At a certain point, complaints about Jon Jones can veer into ridiculous territory.
Despite being so young and relatively new to the game, the pound-for-pound prodigy remains an incredibly hated figure in the world of mixed martial arts—especially to beaten opponents who have previously admitted his greatness.
Even Quinton Jackson, despite having already run a short feud with Jones, couldn’t help dragging the champion’s image through the dirt with a puzzling quip during the MMA Hour:
“Vitor took the fight on short notice, and this is how you respect him, by kicking his knee backwards and stuff like that? He’s supposed to be a man of God. You can injure somebody, you can sever their career. You can mess people up for life kicking their knee back like that and he does it repeatedly, over and over. To me that has no honor. I take a lot of honor in fighting. He has no honor. He’s fake. I don’t agree with his fighting style. I think I can beat Jon Jones. I know I can beat him. Jon Jones is the type of guy you have to fight twice.”
Of all the things that other fighters can say about Jon Jones, this is probably one that rings the most false, and at worst, sounds like sour grapes.
Although it’s true that Jones’ cringe-worthy tactic—sharp push kicks to the knees and lower thighs—is incredibly difficult to watch, it’s far from dishonorable.
As Chael P. Sonnen would say, when two men enter the Octagon, they’re in a fight. No matter how many rules an MMA promotion can enforce and how much you want to dress it up, it’s disingenuous and hypocritical to pretend otherwise.
Besides, if it’s not against the rules and it gives him an edge, why should Jones be concerned about snapping someone’s knee?
Call it a shot in the dark, but what really seems to be the problem is that no light heavyweight has figured out a way to counter Jones’ kicking arsenal. After all, these things only seem cheap to other fighters if they don’t have an answer to it.
Hell, that’s the same reason many “stand and bang” guys hate getting matched up against wrestlers. To them, takedowns and smothering ground control are cheap and cowardly.
From his signature kicks to his sharp elbows, Jon Jones is being pragmatic about the way he fights and using his natural gifts in the most advantageous way possible.
If you think it’s dangerous and should be a foul-worthy offense, that’s one thing. But in a sport where men and women can break limbs and outright cripple each other, no MMA athlete should even try to pretend that Jones needs “honor” in the way he fights.
[McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld, & PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.]
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com