UFC 140 Results: Jon Jones Is Fake

A funny thing happened when Jon Jones took to the scale to weigh in for UFC 140; he was booed.

And Jones wasn't faintly booed—the type that comes from a 50/50 split in the crowd—but, rather, mercilessly booed off the stage. 

Once he made the agreed upon weight, Jones was booed with the enthusiasm usually reserved for a fighter who is hated and missed weight by a few pounds.

When he defeated Lyoto Machida the following night, he was met with a similar response. 

The jeers weren’t as impassioned, probably because of the fight's exciting finish, but they were definitely there, drowning out the cheers substantially.

The question is: Why do fans want to see Jones fail?

There are two reasonable reasons—in the myriad that have been offered with every fight—that Jones proves to be more disliked by the UFC faithful.

The first is that people like to cheer for an underdog.  When he was in the midst of a meteoric rise through the division, people liked him because he got less face time, won fights explosively and was a fresh face they hadn’t seen much. 

Now he’s the champion and it’s only natural to root for the challengers, as was the case when Jones himself was chasing gold instead of defending it.

That makes sense, but I don’t buy it, personally.

The reason that people want to see Jones fail is that, deep down in their core, they can smell a phony.  Most people have a sixth sense that can tell when an individual is dishonest or fake, and Jones sets that alarm off in a big way.

He can talk the talk of a man who believes his success is as much due to Jesus as it is to his own abilities, a man who humbly thinks he’s just another kid from New York who happened to hit it big in MMA. 

But his actions are those of a man who believes his own hype, loves himself and loves having the limelight.

There’s nothing wrong with that.  Frankly, the guy has earned it; he’s earned the right to have a little swagger and strut a little bit.  But don’t stand in front of people and act like you don’t love it.

Embrace it. 

Jones isn’t, and he’s rubbing people the wrong way as a result.

The fact of the matter is that humble guys who want to quietly mind their own business don’t spend as much time talking about their Bentley as they do about their training. 

Things like that don’t match up to the overly-managed, manicured image that Jones tries to put out.

If you’re a bad guy, be a bad guy.  People might not like you, but at least they won’t like you for you.  Right now, people don’t like Jones, but it’s not even the real guy. 

What’s worse, everyone knows it, but he continues to act like they don’t, and just perpetuates it even further.

That’s why fans want to see Jones fail, and it’s not going to change until he steps up and lets the world see who he really is.