Rogers: UFC's Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson do their talking in the octagon

LAS VEGAS — Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson are light on Twitter and Instagram followers, at least when compared to such social media darlings as Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey.

Yet when it comes making a mark with their punches and kicks rather than selfies and 140-character salvos, the two chief victors from UFC 197 come with a very significant advantage to their employer.

They win. Like, all the time.

On Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, they did so again, in different circumstances, but with a similar level of dominance. Jones has now won 13 consecutive, Johnson 10 in a row, thereby solidifying their positions as the two highest-rated pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts. Jones went into the weekend ranked No. 1, Johnson just behind him.

Jon Jones takes convincing decision over Ovince Saint Preux in return fight

A unanimous points win for Jones over Ovince Saint Preux and Johnson’s destructive technical knockout of Henry Cejudo came at the end of a week where chatter was dominated by a fighter not on the card, or any of the next three pay-per-view cards, or currently in the same country, and who lost his last fight.

To be fair, Irish star McGregor is his own beast, a rare phenomenon of wit and popularity. In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock since Tuesday, McGregor fell out with the UFC over the number of media appearances expected of him, pretended to retire, got yanked from the main event of UFC 200, kept training in Reykjavik, Iceland, came out of retirement, remained at loggerheads with UFC boss Dana White and claimed to have made the company $400 million in the last eight months.

While those numbers are indeterminate, the final bit of that is why the UFC puts up with McGregor through the demands and tantrums and bombast. And though there have been frustrations with Jones over the American’s legal issues and past drug-taking revelations, and though the UFC must wish Johnson had gained more mainstream appeal, there must also be a hankering that they could blend some of the traits of their most famous fighters with those of their most accomplished.

Saint Preux was no match for Jones, especially not on only three weeks’ preparation. The main event was one-sided, and certainly not as action-packed as many would have liked. Jones thoroughly dominated, winning every round on each judge’s scorecard.

Jon Jones, UFC's pound-for-pound champ: 'I was a drug addict'

Yet the 28-year-old had a clinical approach more in common with a team sport athlete than a fighter with a permanent eye on showmanship. Rather than talking himself up following his performance, Jones cast himself in a self-critical light.

“I’m my own biggest critic,” Jones said. “I was seeing opening but I just couldn’t pull the trigger.”

He did create some social media buzz by dissing Daniel Cormier – who he may now fight for the light heavyweight title at UFC 200 – as he departed the octagon. He offered Cormier, working ringside as an analyst, a middle-finger salute rather than taking him down with a rapier-like verbal attack, the kind that McGregor used to embarrass Nate Diaz last month. Before McGregor got choked out.

In many ways Jones is the anti-McGregor. But guess what, he has never lost, save for a disqualification in his distant past. Even on an off night like this, he still wins.

“I am a firm believer in ring rust,” White said of Jones, referring to the fighter’s 15-month absence from the octagon. “He wasn’t the best Jon Jones we have seen. But he won.”

The only imminent threat to Jones’ position atop the pound-for-pound list is Johnson, who tore apart 2008 Olympic wrestling gold medalist Cejudo with a devastating display that ended midway through the opening round.

Johnson has not been tamed since 2011, and that was against the outstanding Dominick Cruz at bantamweight. Soon after, the UFC added the flyweight division. Johnson has been without peer since then and is the only titlist the company has ever had in that weight class.

Sometimes the small guys get unfairly small notice, and Johnson is not yet big time enough to headline a pay-per-view.

“I might not talk a lot, but when I get out there I give everything I have,” Johnson said.

His fireworks were saved for the performance, with movement like a whirling dervish and lightning reactions.

Johnson stands 5-3 and has the flexibility of a gymnast, the power of running back and the toughness of a street brawler.

He has a lot to like and a lot to market, if your marketing pitch isn’t centered around cuss words and crude insults.

This is an intriguing time for the UFC. Its giant summer showcase, UFC 200, is coming up in July. The organization’s hierarchy is trying to make itself more mainstream and thereby appeal to a wider, and thereby more lucrative, audience.

It is at the crossroads of the variable forces of athletics and entertainment, a line that must be trodden with care.

You can see the entertainment part in McGregor’s Instagram posts from Iceland and in Rousey’s movie and commercial appearances.

And you can see the athletic side with Jones and Johnson, in the octagon, with their arms raised.

“I feel like I’m famous enough,” Jones said.