Jon “Bones” Jones delivered another spectacular performance last Saturday, defeating former light heavyweight title-holder Lyoto Machida with a second-round submission while taking minimal damage once again.
After his dominating wins over Ryan Bader, Shogun Rua and Rampage Jackson earlier this year, many fans speculated that Machida would pose few problems for the current face of the 205-lb. division, and it turns out they were not entirely right.
Jones survived a few scary moments on the feet against the talented striker,and used his counter-punching ability to rock “The Dragon” on the feet before landing a vicious elbow on the ground that changed the fight entirely.
While Jones finished the fight in impressive fashion, Machida’s ability to get in and out and hit the champion with punches exposed a small whole in Jones’ game, one that only one fighter in the world would be able to capitalize.
Obviously, that fighter is Anderson Silva.
Machida is an excellent striker in his own right, but no one can compete with Silva on the feet, and using Machida’s strategy as a blueprint Silva would pose some serious problems for the best young fighter in the sport.
Silva and Machida have trained together for years, and it is known Silva did his best to help Machida to train for the enigma that is Jones, but if the roles were reversed one has to wonder if Silva would have had more success than his counterpart.
Silva possesses a fighting style that is nearly impossible to train for (much like Jones) and has the accurate striking and raw finishing ability to make any fighter nervous, including “Bones.”
All Silva would have to do is emulate Machida’s game plan to the best of his ability and, of course, not get caught on the feet, and Jones would be in serious trouble.
While Johnny Bones showed that he can take a solid shot, no one lands more shots directly on the button than Silva, and all it takes is a few well-aimed punches from “The Spider” to put anyone on their back.
Of course, Jones would still have a huge edge in the wrestling department, but one would have to wonder if he would be willing to test his luck on the mat due to Silva’s excellent submission game, as Silva has won several of his UFC fights off his back.
Odds are, Jones would probably be the favorite in this matchup, and although it is unlikely to ever happen, Dana White has always said he gives fans the fights they want to see.
After seeing Jones decimate yet another opponent, there may not be any fight possible that UFC fans want to see happen more than this.
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