Why Do We Want Jon Jones Back So Badly?

They say that everything is bigger in Texas (including kidney stones – right, Johny?) but nothing could be bigger than the specter of what’s potentially to come for the man holding the gold in the UFC’s 205 pound division.

UFC 192 on Saturday was a very productive night. We saw some strong performances and finishes from fighters like Albert Tumemov, Adriano Martins, and former strawweight title challenger Rose Namajunas. Ruslan Magomedov continued his ascent up the heavyweight ranks with a unanimous decision win over Shawn Jordan, while Julianna Pena proved her potential as a future Ronda Rousey victim with a decision win over Jessica Eye.

Also, I don’t know who this Sage Northcutt kid is or why he walks around like he’s auditioning to play Johnny Cage in the next Mortal Kombat movie (that’s never going to get made), but he sure looked impressive in his debut against Francisco Trevino. I mean, he landed such beautiful elbows to the back of Trevino’s head. I would have been pissed too. Not pissed enough to shove Herb Dean, Our Referee, but still.

And, in the main event, we were treated to a wonderful fight between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel “It’s a Marvel I Haven’t Been Sued for Using the Nickname DC” Cormier, and Alexander Gustafsson, who earned this shot by simultaneously getting knocked out in January and being more marketable than Ryan Bader.

The fight was a good back-and-forth contest, even though I thought it was more one-sided than a lot of other people did, with Cormier doing the lion’s share of the damage, closing distance on Gustafsson and battering him with short punches. Gus did have some success in the fight, taking Cormier down in the second round, even though DC got right back up, and rocking the champ with a knee in the third, even though Cormier recovered and won the next two rounds, but the night belonged to the former Olympian, who won a split decision and the respect of MMA fans everywhere.

Except who cares because Jon Jones is coming back, everybody! JON JONES!

JON!!!!! JONES!!!!!! HERE WE GO!!!!!

In the lead-up to the night that would surely legitimize Daniel Comier as champion, all the focus was placed on the man whose absence from the Octagon allowed Cormier the chance to become champion in the first place. Last Tuesday, it was announced that Jones, after accepting a plea deal in relation to a hit-and-run incident back in April, would not receive jail time and would essentially be free provided he serve an 18 month probation period and perform 72 speaking engagements and other acts of community service.

That’s one a week, in case you abandoned long division back in grade school like a normal person.

As word of the judgment became public, the collective hivemind of the MMA community, which includes fan, fighter, and journalist alike, zeroed in on the same question: So is Jones getting his title shot this year or do we have to wait until 2016?

It appears to be a foregone conclusion that, because Jones isn’t going to jail, he’ll be back training and ready to return to fighting in no time. Granted, UFC still has Jones on an indefinite suspension pending the results of a third party investigation, but, considering how the investigation of Travis Browne’s domestic abuse allegations ended, it really is just a formality and Bones will be back where he belongs soon.

But here’s what I’m trying to figure out: why do we want that so badly?

Why do we want Jones to rush back and get his title back so badly?

Is it because no one feels that the belt around Cormier’s waist is legitimate unless he beats Jones first? That is a valid concern, even though I hate how little respect Cormier gets for what he’s done when he’s the one who did everything right and it’s Jones who did everything wrong. Cormier has only taken advantage of the opportunities placed before him, doing the exact same thing that every other fighter in his situation would have done, and should be commended for what he has accomplished despite all the nay-saying and disrespect.

It’s always hard for any new champion to gain the respect of fans after taking the place of a once dominant kingpin. Johny Hendricks didn’t get much love when he won the belt that Georges St-Pierre vacated, even though he arguably beat the popular champion when they fought at UFC 167. Hell, Chris Weidman still struggles to get support despite beating Anderson Silva not once, but twice.

Granted, Cormier wasn’t all that competitive with Jones when they fought at UFC 182, but he’s the one who has played by the rules and has treated the championship with respect, something that Jones didn’t do. Jones has let the company down on multiple occasions. All Cormier has done is talk a little trash to hype up his fights. And yet, it’s Jones who everyone wants to see represent the division and the company again (or at least get the chance to) and not the outspoken, albeit entertaining, personality of Cormier.

We might as well start calling him “The Rodney Dangerfield of the UFC.”

No offense, Demetrious Johnson.

Maybe we want Jon back because of the business he’ll do as a top draw? That’s possible, but if Jones is considered a top draw, then it shows how bad the rest of the roster is at garnering attention, at least compared to a few years ago.

Jones is a better drawing card than every other fighter except for the most popular ones, like Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor, but his baseline is only around 350,000-400,000 buys. That’s still above the current average but it’s not that impressive compared to how other dominant champions, like St-Pierre and Chuck Liddell, drew when they were headlining. The only times that Jones can draw a higher number is when he’s involved in a grudge match, like with Rashad Evans or with Cormier, where the interest isn’t so much on Jones himself as it is on the mutual hatred his opponent and he have for one another.

UFC 182 didn’t succeed solely because Jon Jones was defending his title (look at UFC 172 for proof of that). It succeeded because Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier hated each other and had no qualms about expressing that fact publicly, allowing the masses to froth into a rage at the thought of what would happen when those two were locked inside a cage with one another.

There is definitely big money in a Jones-Cormier rematch. If the first fight did 800,000 buys, one would think the rematch would perform just as well. It might even do better with the added story of Johnny’s issues with Johnny Law and Cormier reaping the benefits of being, in most people’s opinions, nothing more than a glorified seat filler, keeping the belt warm until the real champion can return and take it back.

But, after that fight is over, then what? If Jones wins back the title, he’ll probably fight Gustafsson, giving us the rematch we have waited years to see. Will that fight perform as well as Jones-Comier II? I doubt it. Then, what happens after that fight? Who is left after those two men have been vanquished that Jones can make money with?

Ryan Bader? Ovince St. Preux? Pat “Barista Boy” Cummins?

People have been complaining for months that light heavyweight is a weak division without Jones. Well, the division will still be weak with Jones and, unless he’s spent his time away from the sport developing a more likeable personality and not just deleting Instagram posts, he won’t be able to draw with anyone else in the weight division. Maybe he’ll come back and try doing the Floyd Mayweather-style bad guy shtick like he did before and after the Cormier fight, but it may be hard for him to attempt that again while serving probation for a felony.

Besides, as much as you all want him to return to fighting, you all know you’ll just go back to hating him and his insincere personality within a year anyway. I’m not stating any shocking revelations here. You all know it’s true.

There are certainly many financial and competitive reasons for Jones to return to the sport but they all ignore the question of whether he even wants to fight again. We know he’s been staying busy in Albuquerque, helping his teammates prepare for upcoming fights, as well as posting videos (and quickly taking them down, obviously), saying that he missed fighting, but is that how he really feels? And, if it is how he feels, is that a guarantee he’ll be back, or will he recognize that it may make more sense to just stay away?

One can only hope that, with everything that Jones has been through this year (don’t forget the whole cocaine rehab fiasco), Jones is ready to make positive changes in his life and take the steps to ensure that the destructive behavior he exhibited in the past will stay in the past. To do so, though, may require him to step away from the Octagon, perhaps for good.

There have been many people who have gone on record, including Jon’s striking coach Mike Winklejohn, who have observed that a lot of the bad choices he has made in recent years have coincided with his rise in the UFC and his gaining the status of top Pound-for-Pound fighter in the world. Being the best has afforded him a life of luxury and excess, which the young champion has continually struggled to balance with leading a normal life.

For Jones to clean up his life, he needs to get away from the life that allowed him to use hard drugs and resulted in DUI’s and busted Bentleys, and doing so may require excising the one constant in his life that can be blamed for everything that has happened to him: his fighting career.

I’m not saying that Jones should retire, but it hasn’t been ruled out yet as the choice Jones ultimately ends up making. His own manager, Malki Kawa, expressed doubts that Jones would fight again and, even though recent comments indicate the opposite to be true, we may very well have seen Jon Jones’s last fight in the UFC. And, if it is the right personal decision for Jones to stay away, isn’t it a little selfish for us to expect him to return if it means a return to the temptations that got him in all this trouble in the first place?

It’s still up in the air what Jon Jones is going to do with the rest of his life. Will he make his triumphant return to the UFC and become the unstoppable phenom he’s been for so many years? Will he return and become an even bigger wreck than he was before?

Or will he retire and live out the rest of his life, happy and with a mental clarity that he had been missing while the cloud of fame and fortune swirled over his head? Only time will tell.

There is one thing I can say with certainty, though: Cormier vs. Bader will make for a terrible fight and no one will pay to see it.

No respect. No respect at all…

See you soon, Champ.

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.