“The only person who can beat Jon Jones at this point in time is Jon Jones.”Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin spoke very highly of current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones when asked if he thought there was anyone who could dethron…
“The only person who can beat Jon Jones at this point in time is Jon Jones.”
Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin spoke very highly of current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones when asked if he thought there was anyone who could dethrone the UFC’s youngest ever champion.
Franklin seems to feel that, given Jones’ physical gifts and his natural talent, there is no one in the light heavyweight division right now who could take him out as long as he stays focused.
“He’s a young guy. The world is coming at him fast and I think his game is going to be whether or not he can maintain focus,” Franklin said.
From there, Franklin went on to talk about Jones’ size, communicating how unusual it is for a light heavyweight to be that big.
“I remember the first time that I met Jon in person. I was down in Miami doing some Super Bowl promotions for the UFC. There were a group of fighters standing in a group and I was walking up to the group and Jon’s back was to me. As I walked up to him, I was looking at him and I thought, ‘Who is this heavyweight?’. I kept walking around and then I was like, ‘Oh my word, he’s enormous’.”
To give fans a better idea of just how big Jones is, Franklin compared him to former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
“He [Jones] has an 84-inch reach. Tim Sylvia, who is four inches taller than him, has an 80-inch reach and I’ve sparred with Tim many times and to deal with that kind of reach is just insane, so I think if he can keep his head straight, he’ll be able to run that division for a while.”
We’ll find out how accurate Franklin’s forecast for Jones’ career is on September 24, when Jones defends his light heavyweight championship for the first time against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Filed under: UFC, Rankings, OverallSaying that Anderson Silva the best fighter in MMA is an accurate statement, but it’s also an understatement. Just calling Silva the best doesn’t really capture just how big a gap there is between Silva and the rest o…
Saying that Anderson Silva the best fighter in MMA is an accurate statement, but it’s also an understatement. Just calling Silva the best doesn’t really capture just how big a gap there is between Silva and the rest of the sport right now.
Since signing with the UFC in 2006, Silva is 14-0, which is the best record anyone has ever had in the UFC. But it’s not just the fact that he keeps winning, it’s the way he wins. Twelve of Silva’s 14 victories are by stoppage, and he has a wide variety of ways he can stop his opponents: He knocked out Chris Leben and Rich Franklin with knees, James Irvin and Forrest Griffin with punches, and Vitor Belfort with a front kick. He TKO’d Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt with punches, and Franklin with knees in a rematch. (He also TKO’d Patrick Cote, although you can’t give Silva a whole lot of credit for the way Cote’s knee buckled underneath him.) Silva made Chael Sonnen tap out to a triangle armbar, made Dan Henderson tap out to a rear-naked choke and made Travis Lutter tap out by holding him in a triangle and elbowing him in the head.
Winning percentage and stoppages aren’t the only way to measure a fighter, but a fighter’s record gives you a pretty good idea how good he is, and how often he finishes his opponent gives you a pretty good idea how dominant he is. And there’s really no one on Silva’s level when it comes to fighting at a high level, consistently winning and stopping his opponents with great frequency.
We’ll compare Silva to the rest of the best fighters in MMA below.
Top 10 Pound-for-Pound Fighters in MMA (Number in parentheses is the fighter’s rank in the last pound-for-pound list.)
1. Anderson Silva (1): Silva is the all-time UFC record holder for consecutive wins and wins in title fights, and he’s twice moved up in weight class and destroyed the two opponents he met at 205 pounds. The only real question is whether the UFC can keep finding good opponents for him; other than a Sonnen rematch there’s not a lot for Silva to do at middleweight.
2. Georges St. Pierre (2): In the same time that Silva has gone 14-0, St. Pierre has gone 10-1, with three wins by TKO, one by submission and six by decision. The methodical way St. Pierre controls fights by insisting on doing what he does best and never allowing his opponents to do what they do best is impressive, but it’s not as impressive as the way Silva crushes people. And, of course, GSP lacks Silva’s undefeated record inside the Octagon.
3. Jon Jones (3): Jones’ record looks a lot like Silva’s: He’s 13-1, with eight wins by knockout or TKO, three by submission and two by decision. And Jones could easily be 14-0 with one more stoppage; his disqualification loss to Matt Hamill is really more like a TKO win for the purposes of considering how good Jones is. The difference between Jones and Silva is that Jones has only been fighting professionally for three and a half years, has only been in the UFC for eight fights and only started fighting the best of the best this year. Jones is the active fighter whose accomplishments may look the most like Silva’s one day, but Jones isn’t there yet.
4. Jose Aldo (4): In the same time that Silva has gone 14-0, Aldo is 11-0, with seven wins by knockout or TKO and four wins by decision. Aldo is somewhat similar to Silva as a striker in the diverse way he can finish fights with his hands, feet, knees and elbows. But he’s not quite as consistent as Silva, and unlike Silva he hasn’t yet proven that he can finish fights with his submission game.
5. Dominick Cruz (5): In the same time that Silva has gone 14-0, Cruz is 12-1, with one win by knockout, one win by TKO on a doctor stoppage, one win by submission and nine wins by decision. Cruz’s stand-up style is very effective in its own way but a lot different from — and nowhere near as destructive as — Silva’s style. Cruz is the master of point-fighting, and that’s respectable, but if he ever wants to be considered one of the truly great fighters he’s going to need to finish more fights.
6. Frank Edgar (6): In the same time that Silva has gone 14-0, Edgar is 10-1-1, with one win by TKO, one by submission and eight by decision. The loss and the draw came against the man Edgar will face at UFC 136…
7. Gray Maynard (7): In the same time that Silva has gone 14-0, Maynard is 8-0-1, with one win by knockout and seven by decision. Maynard also had two wins, a loss and a no contest in his Ultimate Fighter days. Maynard was something of an anti-Silva during his eight-fight winning streak prior to fighting Edgar, as he’d consistently win but rarely dominate and often bore. His fight with Edgar, however, was sensational, and if he can win the rematch, he’ll eliminate any doubt about what a great fighter he is.
8. Cain Velasquez (8): Velasquez is 9-0, including eight wins by knockout or TKO and one by decision. Velasquez has only seven UFC fights, so he has a long way to go before he has achieved as much as Silva, but his run of dominance to begin his career has been impressive. The big question is whether he can keep it up as he recovers from a serious shoulder injury, starting with Junior dos Santos in November.
9. Shogun Rua (10): Shogun’s pounding of Forrest Griffin moves him up a spot in the pound-for-pound rankings. The Rua of the Pride days was a lot like Silva: In the three and a half years he fought in Pride, Shogun went 12-1, with nine wins by knockout or TKO, one win by submission and one win by decision. But he’s not quite that fighter anymore; in the same time that Silva has gone 14-0, Rua is 8-3. Rua is still a great fighter who I’d pick to beat anyone at 205 pounds not named Jon Jones, but knee injuries have robbed him of some of his explosiveness.
10. Junior dos Santos (9): Dos Santos is 13-1, with eight wins by knockout or TKO, three by submission and two by decision. Unlike Silva, dos Santos’s decision victories have been thoroughly impressive, and he has shown knockout power like few fighters in MMA have. If he passes his toughest test yet when he faces Velasquez, dos Santos will have a good case that he belongs near the top of the pound-for-pound list.
When Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has his switch flipped “on;” there’s very few guys in the light heavyweight ranks that can come anywhere close to touching him. As a matter of fact, the run of the PRIDE legend in the UFC alone shows that only Rashad Evan…
When Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has his switch flipped “on;” there’s very few guys in the light heavyweight ranks that can come anywhere close to touching him.
As a matter of fact, the run of the PRIDE legend in the UFC alone shows that only Rashad Evans truly handled Rampage easily, as history says Forrest Griffin took the title from Rampage, but some in the MMA world say Rampage did enough to beat Griffin.
Otherwise, it has been Rampage that has been the one testing many fighters’ mettle in the UFC since his debut, and if you don’t believe it, ask everyone he’s ever beaten in the sport of MMA.
Nobody’s arguing that Rampage can test out elite fighters, nor will they accuse him of not giving UFC Light Heavyweight Champion the greatest test of his young MMA career yet at UFC 135. However, as much as you can stack the excuses for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s UFC 128 performance in the same way Donald Trump stacks his money, the fact remains that Jon Jones is not the only man that will be tested greatly in Denver next month.
Don’t believe it? Just ask Shogun yourself.
Yes, Shogun underwent major surgery to remove his appendix and had a major knee surgery done, but when the world found out that “Suga” Rashad Evans blew his own knee out and Jones took Evans’ spot, nobody mentioned a bummed knee or cage rust for Shogun when they swiftly underestimated Jones merely because he took the fight on six weeks’ notice.
Shogun fought as healthily as he could, but at the end of the day, Jones thoroughly outclassed and annihilated Shogun, all the while testing Shogun’s will to battle forward despite receiving some legitimate punishment, and also making Shogun look like he was making his pro MMA debut.
He did the same thing to Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera and, despite the 12-6 elbow, he did the exact same thing to Matt Hamill.
All of the above are credible guys, and Rampage should know as much about the fact that Hamill is tough as Jones does because while it was expected by some that Rampage would defeat Hamill at UFC 130, Rampage was not able to knock Hamill out or put him at risk of losing by TKO, so Rampage is not facing a non-credible champion.
If anything, Rampage is facing arguably the most credible challenge he’s faced in quite some time, and that’s not just to hype the fight, folks.
Jones is young and, to Rampage’s credit, he is accurate in saying Jones is the least experienced holder of the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, but while the 33-year-old sports icon may be another test of Jones’ so-far-iron jaw, think of what Jones will be testing.
Not only will Rampage be tested against a younger fighter who has taken hard shots before and likely will survive even the strongest of Rampage’s power strikes, but in all blatant and deliberate honesty, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva were not as crafty or innovative as Jon Jones.
Ruthless, dominating and destructive they were, but pulling moves ranging from Greco-Roman back suplexes to spinning elbows and backfists all the way to superman elbows, Jet Li-style flying kicks—and even things ranging from power guillotines to facially reconstructing elbows and forearms from a modified Salaverry position—both the Iceman and the Axe Murderer were not.
Rampage has never faced a guy who was so unpredictable in every realm of the game the way Jones is, as nobody has been so willing to throw the entire neighborhood—foundation and all—at Rampage the way Jones will be.
As tough as the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion will be for the younger Jones, it’s not the champion that will be facing such a great test in Denver, and the reason is very simple:
With or without a spy sent by Malki Kawa, we all know what Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will throw at Jon Jones.
What we don’t know—and won’t know until Sept. 24—is what Rampage will have thrown at him by Jones, but fans of both the legendary challenger and the polarizing young champion can rest assured that whatever Jones throws at Rampage, it will be something that not even Jones’ camp sees coming.
Earlier today it was widely reported that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson believes he’s exposed Jon Jones‘ manager, Malki Kawa for having a spy inside the Wolfslair training camp. Jon Jones has since chimed in via Twitter.
Earlier today it was widely reported that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson believes he’s exposed Jon Jones‘ manager, Malki Kawa for having a spy inside the Wolfslair training camp. Jon Jones has since chimed in via Twitter to dispute the claims by tweeting:
Well, it’s very diplomatic of Jon Jones to end on a hashtag of Respect. Let’s see what Rampage does with that. So far, there’s been no response on his Twitter. But we think it’s awfully coincidental that Bellator Ring Girl, Jade Bryce tweeted this pic of herself in a wolf’s disguise today. She’d be pretty unsuspecting. Very clever move, Kawa.
At UFC 134 Anderson “The Spider” Silva needed just two rounds to put away Yushin Okami. Silva not only retained his title, but became the leader in consecutive UFC wins and consecutive UFC title defenses. Since the fight, which took place i…
At UFC 134 Anderson “The Spider” Silva needed just two rounds to put away Yushin Okami.
Silva not only retained his title, but became the leader in consecutive UFC wins and consecutive UFC title defenses.
Since the fight, which took place in Rio de Janeiro Saturday night, many have called Silva the greatest MMA athlete in the short history of the sport.
Although that is up for debate, here are some reasons why he is the best in MMA today.
Jon Jones jumped on Twitter to respond to Quinton Jackson’s claims that the UFC light heavyweight champ has employed a spy in Rampage’s camp to feed him gameplan and training secrets being used for their upcoming UFC 135 bout. According to Jones, Jackson’s assertions are BS and he doesn’t need to use dirty tactics to win the fight.
Jon Jones jumped on Twitter to respond to Quinton Jackson’s claims that the UFC light heavyweight champ has employed a spy in Rampage’s camp to feed him gameplan and training secrets being used for their upcoming UFC 135 bout. According to Jones, Jackson’s assertions are BS and he doesn’t need to use dirty tactics to win the fight.
“The only person who can beat Jon Jones at this point in time is Jon Jones.”
Saying that 
