After manhandling Stephen Bonner, Jon Jones was put on the map as someone to really watch. He was tall, lanky and a very good wrestler that had an opportunity to be a top tier fighter.
After demolishing Jake O’Brien and Matt Hamill (Jones only loss, via disqualification), many fans wanted the UFC to put him up against better competition.
Jones ended up getting two seasoned fighters in Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko.
When Jones stopped both of those fighters, the media and the fans were livid that Jones wasn’t getting any big time fighters like Forrest Griffin or Rampage Jackson.
Dana White even had to start answering the same question, replying that he was taking things slow since Jones was such a young fighter (22 years old after the Matyushenko fight) with a lot to learn.
Feeling a little more pressed, they decided to have Jones fight the undefeated Ryan Bader, but just like Jones’ other fights, it was a one-sided fight as Jones submitted Bader in the second round.
At this point, with Rashad Evans hurt and not able to fight Mauricio Rua for the championship, White decided to give Jones the shot.
Many people expected this to be too fast for Jones, as he was only 23 years old and having to fight one of the best fighters in the world.
What happened, though, was Jones destroyed Rua, via TKO, in the third round to become the youngest UFC champion ever.
Now people are talking about him being “overhyped”.
Excuse me?
Fans, much like the media, are failing to understand what they are seeing.
Jones is literally a man amongst boys at 205 lbs, and there truly is not a threat for him that I can see.
When Evans was working at the same Greg Jackson camp with Jones, the other fighters have even said that Jones was tossing Evans around.
Jones, much like Anderson Silva, are very special fighters.
Not just because they are super talented, but because they also have the perfect body for an MMA fighter.
There literally is no weakness that anyone can spot in Jones’s game.
The main concern for most fighters trying to beat Jones is trying to get around his length. In fact, Jones’s 84-1/2″ wing span in the longest in the UFC, in any division.
Now Jones has the target on his back and many people have jumped off the Jon “Bones” Jones bandwagon for reasons I can not understand.
Maybe it’s the jealousy of Jones embarrassing every fighter he faces?
Maybe it’s the fact that he got a title shot after beating “three legitimate fighters”?
Whatever the reason is, it won’t be fair to Jones, as he has beaten everyone the UFC puts in front of him, including one of the best 205-pound fighters in world, Rua, with ease.
All I can tell you is, you better get used to his dominance, because he still only 24 years old and is only going to get better.
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