UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones, who is slated to throwdown with Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida at UFC 140, has only one thing of his mind—to remain champion.
Jones’ rise in the UFC and the 205-division has been meteoric to say the least and nothing short of phenomenal.
In his ascendancy to UFC gold, he dispatched the so-called future of the light heavyweight division, Ryan “Darth” Bader, from whence he attained the No. 1 contendership to then champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
“Bones” would go on to decimate Shogun in a one-sided beatdown en route to capturing the title.
And in his first defense of the 205-crown, Jones handed Quinton “Rampage” Jackson his first loss in the Octagon via stoppage—rear naked choke.
Thus far, the young phenom has fought and defeated three opponents in 2011—next up is the somewhat elusive Machida.
I say “somewhat” because Shogun found a way past his elusory style to put him to sleep at UFC 113.
Speaking to UFC.com, this is what Jones had to say about the prospect of going toe-to-toe with The Dragon,
“I’ve always felt confident with martial arts; and I always knew that I would fight Lyoto one day.
Lyoto’s a great opponent, man, he’s game. I think he takes this sport seriously. I think he’s unpredictable, he’s fast. Lyoto loves distance and I love distance; but I have the longer limbs and I believe I’m just as fast. So if Lyoto wants to play the distance game with me, I think that’s going to be awesome.
I’m also very unpredictable. I have tons of confidence and faith in my wrestling abilities against Lyoto. I feel as if I can shoot at his legs and take him down, and I also feel as if I have tons of versatility in my takedowns from the point and shoot.”
Jones also spoke about his own capabilities and his limitations as well as that of Machida’s,
“I know myself, I know my weaknesses, and I’m not naive to them,” Jones said. “I’m starting to understand my opponent, I’m starting to understand what makes Lyoto, Lyoto, where he’s strong, where he’s weak.”
Jones made his final play when he said,
“I will defeat Lyoto Machida. I believe that it’s my destiny to be the UFC Champion for many years.”
This isn’t a cocky Jones, but a confident Jones, and he will prevail come fight night.
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