MMA News - Shogun vs. Jones: The Aftermath
MMA News - Oh hot damn. Lame wingspan jokes aside, Jon "Bones" Jones has arrived on the runway that is UFC championship gold. His expected war with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua was not to be, as he easily changed the latter’s top dog status in three one-sided rounds. At 23 years old and only three years of MMA experience, Jones has still yet to reach his full potential. The question now is, what does this mean for the rest of the light-heavyweight division? While it’s too early to start labelling him as the next (insert irrelevant sporting great here), there is no doubt that Jones will be a handful for any of the top contenders. At 6’4” and with that infamous 84.5in reach, ‘Bones’ is above and beyond the largest and tallest in the division. Even for the man who solved the Machida riddle, the reach proved to be too much in the striking department. But with such a lean frame, you’d hope he couldn’t wrestle, right? Wrong. Prior to his MMA career, he was a standout collegiate wrestler, so any hopes of a takedown are usually met with a flashy hip toss or two. His ground game looks to be solid, though we haven’t seen much in the way of submissions. At this point, it seems Jones can beat any and all comers that Dana White can throw at him. Then again, Machida was supposed to do that too. Only time will tell. In this less-than-humble writer’s opinion, it would take a great wrestler with unbeatable submissions to stop this thief catcher. For now, let’s just all sit back and enjoy the Jones era...spinning elbows galore!
