UFC: Can Rampage Jackson Take Belt from Jon Jones?

If there’s one UFC event that I’m really looking forward to, it’s UFC 135.  There, newly crowned light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones will defend his title for the first time against veteran Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.After a long layoff, J…

If there’s one UFC event that I’m really looking forward to, it’s UFC 135.  There, newly crowned light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones will defend his title for the first time against veteran Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

After a long layoff, Jackson is slowly climbing back up the ranks in the light heavyweight division.  He lost his first fight back to Rashad Evans, but then scored unanimous decision victories over Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Matt “The Hammer” Hamill.  His performance against the latter was so dominant that UFC president Dana White chose to give the controversial fighter a title shot.

As much as I love Jackson, and yes that means I’ll be rooting for him at UFC 135, I’m not optimistic about his chances against Jones.  He is a great brawler who has really improved his ground game in the past year, but Jones is just a monster.

First of all, Jones is 6’4″ to Jackson’s 6’1″.  On top of that, he has a 10 1/2 inch reach advantage.

Most important, however, is Rampage Jackson’s similarity to Jones’s last opponent, Ryan “Darth” Bader.  Like Bader, Jackson is a wrestler with a standup game that isn’t too shabby.  Bader was submitted in Round 2 of his fight with Jones.

Given how Jones’s long arms are a weapon hard to defeat, Jackson had better pray he gets one of them in an armbar and then start cranking away.  Otherwise, he will walk out of the octagon without the belt and have no choice but to fight Rashad Evans again.

Oh well.  At least an awesome feud would be rekindled.

Josh Benjamin