If you weren’t on the Jon Jones hype train, please board now before it disappears into the next dimension.
Jones (14-1) impressed with a fourth round submission victory against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-9) in Saturday night’s main event, at UFC 135 in Denver. This was Jones first title defense, and it also marked the first time that Rampage had been stopped inside the bell in his UFC career.
More impressive than that, however, is the fact that through three plus rounds with Rampage, Jones took virtually no damage, no small feat considering that Rampage is arguably the most feared striker in the light heavyweight division. Jones, in fact, had the better of Jackson while standing, as well as on the mat.
So after dismantling Rampage, what is next for young Jon Jones? The answer to that question is Rashad Evans, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and disgruntled former training partner. Will he be the one to dethrone the 24-year-old king?
Maybe, but probably not. Despite his wrestling prowess, Jones has proven to have exceptional grappling skills himself. Besides, Jones superior reach allows him to set the distance and keep the fight where he prefers. Even if Evans is capable of taking Jones down to the floor, there is no guarantee that he can hold him there. Jones should be a sizable favorite heading into this fight.
Assuming Jones is successful against Rashad, who next then? Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson has a new UFC deal, but he is currently scheduled to fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Were he to win, a unification bout would be a great idea. But by my estimation he is a slower, older version of Rashad Evans. A super-fight with Anderson Silva sounds like a good idea too, but the UFC doesn’t seem in any big hurry to push either of them in that direction as of now.
There are a few younger up-and-comers that may be intriguing down the road (Phil Davis, Alexander Gustafsson), but they are not yet ready to be fed to the wolf.
I feel the only fight beyond Evans that would spark any real questions about Jon Jones superiority at this time would be against Lyoto Machida.
Something about his unorthodox style always seems to add a new element to every fight, and there are always questions about how his opponent will deal with his peculiarity.
Although some of his bouts may have been perceived as slow and boring, I feel that against Jones the action would be more fast paced—with the champ pressing the action. As we have seen before, it only takes one well placed strike from “the Dragon” to end a fighters title reign.
So will Machida be the one to upend Jonny Bones? If I were a betting man (and I am), I would say no, but in mixed martial arts a fight can end in the blink of an eye.
In my mind, Machida has as much of a chance as anyone, but who really knows? With that said, however, I’m sure we can all agree on one thing.
Jon Jones is the real deal.
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