to be endorsed by the companies I'm endorsed by now. And so, for that hot mic to come out, for people to see that side of me, it was kind of a relief.
"It was like, you know what, I am a Christian, and I do try to carry my image in a certain light, because I think that's important for the people I inspire and for my endorsements, but at the same time, this is who I am. I will swear. I will tell a guy who told me he would spit in my face that I'll kill him. I will call him the names I called him. It was a hit, in a way, a bad hit, in a way, but also relieving for people to see, 'whoa, Jones actually has a little bit of ratchetness in him.' They finally got to see that."
They did, and perhaps Jones has realized that most fans weren't really all that shocked. It turns out, his sponsors weren't all that bothered by his words, or his brawl with Cormier, either.
Jones certainly seems like a young man at odds with himself. His essentially equating the importance of corporate sponsorship with inspiring people is an example.
Jones doesn't appear to understand, rationally, that trying to manufacture a sanitized, over-wrought second personality isn't a very healthy or noble goal. The champion does at least appear to be feeling the effects of the pressure such a double life creates.
Jones says he's relieved that people now know a little bit of the real him. Good for him.
No one should have to feel the need to put on a false face or make a show out of their life simply to gain the approval of strangers. That's sad.
Perhaps he will also feel even more freed up, now. That certainly wouldn't hurt Jones the fighter.
We're betting that a more relaxed, bolder and more empowered Jon Jones certainly won't be a good thing for his opponents.
