Looking into the future of the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones

Jon Jones has now dispatched the very best in his weight division within a span of only two years. He’s been faced with challenge after challenge, and continues to not only triumph, but to learn and grow from every experience both inside and outside the octagon. With every opponent came a different challenge physically, and a new lesson morally. With Shogun, he proved to himself and the world that he possesses the skills to fight fire with fire, and ended up defeating Shogun in his strongest area. He proved he was ready to be a champion.

Then, with Rampage, came the challenge of avoiding power, fighting intelligently, keeping focus through all of the mind games, and seizing opportunities when they presented themselves. With Machida came respect, determination and patience. Believing that you have the skills to beat him at his own game, and then follow up with the patience needed to time your attacks correctly, with technique, strategy and efficiency.

And then most recently, in his battle with Rashad Evans, he walked away learning what could possibly be some of the biggest and most important lessons of his life. UFC 145 could very well have been the biggest turning point and building block of his career. Jon Jones’ tone and demeanor had both changed drastically over the course of the feud,l that he’s had with Rashad. But regardless of who was correct or incorrect, guilty or innocent, Jones learned a tremendous amount, by simply being put in a situation as complicated, convoluted and difficult, as fighting someone who was both a teammate and a friend.

However the one element that has grown drastically and has proven to be Jon Jones’ secret weapon, is confidence. Undoubted, pure, focused confidence is the single element that has propelled him to victory over every one of his opponents, and has now put him in a position that we haven’t seen anyone in the light-heavyweight division attain for years. Not since Ortiz and Liddell, have we seen such staggering dominance. That’s not even including the fact that the level of competition Jones has overcome, could very well be the most decorated, relevant, experienced and toughest series of opponents that anyone has ever faced in Mixed Martial Arts history.

But aside from simple confidence, what is it that makes Jon Jones soo special? A foolish and unfortunate mistake that modern fighters are making, is in having a personal preference over how they finish their opponents. And that is what separates the great fighters from the truly amazing. When you refuse to utilize your full set of skills and capabilities, you limit your options, and therefore decrease your chances of being victorious. Think about how much better Rampage could be if he wrestled more and threw kicks, or how many more opponents Rashad could finish if he decided to start looking for submissions.

Fighters like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre are amazing, because they have no bias or preferences. They simply want to win. They fight intelligently, strategically, technically and with that comes seizing every single opportunity that is presented to them. The moment a fighter chooses to refrain from making any submission attempts because they prefer knocking their opponent out, is the day that they become not only one dimensional, but predictable. And they WILL be defeated.

After defeating Rashad Evans via unanimous decision, I think it’s safe to say that we all feel a sigh of relief to finally put this cloud of tension behind us, both fans and fighters a-like. Jones now has a clean slate, a weight off his shoulders and a clear vision for the future. Many writers, analysts and even fighters are all claiming that Jones is in his prime, but the scary part, is that they’re all wrong. Jones has yet to come close to even touching his prime. He’s only 24 and still physically getting bigger, denser, faster, smarter, more creative, experienced, mature, skilled and confident. The Jon Jones you see now is just the early makings, of the potential monster that he could become by the age of 30. And if he continues along the same learning curve he’s currently on, I’m not religious, but God bless any man who steps into that octagon with him and plans to leave with any sort of dignity.

Hate or love his personality, and although I’m not a fan, Jon Jones, the Mixed Martial Artist is a rare anomaly of a fighter, and we are all very lucky to be around for the ride. In a few months time, Jones will face Dan Henderson, who is even smaller, slower and in my opinion, not quite as physically strong as Rashad. He’s got a huge right hand and the punchers chance will always exist. But with a reach of a miniscule 71 inches, which is 4 inches less than Rashad’s 75 inch reach, and over a foot less than Jones’ record-holding 86 inch reach, this has all the elements of a fairly straight forward victory for the current champion.  I expect no different of a result than what took place in the Rashad fight, although I think Jones will finish will be able to finish, and most likely with a submission. When he does, he’ll have a run on his hands of a caliber that even Anderson Silva never quite accomplished in his division. Here’s hoping that this talented individual stays healthy in his career, so that we can all witness sporting history time after time, in the years to come.