What we learned: McGregor's star too bright to leave off UFC 200
— -- When Jon "Bones" Jones returns from a 15-month layoff due to legal matters and it's not the biggest story of the week, that's when you know you've had a wild stretch of mixed martial arts.
Jones was back in the Octagon at UFC 197 on Saturday for the first time since being stripped of his UFC light heavyweight title last year. He soundly defeated Ovince Saint Preux for an interim belt but was booed along the way, as he struggled to pull the trigger and put an inferior opponent away.
And all of that took place under the shadow of featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who was pulled from his headlining spot at UFC 200 on July 9 after he refused to fly to Las Vegas from his training camp in Iceland to take part in a commercial shoot.
UFC president Dana White has stated that McGregor, although healthy and willing to compete on the card, will not fight Nate Diaz at that event as scheduled. McGregor countered early Monday with a tweet saying he's back on the card, which the UFC went on to refute in a statement.
Here's what we learned from a nonstop week/weekend in MMA:
Whether McGregor was right or wrong in sitting out the commercial, he should still headline UFC 200
The UFC should fine McGregor for his actions, and then reinstate him to the card. Virtually every fighter I spoke to in Las Vegas this weekend about the situation said, "Look, I understand where Conor is coming from, but we're nearly three months away from the fight. That's plenty of time to train. He's in the main event -- he should be here to shoot the commercial."
So, White and Co. are justified in their stance that McGregor should have been there. Fine him and move on.
Diaz-McGregor II is the right fight to headline UFC 200 -- more so than a rematch between Jones and Daniel Cormier. That's no knock on Jones, who wasn't quite himself over the weekend but certainly wasn't bad either. He got a win over Saint Preux and I have no worries about his future performances. But Jones' performance didn't set the stage for a UFC 200 firestorm. The majority of fans -- the ones who will pay money to purchase the pay-per-view -- still want McGregor as the marquee.
Not to mention that Jones, fresh off the longest layoff of his career, fought five rounds Saturday. They might have looked like easy rounds, but there were still five of them -- and Jones felt them enough to require a wheelchair backstage after the fight.
It should be noted that Cormier isn't 100 percent either. He's scheduled for an MRI on Monday and even if it comes back clean, you wonder if he's not pushing the envelope. The last thing UFC 200 needs is for DC to headline and then reinjure himself before it goes off.
Even with a loss in his last fight, McGregor remains king in many ways. His last three fights in Las Vegas have pulled the top three gate receipts in Nevada's history in MMA. White told ESPN that UFC 196, headlined by McGregor's loss to Diaz, produced 1.5 million pay-per-view buys, well above the 800,000 Cormier publicly stated his first fight against Jones did in January 2015.
The Jones-Cormier rematch is a terrific matchup that should headline a card in August, or maybe September. Let Cormier's leg fully heal and allow Jones to catch his breath. And as much as the UFC might have a point about missed commercial shoots, it should let its biggest star headline its biggest card rather than place him in timeout.
Pound-for-pound rankings might be futile, but Demetrious Johnson is still No. 1
If you have Jones as No. 1 ... whatever, man. I'm not arguing with you. But no one makes it look easier than Johnson, who stopped unbeaten Henry Cejudo in just under three minutes on Saturday.
Those who vote for Jones tend to focus on the number of former champions he has defeated -- as in, "Look how many he has rolled through!" Well, that's not really a fair argument, is it? Since Johnson is the only flyweight champion in UFC history, there are no former champs for him to defeat.
Look at the way Joseph Benavidez has terrorized the 125-pound division. Then look at what Johnson did to Benavidez (twice, including the second time by first-round knockout). Look at what John Dodson has done to flyweights and bantamweights alike. Again, look at what Johnson did to him (twice).
This man is so far ahead of his competition, it has become hard to describe. You can say the same about Jones, for sure, but for my money, Johnson is slightly more impressive. If Johnson were the light heavyweight and Jones were the flyweight and they both had the same skill set, personalities, athleticism, etc., I think Johnson would get more credit. Being the smaller man equals less attention.
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