First off, before I even start writing this post don’t think for even a split-second I don’t think Jones is a hell of a talent to be had in the UFC. That being said however, there are plenty of things that make me think him being the champ of the absolutely STACKED light heavy weight division is a bad thing.
Let’s start out with his obvious freakish reach advantage. Jon Jones has a longer reach then six foot eleven Stefan Struve. Now that’s insane in all ways, shapes and forms. It clearly gives him a unnatural and sometimes unfair advantage (Rampage Jackson much). How do you expect someone like Jackson to even lay hands on someone like Jones? Simply said, he can’t. Which was proved last Saturday when rampage was swinging at air and whiffing almost all fight before being bested by the rear naked choke.
Don’t get me wrong, Jones is a phenomenon, no doubt about it. There is just no way you can go from not knowing any MMA whatsoever to being the UFC LHW champ in three years unless you’re a prodigy. He possesses everything a champion should have in this sport to be successful and liked by the fans. He’s athletic and good looking, exciting to watch (I thought he was till Saturday at least) and has a unique fighting style that you only see on the likes of Anderson Silva. So why don’t people like him?
It could be that he comes off as cocky or arrogant which in many aspects he has a right to be. Or it could be he is constantly caught contradicting himself in interviews and press videos. I think after the Rampage fight people saw who Jones really was. Although he systematically tore Rampage apart with deep kicks to the knee and body and head kicks, every time Rampage was able to land Jones not only backed up but backed up to the other side of the octagon obviously not wanting to feel the power of Jackson any more then he had too. If you were to take the freak reach advantage Jon Jones has from him and replace it with a more average reach for the division, in my opinion, he wouldn’t be the hype train everyone cracks him up to be and people saw that.
He was blessed with a gift at birth that allows him to do things other fighters simply can’t. He hit them over and over with no fear of being hit by them. I don’t know about you but if I were in the cage and I knew for a fact unless my opponent got very very close I was in zero danger of being caught by him. So naturally Jones knowing this is gonna throw off things people think are crazy and insane but really his success only comes partially from hard work and the other half from a gift from god in his insane athleticism.
I have tried to argue both sides but when it comes down to it with all these things you cannot really put on a “fair” fight against him. People want to watch fights where any outcomes is possible and with Jones it’s gonna be the same thing over and over. Which in the long run will turn people off from him. If the UFC wants to continue to market him in the biggest form possible, they need to put him up against high caliber wrestlers. Jones has yet to really be tested in the UFC and has never once had to work off his back.
I believe the Evans fight is a good match up. Evans is a fantastic wrestler with vicious stand up to accompany it. If Jones can manage to get past Evans who is a veteran of the UFC yet still in his prime Jones would be sending a huge message to all the “nay sayers” inducing myself. Either way Jon Jones is a talented young man with the brightest of futures. Let’s just hope the UFC gives him match ups that he has to work for the win and not just breeze through like most.
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