Twenty-one times Jon Jones has entered the fighting platform. Twenty-one times Jones has walked away victorious (seriously, go ahead and ask Matt Hamill if he thinks he won that fight). And all but once has Jones made it look easy. Too easy.
He’s made the Lyoto Machidas, Mauricio “Shogun” Ruas, Quinton “Rampage” Jacksons, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belforts and Chael Sonnens of the mixed martial arts world look like amateurs. Even with his limited amount of experience, Jones has managed to capitalize on his Iowa Central Community College wrestling pedigree to stake his claim as one of the best—if not the best—fighters the sport’s ever seen.
But what exactly makes Jones so much better than most of his competition? What puts the champion head and shoulders above the sea of very competent 205-pound contenders the UFC has to offer? Let us examine the ways:
Unparalleled Reach
This is probably the most obvious aspect that has made Jones such a success inside of the cage. The UFC light heavyweight champion harbors an 84.5-inch reach, about 10 inches more than what many of his former opponents have laid claim to. He’s capable of keeping most of his opponents at bay with a stiff jab or straight right, forcing some of the most vicious strikers in the division to look like beginners.
But the previously mentioned measurement—only tabbing the champion’s arm length—doesn’t do justice to what Jones actually possesses. Jones’ lankier limbs—the ones that keep him upright inside of the cage—are truly where he’s made a name for himself.
Unorthodox Striking
Having above-average reach is one thing. Being able to utilize it to one’s advantage is another. Just look at Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva who owns about a four-inch reach advantage over most of his opponents. Even with his evolutionary reach, Silva’s played victim to the knockout five times in his career. One of those times came against Daniel Cormier, a fighter who conceded an 11-inch reach advantage to the larger Silva.
But Jones has made good of his gifts. He doesn’t take them for granted by allowing himself to become a punching bag for any fighter, no matter the size. As mentioned earlier, he’s competent enough to know that a stiff jab and a solid straight right are enough to make his opponents whiff. But it’s his capacity and creativity as a striker that take him to the next level.
A stiff jab is nice. A stiff straight standing elbow is nicer. A lot nicer. And for as much as people want to complain about his controversial, but totally legal, oblique kicks, just know that he’s got those too.
Unabridged Wrestling
And while his creative striking may be enough to carry him to unforeseen heights, it’s his National Junior College Athletic Association wrestling that has afforded him such liberties. He’s comfortable throwing endless oblique kicks and spinning back kicks because he knows few men inside the cage are consistently capable of putting him on his back.
But he doesn’t just have the confidence in knowing he won’t be taken down—he also has the satisfaction of knowing he’s capable of forcing most of his opponents onto the mat too. Just ask Evans, Bader, Sonnen, Hamill, or Vladimir Matyushenko how difficult it is to not only take Jones down but stop him from taking you down.
Unquestioned Heart
There’s little to say about a man who’s been in several fights without ever really having been in a fight. As mentioned earlier, 21 tried and failed. And they all failed badly. All but one.
That one fighter took it to the champion better than any one of us could have anticipated, leaving many of us to go back and forth on who actually won that fight (it was Jones). The champion was taken down once and hit in the face more times than any of us had ever seen. He was bruised. He was swollen. He was cut.
He was beaten up but not beaten.
Much like Anderson Silva’s comeback victory against Sonnen or Frankie Edgar’s resurgent win against Gray Maynard, Jones’ victory over Alexander Gustafsson gave us a transparent view into the champion’s character.
Unabashed Confidence
Depending on the environment, Jones may either come off as confident or arrogant. He embraces those who embrace his confidence, while shrugs off those who color him arrogant.
“The Yankees are hated for a reason,” Jones told MMAFighting.com’s Dave Doyle before his bout against Gustafsson. “Whoever is good at anything is usually hated. I’m really comfortable with it. What I’d really like to focus on is how many people support me. I’ve got a lot of support. Nike comes out with things, they sell out in less than a day. Every day I get messages saying they inspire me. If one person writes me a message saying I genuinely enhanced their life, that outweighs 500 haters.”
But what else is expected of a man who—at that point—had never been tested? And even after being tested, after proving to the world that he’s capable of taking everything his biggest test had to offer, Jones remained confident. He had no reason not to be. It’s this sort of confidence, the sort of intangible aura that surrounded Silva during his historic middleweight title reign, that brings Jones to the next level.
Untapped Potential
He owns a reach that few others can match, a set of strikes that few can defend and wrestling that few other can contend with. But that’s not the scariest part of what Jones has to offer.
He’s a 27-year-old champion with only six years of professional experience under his belt. While some fighters reach their peak and begin to look like lesser versions of themselves with each passing Octagon appearance, Jones gets better. He looked unstoppable against Shogun to win the title; he’s looked pretty unstoppable since.
We may still be a few years away from seeing the best Jon Jones that Jon Jones has to offer, and that’s scary.
Kristian Ibarra is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report MMA. He also serves as the sports editor at San Diego State University’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Aztec. Follow him on Twitter at @Kristian_Ibarra for all things MMA.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com