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Jones (L) in action against Mauricio Rua at UFC 128. Mel Evans/AP/Press Association Images
TKO

Un-caged: Jon Jones is the real deal

With the MMA season in something of a lull, we take the opportunity to profile one of the UFC’s newest stars: light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.

SINCE THE NEXT UFC event is still a number of weeks away, we have time to take a closer look at one of the sport’s newest superstars: Jon “Bones” Jones.

The current light heavyweight champion, Jones will defend his belt for the first time against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on 24th September in Denver Colorado.

Coming after only three years of MMA training, his rise to the top of his profession has been nothing short of phenomenal. With a base in wrestling, he’s become known for an unorthodox and unpredictable striking style that always leaves his opponents uncertain as to what he is going to do next.

Jones’s tall frame serves to give him good leverage on kicks and he has the longest reach in the UFC, meaning he can reliably attack from the outside. That said, he is perhaps most dangerous when he gets close enough to employ his elbows and knees, the very weapons that have seen off the likes of Vladimir Matyushenko and Brandon Vera in recent times.

His KO win over Vera resulted in the latter being treated in hospital for a fractured orbital bone and lead to Joe Rogan, who was ringside commentating on the fight at the time, to liken the sound of a Jones elbow strike to the thud of a baseball bat.

Unfortunately, his elbows were also responsible for the only blemish on his professional record, a defeat to Matt Hamill. In that fight, he was deducted a point for using the “12-6” elbow strike, a move prohibited under the unified rules of MMA.

Matt Hamill was left unable to continue, meaning Jones was disqualified for the use of the illegal strike. It was a sign of naivete on Jones’ part, serving only to show the extent to which he was still finding his feet in the sport.

Jones followed the disqualification with impressive victories over Vera and Maruyshenko, the two fights that propelled him into the big time.

He was paired against the undefeated Ryan Bader for his next fight and dominated for two rounds before submitting Bader via guillotine choke in the second round, which netted him a submission of the night bonus cheque.

The exciting nature of his fighting, coupled with an impressive all-round skill-set, meant that a title showdown with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was the next logical step in his career. Rua came into the fight off the back of an impressive first round KO over the previous champ, Lyoto Machida, and many suspected that the title shot had come too early in Jones’ career.

Rua was the bookies favourite to win the fight, but Jones proved far too quick and strong for the Brazilian and dominated proceedings before finally finishing him in the third round.

Jones’ one-time friend and teammate Rashad Evans was next in line for a shot at the title. The pair engaged in a public war of words, but before the fight could happen, Jones pulled out citing a need to undergo surgery on a long standing hand injury.

Evans was given another fight, Jones never went for the surgery, and now he’s set to face Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, where the assembled public will be anxious to see if Bones can keep smashing his way through anyone who is put in front of him.

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