Jon Jones: The Golden Boy of Mixed Martial Arts
When you mention the name Jon “Bones” Jones, you cannot help mentioning all the things he has accomplished in his short career. In addition to getting a win in just his second UFC fight against what has proven to be a tough opponent, Stephan Bonnar, Jones in the past has also defeated veterans such as Brandon Vera, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ryan Bader on his way up the light heavyweight ladder.
Since defeating Bader and moving into the number one contender spot in the light heavyweight division because of injury to Rashad Evans, Jones has been nothing short of spectacular. Not only did Jones handle one MMA legend, but he has handled three in row now. Jones captured the light heavyweight title on March 19th, 2011 at UFC 128, becoming the youngest title holder in the history of the UFC at the age of 23, by defeating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Not only was the victory impressive, but the way Jones was able to finish it off was marked a milestone. He became the first person to stop Shogun by TKO (if you don’t count the broken arm TKO that was called back in the PRIDE days versus Mark Coleman).
Jones was now setup for what was promised to be an explosive matchup between none other than Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. In this fight, we saw a dominating Jones take care of business against what appeared to be an older, slower version of “Rampage” Jackson. Jones again made history in the 4th round by becoming the first person to make “Rampage” Jackson tap, within the UFC. This fight proved to be disappointed, solely in part to the lackluster performance from a great fighter in “Rampage” Jackson.
In the Machida fight, we saw a Jon “Bones” Jones that was yet to surface. In the first round, it appeared that Jones was having issues figuring out the fighting style of Lyoto Machida. The challenger was able to connect with some great shots, stunning the champion and eventually taking the first round. In the second round, the champion we have been accustomed to seeing came out and he meant business. Mid way through the round, Jones was able to land multiple shots and eventually score the takedown. After a ref’s stoppage, due to a cut on the forehead of Machida, the 2 were cleared to go back at it. Jones, like a shark in water, smells the blood and toward the end of the round, lands multiple shots on Machida, which eventually led to an impressive guillotine submission victory, making history again, marking the first time the Brazilian has ever been submitted.
After defeating Machida, this now sets up a clash between former friends, now sworn enemies, Jon “Bones” Jones and Rashad Evans. The two former training partners, use to train under the Greg Jackson camp, There is no denying that these two have a vast amount of animosity built up toward one another, and expect nothing but fireworks come Saturday April 21st in Atlanta, Georgia.
On the heels of the biggest fight of his career, with a victory on April 21st, this could put Jon Jones into a position to become arguably, the best pound for pound fighter in the world, in my opinion. I currently have him number three behind Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre, but if Jones can ink an impressive win against “Suga” Rashad Evans, no doubt, in my personal opinion, he should become the number one pound for pound fighter. Not only has Jon Jones dominated competition in the light heavyweight division, he only has one blemish on his record, a DQ loss to Matt Hamill for use of an illegal downward elbow. Not to take anything away from Hamill, who is a great fighter, but even in this fight, we saw Jon Jones dominating, and if Jones did not get DQ’d, this would have been an easy win.
In addition to a great in ring career so far for Jones, you cannot deny that he has become the MMA’s version of a LeBron James, a face that you can tie with your sport, which should undoubtedly make the UFC and the entire MMA world, even more marketable. I am not saying Jon Jones is solely the one to credit for the rise in popularity in MMA, but I am saying that he has a huge part in it.
By Chris Lash
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