It's not necessarily the fighter who has the highlight-reel knockout power or the mind-blowing submissions who is always most in demand by a fight promoter.

Rather, it's someone who has that unique ability which transcends skill in the cage and who's able to sell both tickets and pay-per-views who promoters drool over most.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had long ago developed into a dominant fighter, but only recently had he taken that next step and become a massive box-office star.

That's why his arrest early Saturday in Binghamton, N.Y., on a charge of driving under the influence has to be so troubling to the UFC brass.

Binghamton, N.Y., Police Sgt. Chris Lason told Yahoo! Sports that Jones was arrested at 5:02 a.m. Saturday. Jones, 24, ran his 2012 Bentley Continental GT into a telephone pole at the intersection of Helen St. and Grand Blvd. Jones was charged with DUI, paid an appearance bond and was released to family, Lason said. There is no report of whether Jones, who lives in Ithaca, N.Y., was injured.

[Fan's take: How will Jon Jones' DUI affect the public's view of him?]

The UFC is in dire need of new stars and Jones has given every indication he's ready to ascend to the top in that realm. Though UFC officials do not release pay-per-view figures, media estimates were that Jones' last bout, at UFC 145 in Atlanta on April 21, sold in excess of 700,000 units. The event attracted a crowd of 15,545, which paid a live gate of $2.3 million.

Those are the kind of numbers which stamp a fighter as a legitimate box-office star.

UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones has won seven straight fights. (Getty)

Jones' ascension was the best news possible for UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and president Dana White, as the promotion has been dealing with a dearth of stars in recent months. Welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has been sidelined for more than a year with a knee injury and isn't expected back until November at the earliest. Former light heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz is expected to retire. Middleweight champ Anderson Silva is 37 and talking of retirement. Also, in the last 18 months, big draws such as Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture have called it quits, considerably thinning the ranks of the hot-ticket UFC stars.

Jones seemed poised to reverse that trend, and he still might. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was involved in an accident in Southern California in 2008 and was charged with hit-and-run driving, felony evading and reckless driving.

It had little impact upon Jackson's career and five months later he knocked out Wanderlei Silva in a memorable slugfest at UFC 92.

Jones has had a squeaky clean image to this point, and that has made him attractive to potential sponsors. He's already appeared in a Bud Lite commercial with White and has made no secret of his desire for an endorsement deal with Nike.

Jones' agent, Malki Kawa, said prior to UFC 145 that he's talked with several blue-chip sponsors about Jones. It's likely those talks will go on hold for a while as the sponsors wait to see what the fallout from the accident might be.

Jones is scheduled to fight Dan Henderson at UFC 151 on Sept. 1 in Las Vegas and there is no reason to believe he won't be able to fulfill that date barring any serious injuries sustained in the crash.

[Also: Junior dos Santos chats with Y! Sports before his heavyweight title fight]

What won't be known is how the public will react to Jones after the arrest. Jones has tried hard to portray a positive image thus far in his career, once going so far as to tell a group of reporters that if they cast him in a good light, they'd never have trouble with him.

The public, however, has still been skeptical of Jones' sincerity up to this point. He was booed at his last few fights, but seemed to have won over the crowd at UFC 145 with his performance in a win over Rashad Evans.

White did not return a telephone call seeking comment on Jones, though he said via text message that he had yet to speak with the champion.

White is usually lenient with his fighters and gives them wide latitude when they make mistakes. He'll undoubtedly do the same with Jones and will assuredly welcome him back into the fold with little to no criticism.

The UFC, though, needs the public to do the same. If it overlooks the mistake of the misguided 24-year-old, Jones still can become the ticket-selling superstar that the Fertittas, White and many in the media have envisioned.

The UFC will survive, and thrive, with or without Jon Jones. White and the Fertittas have built the brand name so that it is bigger than any individual fighter. It's the brand which carries them through the tough times.

Surviving, and thriving, though, will be a whole lot easier with Jon Jones winning title fights, selling out arenas and setting pay-per-view records.

The UFC will quickly work on damage control, but the ultimate answer is out of its hands.

This time, it's going to be the public who decides.

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(This is the second of four blogs from former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who takes on current champ Junior dos Santos for the title at UFC 146.)

Motivation surrounds me every minute of every day. Even when I'm not training or focusing on my next fight, I still couldn't be more motivated. On my days off, I'll ride my Harley, hang out at the cigar shop with my father and a couple of friends, or simply sit outside my house and watch my kids play – all of it is inspiration and motivation to me.

As far as my opponent's motivation, I highly doubt Junior dos Santos has my picture on a dartboard and is using it to inspire him between training sessions. Yes, my win over his teacher and training partner, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, will have hurt him, but I'd imagine Junior will be far more concerned with the fact I can do something similar to him and take his UFC title. That should be all the motivation he needs. If he's smart, the “revenge” factor shouldn't even need to come into it.

[Related: Frank Mir: Change of opponents hasn't altered gameplan]

Still, maybe dos Santos knows that if we go to the ground at any point in our fight on May 26, there is a big risk of me doing to him what I did to Nogueira in December. He can't escape that fear. Nogueira is the guy who taught Junior all he knows about jiu-jitsu. If I was able to submit Nogueira, someone who has never been tapped out before, the chances of dos Santos surviving on the ground with me look pretty bleak.

Ultimately, that Nogueira result could either instill fear or knowledge in dos Santos. It may force him to become edgy and scared of going to the ground with me, or it could force him to become even more switched on and to avoid all the things Nogueira did wrong against me. It all really depends on how well-equipped dos Santos is when the fight hits the ground. As of today, none of us really know. We've never seen him go there.

Junior dos Santos is still undefeated in the UFC at 8-0 (Getty)

Believe me, there are a lot of guys in the world who are very proficient and talented jiu-jitsu players in the gym, but are unable to apply it when it comes time to step inside the Octagon. This can be due to a number of reasons. They might not know how to apply it to a fighting situation, or they may just not feel confident using what has only been mastered on mats in the gymnasiums. Whatever the reason, there are many fighters out there who boast black belts, yet are unable to demonstrate their prowess when it really matters.

Of course, when it comes to dos Santos, this lack of ground action could be one of two things. Either he really loves boxing and, although is able to submit opponents, doesn't feel the need. Or, he desperately tries to stay standing and striking for a reason, perhaps because his ground game is in some way lacking. Because we've seen so little evidence of his ground game, none of us can really know for sure.

What I will say is this – dos Santos doesn't owe anybody anything when it comes to proving his ground game. Nobody in their right mind would go into a fight and jeopardize winning in order to make some kind of statement or prove a point. That would be absolutely ludicrous. No, dos Santos is doing what he's doing right now and it's working great for him. He punches harder and better than any other heavyweight in the world, no question, and that skill alone is winning him fights and cleaning out the division. Right now it doesn't matter whether he has a ground game or not, as nobody has forced him to use it. I can tell you right now, if I'm able to win fights purely with my Plan A, I'm not going to revert to Plan B just to show I've got one.

On May 26, it is my job to put dos Santos in situations and spots that require him to forget Plan A and prove himself elsewhere. The game plan is very simple, in fact. We know exactly what dos Santos can do, and we know he does it very well, but the unknowns in this fight give me a lot of confidence.

I am as good on the ground as dos Santos is on his feet, and if there is one guy who can truly discover the value of this guy's black belt, it's me …

Follow @thefrankmir on Twitter for all the latest news ahead of his bout at UFC 146

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(This is the first of four blogs from former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who takes on current champ Junior dos Santos for the title at UFC 146.)

A few weeks ago I was preparing to fight Cain Velasquez for perhaps the right to one day compete again for the UFC heavyweight title. Now, in little over a week, I will get that shot, earlier than expected, against current champion Junior dos Santos. A crazy turn of events has landed a UFC title shot on my doorstep and, on May 26 in Las Vegas, and I will take this opportunity with both hands.

Although you'd assume it's been tough switching from one opponent to another, that really hasn't been the case. And, if anything, it was good to start camp preparing for Cain Velasquez because it meant the emphasis was strong on cardio and fitness from the get-go. Cain is a great endurance athlete, so I had to be ready for that, even over three rounds. Therefore, when it came time to jump into the main event and prepare for a five-rounder, the hard part was already done.

Frank Mir broke Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's arm with a kimura at UFC 140. (Getty)

Remember, despite the switch, I'm still fighting the same species. Both Cain and Junior are human beings with two arms and two legs. Everybody keeps saying they're completely different fighters, but they can both move, punch and do damage. There are subtle differences, sure, but not enough for me to panic and completely overhaul my training camp and change my mindset. We're all similar beings in this sport and we're all training the same way in 2012, albeit with slight nuances here and there. Of course, if Dos Santos was to come out left-handed and fight southpaw, that may throw me a little. But we're not expecting that to happen.

Funnily enough, there was a two-week crossover period when it felt like I was training for both Cain and Junior. Nothing had been confirmed yet, but the talk was that I was going to be stepping in for Alistair Overeem in the main event. I couldn't take anything for granted, though, and until it was confirmed I had to continue preparing for Cain, to ensure I wasn't caught with my pants down. It was a strange two weeks...

Also, a few people were making a lot of noise about Mark Hunt getting the title shot, but I never really took that seriously. After seeing Dos Santos' fight with Overeem fall apart, these fans obviously wanted to see Junior in there with another pure striker and Hunt is the go-to guy if that's what you're looking for. I don't think there was much chance of Hunt beating dos Santos, though, whereas at least with me I have options in the fight and can take dos Santos out of his comfort zone. Hunt's a popular guy and a fun fighter to watch, but if he couldn't knock Junior out, there's not a lot else he could offer in that match-up.

Ultimately, even though dos Santos will likely avoid the ground more than Cain would have, I still believe this fight is better suited to me than the original. Cain is very well-school on the ground. He may not submit many people, but he's always looking for dominant positions and spends a lot of time in side control and on top of opponents. It's very hard to submit somebody who likes to exert their dominance like that and has a good wrestling base to help them out. Dos Santos won't want to be going to the ground with me, I can assure you that. He won't feel comfortable down there and certainly won't feel dominant.

Dos Santos has said publicly (to the USA Today) that I struggle to come back from adversity and tough it out, but I feel as though I proved that in my last fight – a first-round win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. In order to get the win, I had to ride out a few rough spots, gather my senses and then submit him. It wasn't plain sailing for me at all, and I had to rebound strongly to eventually get him out of there. I was hurt in that fight, and I was on the verge of losing, yet I still rallied back to submit one of the best jiu-jitsu fighters of all-time. How's that for bouncing back from adversity?

Junior is clearly looking at the old me and not looking at the drastic improvements I've made in recent years. Yes, in the past, when things weren't going too well, I had a hard time mentally getting through those rough patches. There is evidence of that throughout some of my early fights, and I'll be the first to admit it. The thing is, I've tried very hard to improve this aspect of my game and felt I showed this against Nogueira, a fight I'm sure Dos Santos will have watched many times.

In fact, I'm sure Junior was deeply hurt by seeing his friend and mentor defeated like that. It's a natural reaction. He's probably tried erasing the memory – just as I would if I'd seen one of my training partners beaten – and maybe that's why he can't recall me overcoming adversity …

Follow @thefrankmir on Twitter for all the latest news ahead of his bout against heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos at UFC 146.

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There is something special about Josh Barnett that is hard to quantify. Athletes rarely stay at or near the top of their professions as long as Barnett has in mixed martial arts.

After a while, the rigors of the spartan lifestyle most athletes have to live wears on them, mentally as well as physically. The body breaks down, no longer able to execute the brain's instructions as quickly or as efficiently.

Josh Barnett faces Daniel Cormier in the Strikeforce World Grand Prix heavyweight final Saturday. (Getty Images) …Barnett began fighting as an MMA professional in 1997, five months before UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture began his career. At that time, MMA was banned from cable television and Dana White was still a bellman at a Boston hotel. Now, it's a multibillion dollar business and White is the head of the UFC, the biggest name in the sport.

Some 15 years and 50-some fights later, Barnett remains at the top of the heap, on the verge of winning the Strikeforce World Grand Prix heavyweight final Saturday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Barnett will meet unbeaten Daniel Cormier in the final in a bout as unlikely as it is compelling.

The tournament launched on Feb. 12, 2011, amid great fanfare, with Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko the heavy favorites to win. Strikeforce was owned by Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, and Cormier wasn't even in the elite eight-man field.

Since then, Zuffa, the company that also owns the UFC, purchased Strikeforce. Emelianenko was obliterated in the first round and Cormier got a spot in the field when Alistair Overeem was yanked because he said he wouldn't be ready to fight on the date he was required to go.

While the world around him may have changed, it's still the same Barnett in the final. He's a slippery, slithering submission specialist who's won each of his two tournament bouts by arm triangle. And he's still as insightful and clever as any fighter in the sport's long and colorful history.

[Related: Barnett vs. Cormier will answer these three questions]

He's a catch wrestler going against a guy who represented the U.S. in the 2008 Olympics, but he's as confident as he is clever.

"Yes, I'm going to put him on his back," Barnett said. "That is the way I've won my last two fights and I don't see any reason to stop."

Barnett, whose official record is 31-5 but has many more unsanctioned bouts that occurred when fewer than a handful of states regulated the sport, is anything but concerned.

Wrestlers are always among the most difficult fighters to defeat, and Barnett insists he has great respect for Cormier. Barnett isn't sure how he'll beat him, he's just sure he will. The benefit of all of his experience is that he is utterly sure of himself no matter how bleak the situation.

"It's something I've been doing going on 15 years now, so of course I've got an advantage," Barnett said. "Daniel's got nine fights and I've got, with unsanctioned fights involved, over 50. So, I've been honing my craft longer, but Daniel's an Olympic athlete and that is a big equalizer to any kind of athletic endeavor he's going to do.

"Now, I don't know how great he'd be at rhythmic gymnastics, but he's already an Olympic athlete, so I would still believe that he would do better than others."

Cormier does what he does well enough that all four heavyweights who are competing in the main and co-main events next week at UFC 146 – champion dos Santos, challenger Frank Mir, former champion Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva – are picking him to win.

[Also: UFC president Dana White diagnosed with Ménière's disease]

"I think Cormier takes this," Mir said. "I can't see Barnett getting him to the ground; [Cormier's] wrestling is too strong. And on the feet, I think Cormier has the power to end things. But with two top heavyweights, anything can happen. That's why this division is so exciting: Anyone who is world-class can beat anyone else with one punch. You can't say that about the lighter weight classes and that's why heavyweight fights are so cool to watch."

Barnett's cool to watch because he wins fights in a way that few others even try. Cormier knows he has his hands full and conceded that preparing for Barnett is unlike preparing for anyone else.

"Fighting someone like Josh who does catch wrestling, it's difficult because there aren't many guys, not only at the highest level of the sport, but big guys who actually practice it," Cormier said. " … We really focus in on some of the areas that we've recognized in Josh's previous fights and focused on them.

"With that being said, I'm not necessarily sure that you could prepare for it because what he does, it does at a level that people can't even emulate. So it's going to be tough. "

Facing Josh Barnett, it always is.

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Of the 17 fighters who received votes in the Yahoo! Sports mixed martial arts rankings, five are lightweights. Even a casual observer can see it's the sport's best division with the most high-end talent.

High-end talent, though, isn't all that is required for a fighter to become a star.

There's an elusive something else that is hard to quantify but easy to identify.

Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson, who fight Saturday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., for the Strikeforce lightweight belt, know that better than most.

Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez has become the face of Zuffa-era Strikeforce.Melendez is seventh in the current Yahoo! Sports poll, ahead of such great fighters as ex-UFC champion Frankie Edgar (eighth), Gray Maynard (13) and ex-Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez (T15).

And that doesn't include men such as Thomson, Nate Diaz, Jim Miller, Bellator champion Michael Chandler and others who received nary a vote.

Melendez's talent and performance haven't gone unnoticed within the industry, but he's yet to take off and reach the same level of stardom as many of his elite brethren.

[Also: UFC president Dana White diagnosed with Ménière's disease, will have surgery]

There was plenty of talk that Melendez would fight ex-UFC champion B.J. Penn before the Strikeforce title fight with Thomson was put together. That bout would have given the charismatic and often acrobatic Melendez a vehicle to become a star, but Penn opted to remain retired.

So, Melendez has had to content himself with a rubber match with Thomson while awaiting the fight that would bring him the widespread recognition his talent indicates he deserves.

"Obviously to be the No. 1 fighter in the world, you have to be the UFC champ," Melendez said. "It's just the way it is. And right now, I'm just trying to put on shows and get better in the sport. It's just to get better and take some risk out there.

"I'm really trying to just become a really good martial artist right now and deliver. But I'm not worried about that no more. I'm just going to keep doing my thing and performing and I'm trying not to look at that any more. I'm just trying to find different motivations, like the paycheck and my team and my family."

Thomson has won three of his last four since a Dec. 19, 2009, loss to Melendez in San Jose that evened the series between them at a fight apiece.

Thomson is coming off a one-sided victory over K.J. Noons in March, but what was most notable was Thomson's reaction to it afterward.

He used his wrestling to control Noons and was never in jeopardy of losing. The victory earned him the shot at the title, but Thomson wasn't pleased with his performance.

"I got the win, but I hate fighting like that [and] it disappoints me that people boo," he said in a Showtime interview afterward. "It's the entertainment business. It's not the way I like to win. Taking him down and getting the win? That should be expected of me. I'm a good wrestler and I have good submissions. … There's no excuse. It was a [expletive] fight."

But they had a good pair of fights against each other previously and seem to be at the peak of their games now.

A win over Melendez would do more for Thomson at this point than vice versa, but neither guy is going to become a breakout star at this stage. It's a matter of stringing together quality fight after quality fight and hoping for a breakthrough.

Melendez has the right attitude, though. You can't become a star by saying you want to do it or even by winning all of your fights. It happens organically. And so Melendez just decided to forget about it and go out and enjoy his job and his life.

"I'm going to be [fighting] for a long time," Melendez said. "I hear [Strikeforce heavyweight] Josh Barnett talking about how he's been fighting for 15 years. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to have fun and not be stressed going out to every practice and just do the best I can do. And, that's what I've been doing, just training my butt off. "The stress is there, but not so bad. It is what it is. I just got to roll with the punches on this."

And some day, hopefully sooner or later, the world will awaken and realize that Gilbert Melendez is a star.

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