It is only a matter of time before Jon Jones surpasses Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre as the greatest fighter in MMA history.
UFC President Dana White had nothing but great things to say about the light heavyweight champ at the UFC 172 post-fight…
It is only a matter of time before Jon Jones surpasses Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre as the greatest fighter in MMA history.
UFC President Dana White had nothing but great things to say about the light heavyweight champ at the UFC 172 post-fight press conference, following Jones’ win over Glover Teixeira on Saturday night.
It seems like only yesterday a young, talented kid from Rochester, New York, was challenging Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the UFC title. Jones has literally grown before our very eyes as this polarizing figure and one of the greatest champions in UFC history.
“He evolves every time he fights. He comes out and puts on a clinic and does new things,” said White. “But I also thought leading up to this fight, Jones was different also. He was the youngest light heavyweight champion ever, but he’s becoming a man right in front of everybody. He’s growing up in and outside of the Octagon, and I thought he never looked better than he did tonight.”
When the stakes were highest, Jones once again showcased his unrivaled ability to shine in the spotlight at UFC 172, routing Teixeira in a unanimous decision.
The initial presumption heading into the fight was that Jones would revert to his grappling and play keep away from Teixeira’s one-punch knockout power. Quite the contrary, Jones calmly walked through haymaker after haymaker with the sole strategy of forcing Teixeira into a close-quarters clinch battle against the cage.
From the clinch, Jones brutalized the 34-year-old contender with countless elbows. It was yet another well-rounded performance and showing of high technical IQ from the young champ that helped him earn his seventh consecutive UFC title defense.
Jones is now one win away from tying St-Pierre for the second-most consecutive title defenses in UFC history. Silva is currently the record holder with 10 straight title defenses. Jones is only three years into his UFC title reign, but he has arguably faced tougher opposition than both Silva and St-Pierre.
Even White agreed Jones has been forced through a “murderer’s row” of opponents.
“There’s no doubt about it,” White responded, when asked if Jones has faced tougher opponents than Silva and St-Pierre. “The light heavyweight division has always been the nastiest division in the sport, and I say it all the time, he went through murderer’s row to get that title and to defend that title and he did again tonight.”
Technically, Jones may already be the best fighter we’ve ever seen, and he hasn’t even hit his ceiling yet. The best could be yet to come for the 26-year-old phenom.
Time may be the only thing standing in his way.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
The look on Glover Teixeira’s face toward the end of his five-round fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones told the story of the fight. There was exhaustion there. Amazement too. And, in the glint of the bright hanging lights, there was so…
The look on Glover Teixeira’s face toward the end of his five-round fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones told the story of the fight. There was exhaustion there. Amazement too. And, in the glint of the bright hanging lights, there was something worse—resignation.
Teixeira fought hard until the very end because that’s what fighters do and Teixeira is the real thing. But he never stood a chance against Jones. In his heart, after four rounds of fighting, he knew it.
The fight, remarkably, had played out exactly as it must have in Teixeira’s dreams. Jones, perhaps foolishly, continuously put himself right in the power-puncher’s sweet spot. Jones stood in a phone booth, both men against the cage, and he dared Glover to hit him with his best, testing his will against the challenger’s.
And he won.
Not just the fight, but all 25 minutes of it.
“You’re putting on an amazing, artistic fight,” Jones’ coach, Greg Jackson, told him in the corner as the fifth round beckoned. “It’s beautiful to behold.”
This was Michael Jordan in 1993. This was Muhammad Ali in his prime. This was the best MMA fighter of all time.
Mixed martial arts, dismissed by critics as mindless violence, is actually the most cerebral of sports. Or, perhaps, it’s both things at once. Deadspin’s Josh Tucker calls it a “game theorist’s sex dream,” a sport that attracts some very intellectual eyeballs, in addition to those yearning to see nothing more than someone bleed:
What sets MMA apart from its cousins is that its rules create a strategic and tactical rabbit hole that seemingly descends forever. The seamless combination of striking and grappling, under rules that only barely limit the available targets and attacks, creates a landscape that allows almost unlimited creativity and a wildly high ceiling for execution. Periodically we’re lucky enough to witness a fighter who tests those limits and expands the limits of the possible.
Jones, for all of his physical gifts, is the smartest and most tactically advanced fighter the sport has ever seen. For Teixeira, the goal was simple. He wanted to throw his hard overhand right, his left hook and his uppercut—in that order. If things got desperate, he would attempt a sneaky single leg takedown. And that was it. There were no guessing games. Teixeira is an open book.
Jones is anything but. The length of his playbook is enormous. No fighter in MMA history has had this breadth of techniques at their disposal. Against Teixeira, he was utterly unpredictable. At times he would lead with his unusually pointed elbows, pushing Teixeira into the cage, turning the bout into a dogfight.
Then, as soon as Teixeira would get comfortable with this paradigm, Jones would do something crafty, like faking the elbow and hitting a looping left hook instead. Once they established a rhythm, the two men dancing the world’s most dangerous Tango, Jones would shatter the established comfort zone, suddenly dropping levels for a takedown.
A fight with Jones is as mental as it is physical. Winning requires out-guessing him, not just out-fighting him. As of yet, only Alexander Gustafsson has come close. It’s an exhausting ordeal, not least because Jones seemingly adds a new wrinkle every time he steps in the cage. This time, it was an overhook arm crank, a move so innocuous that most completely missed it in real time. Jones simply engulfed Teixeira’s right arm and squeezed. Teixeira didn’t tap.
There was no immediate effect. But Jones had done serious damage to his opponent’s most dangerous weapon—all with a spur of the moment flashback to high school.
“That’s a move that I’ve been doing since I was a little boy in wrestling,” Jones said at the post-fight press conference. “It was one of the things you couldn’t do on your wrestling partners because it’s dirty in wrestling, but it’s always there when someone has an underhook on you, and you have an overhook, you can just crank their arm.
“I knew it was there. It was nothing studied or anything, I just felt it in the fight and always wanted to do it in those wrestling matches and finally got to hit it on somebody. I felt his elbow pop two times. I heard the ‘pop, pop’ and I was like ‘ah nice’, so I’m glad I got to hit that on him.”
It’s this kind of spur of the moment brilliance that leaves potential Jones opponents disheartened. After the fight Daniel Cormier, in the studio for Fox Sports 1 and a single fight away from a title shot, seemed downright depressed at the idea of trying to beat Jones. He tried to convince himself it was possible. Only he knows if he’s really buying it.
“I still want to fight him, and partly because I’m a man and want to be the best in the world. But Jon looked awesome tonight,” Cormier said on Fox Sports 1. “…I think what I have to do is impose my will on him. I have to press him against the cage and bully him. But I have to tell Jones that I’m a bigger man than him and put some doubt in him. I train harder than him with someone named Cain Velasquez. I have to go and fight into that style.”
Jones, in that cocky style that one day I hope he wakes up and owns instead of runs from, told Cormier he should concentrate on the business at hand. Phil Davis had looked past an opponent right in front of him to peer at Jones from a distance. That hadn’t gone so well.
For Jones, at this point, the opponent is almost immaterial. He’s battling for his place in history. Not just MMA history—sports history. We’re watching one of the best athletes of all time compete at the highest level at his absolute physical and mental prime. And, scarily enough for Cormier and other potential foes, he’s only getting better.
“I do have a lot of great gifts. You have to be smart. You have to have a great work ethic,” Jones admitted to Fox Sports 1 after the fight. “One thing you have to have is a chin. I realized I have a chin. I caught some uppercuts and some left hooks. I’m blessed to prove I can fight at close range. A lot of people believe that to beat me you have to get inside. Today I threw more elbows standing than ever. I’m closing up the holes in my game – jiu-jitsu, takedown defense, takedowns, close-range fighting. I believe I’ll be champion for a long time.”
I believe he’s right.
I never saw “Sugar” Ray Robinson at his best. Ali was a shell of himself as I watched him struggle through the worst years of his professional life. I only know of Willie Mays through words on paper. But I’ve seen Jon Jones from the beginning.
Enjoy him while you can. There will never be another.
Whether Davis was looking past Johnson or not, his verbal sparring with Jones proved untimely. Following his performance on Saturday, Mr. Wonderful likely won’t be fighting for the title in 2014 and will need to get hot quickly to even line himself up for a championship bout in 2015.
Johnson, on the other hand, could be on his way to a shot at the 205-pound strap. “Rumble” came into UFC 172 an underdog, but he shut down Davis and beat up the NCAA wrestling champion by keeping the fight standing.
Davis attempted eight takedowns against Johnson and scored zero. When Rumble wasn’t sprawling to deny Davis’ takedowns, he was meeting his opponent with well-timed uppercuts.
The bout marked Johnson’s return to the Octagon. Following UFC 142, where he missed weight and was beaten by VitorBelfort, Rumble was released from the UFC roster. However, he earned his way back to the world’s top MMA promotion with six straight wins.
Now competing at 205 pounds, the former welterweight looks to have found a home that will allow him to reach his full potential. Based on his outing at UFC 172, Johnson’s ceiling appears to be extremely high.
Heading into the weekend, Davis was among the Top Five light heavyweights in the official UFC rankings. With such a clear win over Davis, Johnson could possibly already be looking at a title-shot eliminator in his next outing.
Jon Jones has made it clear that he plans on becoming the greatest fighter in MMA history. He’s still only 26 years old, but that dream is quickly becoming a reality.
At UFC 172, Jones cruised to a decision win over Glover Teixeira. Although Teixeira’s…
Jon Jones has made it clear that he plans on becoming the greatest fighter in MMA history. He’s still only 26 years old, but that dream is quickly becoming a reality.
At UFC 172, Jones cruised to a decision win over Glover Teixeira. Although Teixeira’s punching power was his biggest weapon, Jones stood and battered the Brazilian with elbows from the clinch. In total, Jones hit Teixeira with 138 significant strikes, according to FightMetric.com.
Teixeira spent most of the fight swinging for the fences and only landed 53 significant strikes. Despite being known for his ability to end a bout with one punch, Teixeira was never able to seriously hurt Jones on Saturday.
With seven consecutive title defenses, Jones has the longest UFC reign of any current champion with the promotion. More notably, Jones is now only two wins behind Georges St-Pierre for second and three wins behind Anderson Silva for the all-time UFC record.
Looking ahead, a rematch with Alexander Gustafsson will likely be next for Jones. If he can survive that matchup, Jones may be looking at wins over contenders like Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson to match Silva’s 10 straight title defenses.
Early on, Jones appeared to be something special. It hasn’t taken him long to fulfill his potential, but Jones still has some work to do before he can remove all doubt that he’s the best fighter to ever step into the Octagon.
Enjoy this, folks. Getting the chance to see someone like Jon Jones is a special thing.
Meanwhile, at 34 years old, Teixeira is in a rough position. He’s going to have to climb the ladder again, but there may not be enough time left for him to get another crack at UFC gold.
The preliminary bouts at UFC 172 featured three particularly impressive performances.The contests that precede the main card often offer fans a preview of fighters who have a chance to make a name for themselves down the road.The winners of the aforeme…
The preliminary bouts at UFC 172 featured three particularly impressive performances.
The contests that precede the main card often offer fans a preview of fighters who have a chance to make a name for themselves down the road.
The winners of the aforementioned bouts have taken a step in the right direction.
Chris “The Real Deal” Beal
Beal got the night started off the right way. His flying knee finish in the second round against Patrick Williams was superb.
Per the UFC’s Twitter account, Beal said the spectacular finish was part of the master plan:
The “Real Deal” made quite an impression in his UFC debut. He improved to 9-0 with the third knockout of his career.
When newcomers fight on the UFC Fight Pass, explosive victories are the best way to climb up the ladder for future cards.
The 28-year-old bantamweight has a long way to go before he can enter the title picture at 135 pounds, but he grabbed some attention with this win.
Bethe “The Pitbull” Correia
There’s room for another prime contender in the women’s bantamweight division. Why can’t it be Correia? The 5’4“, 30-year-old Brazilian spark plug outsluggedJessamyn Duke on Saturday to win a unanimous decision.
Correia mixed in a steady diet of leg kicks and combinations with her hands.
She even showed us a spinning elbow. The UFC Twitter account likened it to the star of the main event:
Correia may not be ready to take on Ronda Rousey, but she at least looks like a fighter who can give other contenders a run.
Joseph Benavidez
Benavidez has already had one run as a premier flyweight in the UFC. After Saturday’s submission win over Timothy Elliott, Benavidez is ready to get back in the title picture.
Elliott showed some solid grappling skills to get Benavidez to the mat. But once they got there, Benavidez was able to transition to an advantageous position.
Benavidez’s guillotine finish sent fans into the main card in style.
Phil Davis looked past Anthony Johnson and paid the price at UFC 172.
The familiar odor of humble pie filled the Octagon on Saturday night as Johnson stuffed every takedown and handed Davis the worst beating of his professional career. All three judges…
Phil Davis looked past Anthony Johnson and paid the price at UFC 172.
The familiar odor of humble pie filled the Octagon on Saturday night as Johnson stuffed every takedown and handed Davis the worst beating of his professional career. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Johnson.
“I had nothing but respect for him, but I also knew I had to take my respect,” Johnson said at the post-fight press conference.
Johnson wasn’t even a byline heading into the co-main event bout. The only nugget of interest was derived from Davis’ increased infatuation with UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
“You want me to label someone UFC-worthy outside of the UFC. I just don’t feel like that would be reasonable,” Davis told MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani earlier in the week, when asked about Johnson. “My biggest concern is that Jon Jones will pull out of his [fight with Glover Teixeira.]”
If Jones pulled out of the fight with Teixeira, Helwani agreed to give Davis the nickname “Nostradavis.”
Davis ultimately proved to be no Nostradamus at UFC 172. Jones defeated Teixeira in dominant fashion in the main event, while Davis slowly watched his two-year title campaign go up in flames against Johnson.
It was all but a done deal that Davis would breeze through Johnson to secure a spot in line behind Alexander Gustafsson as the next No. 1 contender for the Light Heavyweight title. Pulling a page out of Chael Sonnen’s book, Davis managed to make the entire event about his feud with Jones.
But Johnson refused to play the role of Davis’ stepping stone to the big dance. He punished Davis on the feet with heavy strikes, while simultaneously neutralizing his world-class wrestling. It was, without a doubt, the greatest performance ever turned in by Johnson, who recently resigned with the UFC.
Twitter exploded on Saturday night, as fighters reacted to seeing the No. 4 light heavyweight in the world get dominated by a fighter outside the Top 10.
Where does Davis go from here?
That’s a question Davis will have to answer for himself in the coming weeks. There is a fine line between being more outspoken and losing perspective on the goal ahead. Davis tried to skip a rung while climbing the UFC ladder.
The end result was him landing flat on his face.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
The look on Glover Teixeira’s face toward the end of his five-round fight with UFC light heavyweight champion