Jon Jones: champion, father...troll?
Following his dominant victory over Glover Teixeira at UFC 172, the UFC light heavyweight king took to Instagram to mock his detractors. While Jones deleted the video from his Instagram account shortly after posting, according to the sleuths of Reddit, it has been since immortalized on YouTube.
Jones' title defense sparked controversy, as the champion utilized an outstretched hand to find his range on the feet, repeatedly poking Teixeira in the eye.
The technique, which was dissected in this Bloody Elbow article from Fraser Coffeen, stems from the traditional Muay Thai stance, where fighters sacrifice punching power by outstretching their arms to more efficiently strike their opponents.
As we saw against Teixeira, Jones' arsenal relied heavily upon elbows, so it made sense that he, too, would use this particular stance. Still, eye pokes were the unfortunate result, and Jones clearly didn't take kindly to his critics.
With only eight seconds of video to analyze, I'll save you the transcription, but the sentiments should only serve to better Jones' career.
The champ is 26 years old, at the top of his game, arguably the most dominant fighter the sport has ever seen, and yet he's lacking that extra something-something that pushes him over the edge as a huge star.
Is the video immature? Absolutely. Is it unnecessary? Absolutely.
Does it make you want to watch Jones' next fight even more? Abso-freaking-lutely.
Jon Jones is emerging is the best fan troll in MMA. But he needs to go full-time with this shit. Best fighter + best troll = eternal legend.
— MMA Philosophy (@MMAPhilosophy) April 30, 2014
The video either makes you think that he's really funny or a huge jerk, but either way, it's a win for Jones and the UFC. With Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre currently shelved, the promotion needs a new star, no matter how polarizing, now more than ever.
This video, of course, comes just one day after Jones trolled former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and fellow UFC 172 combatant Phil Davis on Instagram.
I'm not sure if Jones is intentionally going full heel on us, but it certainly seems like he's abandoning any desire to emerge as a squeaky-clean, lovable figure in the sport.
