Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
When Jon Jones burst onto the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) scene, he was coming in with six straight stoppage wins to start off his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Of his first 11 wins inside the Octagon, eight of those were dominant finishes over the likes of Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson, Chael Sonnen and Mauricio Rua, just to name a few.
Seven of his last eight wins, however, have all come via decision, with his lone stoppage being a technical knockout (TKO) win over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 (see it here). It’s the lack of finishes that have — for whatever reason — prompted some to say “Bones” might be slowing down or may be even “washed up.” To that Jones says it’s just not the case.
During a recent series of tweets, Jones took the time to address some criticism from fans. In rebuttal to the lack of finishes, the 205-pound champion says it’s his fault for spoiling fight fans early on in his career. Furthermore, not getting stoppage wins over the likes of Dominick Reyes, Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos is discrediting just how tough of a challenge those men really are.
“I try, my last three fights may not have been finishes but at least they were exciting. Never have I just stood around out there scared to engage,” said Jones on Twitter in regards to him looking for a finish.
“I just think people easily forget the type of roll Anthony, Dominic and Thiago was on before they met me. These guys were the scariest guys out there but I was just a tad bit better.”
From there, “Bones” stated that perhaps it was his fault for setting the bar so high early on in his career, that now dominate and technical performances are frowned upon if it’s not a stoppage win.
“It’s my fault, over the last decade I’ve spoiled the fight fans. Dominated Anthony for 25 minutes and that wasn’t exciting. Went back and forth with Thiago and Dominick for 25 minutes and that wasn’t exciting. Now Victory isn’t enough, if I’m not finishing I can’t be the best.”
Jones quickly shifted gears and revealed that he would be interested in taking part in an exhibition catchweight bout before he makes a move up to Heavyweight.
“I’d love to have an exhibition fight at the catchweight of 220lbs before moving up to heavyweight. Who wants to take that L?”
I here this much slimmer-looking big man is interested in testing his skills against the pound-for-pound best.
If you recall, Georges St-pierre was met with soem of the same ciritsim in the later years of his career, but it hasn’t done much to discredit all of the accomplishments of his “Hall of Fame” career. And I highly doubt it will do anything to negate Jon’s dominance, either, when it’s all said and done.
As it stands, Jones is expected to face Jan Blachowicz in his next Light Heavyweight title defense. As far as a rematch against Reyes goes, “Bones” is all for it as long as UFC makes it worth his while.