Jon Jones’ Next Fight: Breaking Down Bones’ Most Likely Challengers

Jon “Bones” Jones extended his reign over the MMA world on Saturday night by retaining his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson. While Jones scored a unanimous-decision victory, Gustafsson pushed him to the limit…

Jon “Bones” Jones extended his reign over the MMA world on Saturday night by retaining his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson. While Jones scored a unanimous-decision victory, Gustafsson pushed him to the limit and proved that it is possible to give Jones a run for his money with the proper game plan.

After escaping Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a big victory, Jones can now look ahead to his next opponent. Since Jones is the biggest draw in the sport, there is no doubt that countless fighters would love to compete against him, as it would bolster their credibility and their bank accounts. Only one lucky fighter will have the opportunity to get the next crack at Jones, though.

Here is a closer look at three fighters with the best chance of stepping into the Octagon with Jones when he ultimately decides to defend his title yet again.

 

Glover Teixeira

In terms of his body of work, there is no question that Glover Teixeira deserves a shot at Jones’ UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. The 33-year-old Brazilian is currently in the midst of a run that puts Jones’ 10-fight winning streak to shame. While Teixeira only has five UFC bouts to his credit, he has won 20 consecutive contests and hasn’t lost since 2005, so he has all the confidence in the world that he can beat Jones.

Generally speaking, there is a lot of parity in UFC, so it’s rare to find two fighters with winning streaks as long as those that Jones and Teixeira possess.

Teixeira is coming off a dominant win over Ryan Bader. He’s done everything asked of him since joining the UFC and has nothing left to prove. There is little doubt that he’s ready to challenge Jones.

Teixeira was in attendance for Jones vs. Gustafsson, and he had nothing but praise for both men afterward:

With that said, he would obviously prefer to fight Jones himself rather than Gustafsson getting another crack at him. Teixeira has a pretty sizable fanbase, so Jones probably realizes that it would be a lucrative fight. While facing Gustafsson again would definitely generate some interest, fans generally like to see new, fresh encounters.

 

Alexander Gustafsson

Jones has a perfect record aside from a controversial disqualification loss to Matt Hamill a few years ago, but nobody has come closer to legitimately defeating him than Gustafsson did on Saturday. He clearly understood what he needed to do in order to be competitive against Jones, and he executed. Gustafsson turned the fight into a brawl and prevented Jones from taking him down, so he was able to keep himself in it long enough to go to the scorecards.

Gustafsson fell just short, but he gained a great deal of respect in the process. Although he had only lost one fight heading into Saturday night, there were plenty of question marks regarding his level of competition. Gustafsson answered those questions and established himself as a contender in the light heavyweight division.

While Teixeira seemed fairly confident about being Jones’ next opponent, Dana White suggested that a Jones vs. Gustafsson rematch could be on the horizon, according to Ron Kruck of AXS TV:

Jones vs. Gustafsson I was an instant classic, so there is definitely a market for Jones vs. Gustafsson II. While Gustafsson didn’t have as much of a name as Teixeira did prior to Saturday’s bout, it can be argued that things have changed. He has already shown once that he can have a great fight with Jones, so it is possible that pitting them against each other once again will appeal to UFC.

 

Daniel Cormier

The dark horse in this entire situation is Daniel Cormier. While Cormier is currently a heavyweight, he has shown interest in moving down in order to take on Jones. Cormier is quite vocal, and that seems to have rubbed Jones the wrong way.

According to MMAJunkie.com, Jones was less than enthused about the prospect of facing Cormier in an interview with Jim Rome.

“As far as Daniel Cormier, he definitely won’t be getting a title fight,” Jones said. “I don’t think I would accept a fight against him. He’s a guy I don’t respect at all, and I would definitely make sure he loses the weight, makes 205 and earns himself a title shot.”

It’s important to never say never in a sport like MMA, though, as Cormier could end up being Jones’ best option. After all, he would pose a tough test due to his immense physical strength. And it seems likely that there would be mutual dislike, which always improves the build toward a fight.

According to UFC Tonight on Twitter, Jones conceded that he could potentially face the winner of a Cormier vs. Teixeira bout at some point:

Whatever the case, it doesn’t seem as though Jones intends to face Cormier immediately. That makes him a distant third behind Teixeira and Gustafsson. Assuming he remains committed to moving down in weight, though, he should face Jones eventually.

 

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

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Alexander Gustafsson Posts Hospital Photo with Jon Jones Following UFC 165

As you probably heard, nearly mythical UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones and top contender Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson put on quite the show last night during their title fight at UFC 165 in Toronto, Ontario. The back-and-forth, 25-minute affair had fans on the edge of their seats from the start, right up until […]

As you probably heard, nearly mythical UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones and top contender Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson put on quite the show last night during their title fight at UFC 165 in Toronto, Ontario. The back-and-forth, 25-minute affair had fans on the edge of their seats from the start, right up until […]

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UFC 165: Khabib Nurmagomedov Proved Mettle but Not Ready for Title Shot Just Yet

Khabib Nurmagomedov was under the microscope to begin UFC 165. Fans were impressed with the former Combat Sambo World Champion thus far into his career but weren’t ready to declare him as a true title contender.
After his victory over Pat Healy, it’s h…

Khabib Nurmagomedov was under the microscope to begin UFC 165. Fans were impressed with the former Combat Sambo World Champion thus far into his career but weren’t ready to declare him as a true title contender.

After his victory over Pat Healy, it’s hard not to envision Nurmagomedov being put in the mix at 155 pounds. Although I’ve been singing his praise since UFC 165, I do have some reservations about Nurmagomedov being ready for a title shot.

Yes, Healy is a tough opponent, but let’s not confuse him with a top-five lightweight. He has wins over some quality competition but hasn’t moved on from the gatekeeper status.

The unanimous-decision victory for Nurmagomedov solidifies him as a top-10 fighter, but the Russian will need to rack up some victories over stiffer competition before the UFC is likely to throw him into a title fight.

Luckily for Nurmagomedov, there’s no shortage of big-name fighters for him to face next.

The UFC should avoid pairing Nurmagomedov with a striker in his next bout if it wants to see if the Russian is a true contender. We’ve seen him put on wrestling clinics since coming to the UFC, but we haven’t seen him be forced to use his striking game.

Nurmagomedov had no issues with throwing his hands initially, but as he got wild, Healy started to get back into the fight, which of course caused Nurmagomedov to go back to what works best for him: his wrestling. But what if he didn’t have that option?

To be a true title contender, a fighter must be well-versed in every aspect of the fight game. We know Nurmagomedov is a great grappler (while on top), but we haven’t seen his striking skills improve or his submission game either. Being a one-dimensional fighter won’t win you an UFC title, especially not in the shark tank that is the UFC lightweight division.

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UFC 165 Aftermath: Jon Jones earns his place among the all-time greats

Jon Jones had to be proven human before he could prove he had the stuff of legends.
Oh, we’ve seen hints of the UFC light heavyweight champion’s courage under fire in the past. There was the time Lyoto Machida cracked him with a lef…

Jon Jones had to be proven human before he could prove he had the stuff of legends.

Oh, we’ve seen hints of the UFC light heavyweight champion’s courage under fire in the past. There was the time Lyoto Machida cracked him with a left hand and had him on the run. Then there was the time Vitor Belfort trapped him in a deep armbar and had Jones’ title reign in jeopardy for a few fleeting, but real moments.

Those memories are so easy to recall because the’ve been so infrequent. And because Jones, as one of the most dominant fighters in MMA history, made those opponents pay for having the temerity to look good against him.

But Jones never experienced anything like what went down for 25 minutes Saturday night at UFC 165 in Toronto against Alexander Gustafsson. What separates the ordinary champions from the all-time greats is that one fight in which he finds himself in the unexpected dogfight and manages to summon that something extra to keep the belt when hope seems to be slipping away.

Call it courage, call it heart, call it warrior spirit. Call it all of the above.

Anderson Silva had his moment. At one point in his record UFC middleweight title reign, he was widely regarded as a fighter with otherworldly talent who was disliked for his perceived arrogance. Then Silva had his triangle choke submission of Chael Sonnen late in the fifth round of a fight he was about to lose 50-45, which marked his turning point as a fighter regarded as a true warrior under pressure.

UFC 165 was Jones’ warrior moment. Somewhere late in the fourth round, with Gustafsson up two rounds to one on the cards and perilously close to taking the fourth, Jones found that extra something. He landed a spinning back elbow, turned up the heat, nearly finished the fight, and stole the round. That burst of momentum carried him through the final round, giving him just enough energy to stay a step ahead of Gustafsson as both fighters warded off exhaustion over the fight’s final minutes.

Blood streaming down his face — he reportedly had to beg the doctor not to stop the fight before the fifth — Jones proved once and for all that he not only has the skills, but he has the heart which separates the legends from the rest.

And Jones knows it. “I’ll tell you what, I’ve been asking for a dogfight for a long time, and I finally got that dogfight I was looking for,” Jones said in his post-fight Octagon interview before heading to the hospital. “I got the victory and I got to prove a lot to myself.”

Just like that, Jones owns the record for the UFC light heavyweight title defenses (six) and has joined Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Royce Gracie as the only competitors with 10-fight UFC win streaks.

No one is forcing you to like Jon Jones. That’s your perogative. But at this point, if you’re not giving Jones his respect as one of the sport’s all-time great champions, really, that’s a reflection on you, not on Jones.



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UFC 165 quotes

“Who doesn’t want to see this rematch?” — Dana White, on Jones vs. Gustafsson.

“Um, personal opinion, I think bulls—. [Barao] caught me with a great kick. I was by no means out, I was on my way back up.” — Eddie Wineland on the stoppage of his fight with Renan Barao

“Matt needs to talk trash to be up for a fight, but it’s just business. I told Matt in the back, it’s all good man, we can go back to being friends. It was good. I wish Matt and I were that smart where we did hype this fight big and follow this whole plan. No man, I really didn’t like the guy leading up to this fight. I thought I was going to whip his ass at weigh-ins, Dana had to jump in, so that was all real.” — Brendan Schaub, putting his beef with Matt Mitrione behind him.

Stock up: Alexander Gustafsson

Sure, I focused on Jones in the lead item to this column, but it took two to tango Saturday night. Gustafsson was never intimidated by Jones’ aura, never appeared daunted by the long odds attached to his name on the betting lines. Gustafsson gave Jones the battle of his life and came up just a whisker short (And he did lose. If you’re still hyperventilating that Gustafsson was robbed, check out the Fight Metric stats, which show that Jones landed more significant strikes in every round except the fifth, which was tied), Sometimes, you can become a star in defeat: just look at Carlos Condit’s stock now, compared to where he was before he fought GSP and Johny Hendricks.

Gustafsson was one half of a fight which will join Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar and Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua on the short list of greatest fights in UFC history. He deserves a rematch and he’ll be a headliner everywhere from now on, not just in his native Sweden. No doubt it stings Gustafsson to go home without the belt, but no one’s questioning whether he has the heart of a champion.

Stock down: Costa Philippou

Philippou left the Serra-Longo Fight Club in part because he anticipated he’d cross paths with middleweight champion Chris Weidman somewhere down the road. But his performance on Saturday night sure opened that move up for second-guessing. Philippou came into his bout with Francis Carmont on a five-fight win streak, but he appeared listless throughout the bout. Carmont, who did himself no favors either, simply took Philippou down and kept him there, like some sort of nightmare middleweight version of a GSP fight gone wrong. Whatever the reason for Philippou’s unimpressive performance, it’s clear he needs to go back to the drawing board.

Good call: Brendan Schaub

Give Brendan Schaub credit for one thing: He loves jiu-jitsu, even if jiu-jitsu doesn’t love him back. The heavyweight avoided the toe-to-toe slugfest which would have given Matt Mitrione his best chance of winning Saturday night, and instead took the fight to the ground and got the job done there, where he got the first D’Arce choke finish ever in a UFC heavyweight fight. If nothing else, after all the grief Schaub has taken from the jitz community this summer, give him credit for his ironic touch.

Bad call: Ontario’s athletic commission

They’ve never seemed too concerned with the little details over at the Ontario Athletic Commission. Remember UFC 129? Mark Hominick missed weight for his featherweight title fight with Jose Aldo, and the commission basically said “ehh, screw it,” and pretended it didn’t happen. Which made it a little hard to believe when they claimed it was a mistake Friday when Wineland was announced as a quarter-pound over.

This lack of professionalism carried over to Saturday night’s scorecards. We know that Doug Crosby and Richard Betran scored the bout 48-47 for Jones, and we know that Chris Lee had the interesting 49-46 tally. But unlike nearly every state and province in North America, Ontario doesn’t provide round-by-round scoring. On the night of the most hotly contested five-round title fight in UFC history, we don’t know the route the judges took to get to their final scores. That’s a disservice to fighters and fans alike.

Fight I’d like to see next: The obvious choices

I’m not going to attempt creative matchmaking for its own sake this time. Sometimes, you come out of a night of fights with obvious fights to make. And after last night, I want to see a Jones-Gustafsson rematch and I want to see Dominick Cruz vs. Renan Barao. In the case of Gustafsson, simple fairness dictates a rematch after losing by such a razor-thin margin in an absolute classic fight. Cruz vs. Barao is the bantamweight title fight everyone is waiting on. I’d call it a clear case of No. 1 vs. No. 2, but Barao has been so impressive that it’s more a case of 1A vs. 1B. If you watched the post-fight show on FOX Sports 2 Saturday, Cruz looked like he was ready to fight Barao right then and there. Hopefully, it means he’ll be ready to go soon.

Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson: The Positive Side of Hype


(Gustafsson was indeed taller, but that’s not what made UFC 165’s main event so memorable. Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.)

By Matt Saccaro

MMA history is awash with hundreds of “prospects” and “next big things” who never panned out, who fell flat on their faces and were either mocked constantly or worse, forgotten. Names like Denis Kang, Ulysses Gomez, Rameau Sokoudjou, Hector Lombard and Uriah Hall evoke thoughts like “failure.” But are these men at fault for being considered wastes of talent, or is it the fault of the fans and the media who took flesh and bone and sculpted it into something divine? Who took men and, through words, made them into gods?

That’s the dark side of hype, a topic I’ve written about in the past. Fans and the media ascribe almost superhuman abilities to certain fighters, abilities that they can’t consistently live up to, if they can live up to them at all. Denis Kang, for example, was this mythical creature from outside the UFC and one of many Guys to Beat Anderson Silva™, yet he went 1-2 in the UFC, only beating Xavier Foupa-Pokam. Silva, himself, was another fighter who had an ungodly amount of hype. Silva’s was, in part, deserved because he was able to make some of the most dangerous men in the world look like nerdy high school kids. But the hype got too far. When he fought Chris Weidman, people thought Anderson Silva was a real-life Neo who would dispose of Weidman with no effort. Then Weidman humiliated Silva. Suddenly, Silva was “done,” “too old” and “needed to retire” because he lost to a guy that everyone had just said was no threat to him at all.

The lesson? Hype cometh before the fall. Too much hype can ruin a fighter. If a hyped fighter loses, the derailment of their hype-train looks like something out of Back to the Future III. They go from a stellar talent to a bum who got lucky a few times.

But there’s also a positive side, and we saw it at UFC 165.


(Gustafsson was indeed taller, but that’s not what made UFC 165′s main event so memorable. Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.)

By Matt Saccaro

MMA history is awash with hundreds of “prospects” and “next big things” who never panned out, who fell flat on their faces and were either mocked constantly or worse, forgotten. Names like Denis Kang, Ulysses Gomez, Rameau Sokoudjou, Hector Lombard and Uriah Hall evoke thoughts like “failure.” But are these men at fault for being considered wastes of talent, or is it the fault of the fans and the media who took flesh and bone and sculpted it into something divine? Who took men and, through words, made them into gods?

That’s the dark side of hype, a topic I’ve written about in the past. Fans and the media ascribe almost superhuman abilities to certain fighters, abilities that they can’t consistently live up to, if they can live up to them at all. Denis Kang, for example, was this mythical creature from outside the UFC and one of many Guys to Beat Anderson Silva™, yet he went 1-2 in the UFC, only beating Xavier Foupa-Pokam. Silva, himself, was another fighter who had an ungodly amount of hype. Silva’s was, in part, deserved because he was able to make some of the most dangerous men in the world look like nerdy high school kids. But the hype got too far. When he fought Chris Weidman, people thought Anderson Silva was a real-life Neo who would dispose of Weidman with no effort. Then Weidman humiliated Silva. Suddenly, Silva was “done,” “too old” and “needed to retire” because he lost to a guy that everyone had just said was no threat to him at all.

The lesson? Hype cometh before the fall. Too much hype can ruin a fighter. If a hyped fighter loses, the derailment of their hype-train looks like something out of Back to the Future III. They go from a stellar talent to a bum who got lucky a few times.

But there’s also a positive side, and we saw it at UFC 165.

There has been hype around Jon Jones for years. He’s the GOAT and he’s not even 27 yet. He’s got NFL-caliber genetics. He’s got insane reach and more talent than any other fighter in the entire light heavyweight or heavyweight divisions. He could fight and beat the entire UFC flyweight division with one hand behind his back, and so on. UFC 165 was supposed to be just another violent notch on Jones’ belt. Despite what the “It’s So Big” trailer said, the only head that was going to be exploding that night was Alexander Gustafsson’s when Jones began to elbow him into unconsciousness.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, Alexander Gustafsson and Jon Jones treated the MMA world to one of the greatest title fights of all time at the cost of their physical longevity. Jon Jones looked human, and Gustafsson looked like a legitimate threat. The event, horrific “OMG LOOK HOW TALL HE IS” ad campaign aside, was a success…and the reason was hype.

We expected UFC 165 to be nothing but it became a classic. It was going to be a pro wrestling-like squash match. Jones would go out there and crush jobber-to-the-stars Gustafsson in a round or two. Then the light-heavyweight division’s last contender Glover Teixeira would walk into the cage and challenge Jones to a fight, setting up a money main event for the Superbowl card or some other PPV. Instead, Gustafsson arguably beat Jones and is now deemed a worthy contender and one of the best in the UFC.

Jones’s hype made it this way. If we knew both fighters were evenly matched, last night would’ve been just a fight that we expected to be closely contended. It still would’ve been fun, just not the legendary near-upset it became.

UFC 165 is one of the rare instances where hype made the situation better rather than making it worse. Jones’s hype made Gustafsson a star in the MMA world, and has now given the light heavyweight division a feud to look forward to. Hype elevated both fighters and re-ignited interest in a division, rather than discarding another contender into the ash heap of MMA history.

Alexander Gustafsson Posts Hospital Photo with Jon Jones Following UFC 165

As you probably heard, nearly mythical UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones and top contender Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson put on quite the show last night during their title fight at UFC 165 in Toronto, Ontario. The back-and-fort…

As you probably heard, nearly mythical UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones and top contender Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson put on quite the show last night during their title fight at UFC 165 in Toronto, Ontario. The back-and-forth, 25-minute affair had fans on the edge of their seats from the start, right up until the scorecards were announced to unanimously favor the reigning champ.

Both fighters were taken to the hospital immediately after the fight. Jones’ face was badly brutalized, and he was sporting a huge cut, busted nose, fattened lips and plenty of welts. Gustafsson didn’t show quite as much wear, but he was so exhausted following the fight that he needed his corner’s help to raise his arms to put his shirt back on.

After the fight, Jones was quoted as saying (via Jeff Wagenheim of Sports Illustrated), “Man, I tell you what, I’ve been asking for a dogfight for a long time. And I finally got that dogfight.”

Jones was taken out of the arena on a stretcher. Gustafsson left under his own power. 

When they crossed paths at the same hospital, the Swede took the chance to take a photo with the man he had been fighting with just hours earlier. You can see the picture he posted on his Facebook profile here:

Jones looks much worse for wear than Gustafsson in the picture. In addition to the damage to his face, he is sporting a swollen forehead on par with Georges St-Pierre’s following his victory over Carlos Condit in 2012. You can also see Gustafsson holding up Jones’ hand as he throws up a sign.

Both fighters, thankfully, were released from the hospital earlier today. Neither had any broken bones or serious injuries.

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