It wasn’t enough for Jon “Bones” Jones to simply defeat his rival Daniel Cormier on Saturday at UFC 182. Jones had to make a statement with his win.
We all knew that Jones had a six-inch height advantage and 12-inch reach advantage over Cormier. Some expected that to be the key to Jones’ success. There were some parts of the fight where Jones did a great job controlling distance.
However, for the most part, the fight was fought in close quarters. One look at the numbers presented by Jason Floyd of The MMA Report shows how diverse and brilliant Jones was Saturday night.
A fight in a phone booth was exactly what Cormier wanted, but he still couldn’t get the job done. Why did he come up short?
It’s pretty simple, actually. Jones is a far better wrestler than most give him credit for, and he’s tough as nails.
The Grappling Game
Cormier is regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the UFC. Cormier could not take Jones down until the final round, and he wound up being taken down three times himself. Before Saturday night, Cormier had never been taken down as a professional.
The way Jones handled most of Cormier‘s takedown attempts has to be discouraging to potential opponents.
The champion’s stand-up game is brilliant. If one of the sport’s best wrestlers can’t get him off his feet until the final minute of a five-round bout, the prospects of beating him don’t look good.
Toughness
Once again, Jones proved he has a solid chin. Cormier landed some good shots on the champion, but he never wavered. What do you do with a guy who is so tough to hit square, and even if you do land, he has the beard to absorb the damage?
In a grinding battle with such a strong wrestler—who Jones happens to dislike—Bones kept his composure and effectively won the wrestling match. It’s hard to put into words how difficult that must have been.
Perhaps the scariest thing about Jones is that he’s as mentally strong as he is physically good.
Jones almost suffered a submission loss to Vitor Belfort only to submit the Brazilian legend later in the fight. He’s also stared down an elite fighter with similar length in Alexander Gustafsson and came out on top.
Per UFC on Fox, the winner of the Gustafsson vs. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson fight will get Jones next.
Both men had better be ready. It doesn’t look like the champion is slowing down or regressing any time soon.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter. I dig boxing and MMA.
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