On a recent appearance on The Fight Fix on CSN Washington, UFC president Dana White talked about two of the youngest and brightest stars of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting promotions.
Praising UFC light-heavyweight Jon “Bones” Jones (11-1), the UFC president insisted he wouldn’t be pushing the young fighter towards a title shot for at least a year.
“Jon Jones is obviously the talk of the industry right now. I mean this guy, he’s the whole package. He’s a good-looking kid, he’s smart, he’s incredibly talented, he’s got the size, he’s got the strength. We’ve had lots of guys come up through the ranks, they look like they were going to be the next big thing, we’ll see if Jon Jones is going to be that guy. Here’s the thing, people drive me crazy. They’re always like, ‘oh Jon Jones is great, let’s get him in there with Shogun Rua now, he’s ready.’ Listen, this guy’s a young kid. Yes this kid’s been dominant, yes this kid’s done amazing things, in the fight business you work your way up the ranks. He just broke into the top ten, he’s going to take on Ryan Bader, who just beat (Antonio Rogerio) Nogueira. If he gets through that fight then he’s going to fight nothing but the top five. Jon Jones is probably a year away from getting a title shot.”
Jones will meet Bader on the Super Bowl card on Feb. 5 as a part of UFC 126.
Catch the video after the jump