("Look, you know I don’t want to do this, Vladimir, but this bald dude insists I pretty much kick your ass in every way imaginable. Sorry." PicProps: UFC.com)
If we’re going to be honest about it, we have to admit that Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko is a fight no one really wanted to see. It’s certainly not the fight fans wanted, it’s not the fight Jones wanted and it’s probably not a fight Matyushenko is particularly looking forward to, either. Yet, here we are, just a few hours removed from another fight we all expect Jones to win by some manner of swift and comprehensive destruction.
Of course, it’s no secret what’s going on here. The UFC, for pretty obvious reasons, wants to build Jones into its next great light heavyweight star and it thinks the best way to do that is to give him as many chances as possible to whip ass on free TV. It’s a sound strategy but also a risky one and frankly, it’s an approach that’s kind of starting to piss everybody off.