Tuesday 6 December 2011

God Gave Me Style, God Gave Me Grace


There’s little argument that Jon Jones is the most physically gifted fighter to ever compete in the sport of mixed martial arts. His unparalleled athleticism, functional strength and explosive striking have catapulted him to the elite of the UFC’s roster of fighters. The ease of which he is able to perform jaw dropping manoeuvres against opponents to devastating effect has gained him a reputation as one of the most exciting combat athletes on the planet. Jones’s array of spinning elbows, flashy kicks and lengthy punches combined with his skills to dominate many grapplers in their own field have marked Jones out to many as being the future of the sport, from a technical as well as physical perspective. However it is important to mention the genetic gifts that Jones possesses ( i.e coming from a family of professional athletes, having the arm span of a 7 foot tall man at 84.5 inches etc) that have helped to separate Jones even further from his competition.

A lot of people comment on how fast Jones has risen to the top of the sport, but not many realise just how fast it’s actually been. It took Jones just 4 months from turning professional to get his first win inside the UFC. In only 3 years as a professional fighter he obtained the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, in doing so he became the youngest ever fighter to win a UFC championship at the age of 23. In the process he became the only man to ever knockout MMA legend Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, as well as the first person to submit NCAA division 1 wrestler Ryan Bader. Adding to this impressive feat is the fact that in all 15 of Jones’s MMA fights he never been in trouble, dominating in every aspect of his fights.

The one Jones has experienced on his record is nothing more than a fluke. Similar to the loss suffered early in the career of the great Fedor Emelianenko, Jones’s careers only blemish comes from being on the wrong side of a ridiculous ruling.

The controversial defeat came against wrestler Matt Hamill in a fight Jones dominated from start to finish. Before the fight began people were curious to see who would have the wrestling advantage, Jones quickly answered these question slamming Hamill to the canvas from a Greco Roman Clinch. From here Jones quickly gained full mount and began raining devastating elbows towards face of Hamill. While alternating the angles from which he was throwing his strikes from, Jones broke a bizarre bi-law in UFC rulebook that disallowed elbows thrown vertically downwards, an angle referred to as 12-to-6. The referee ruled that Jones should be disqualified, therefore handing him his first defeat of his career. The irony of the situation being that Hamill had dislocated his shoulder from Jones’s takedown, had the fight continued to the end of the round meaning Hamill would have been unable to continue fighting thus awarding a TKO victory to Jones. The rule had been made by a member of the Nevada athletic commission who had witnessed a martial arts shows where someone had broke a block of ice with a 12-to-6 elbow and thus decided they were unsafe for competition.

However, the UFC saw the enormous potential in Jones and would put him in the main events for its first two shows on the American network Versus. In the inaugural event on the channel Jones would take on Brandon Vera, a fighter once subjected to the same hype Jones was currently experiencing. Vera also knew firsthand how quickly fan favour can change when he himself failed to live up to his early career hype. Jones once again managed to effortlessly get his opponent to the ground, once there he was caught with an illegal up kick from Vera, causing a pause in the action while Jones was allowed to gather his wits by the referee. Once the fight was restarted Jones landed a devastating elbow to the face of Vera, shattering his eye socket, a few more punches later and the fight stopped with Jones being awarded victory by knockout.

Jones second fight on the network would last less then two minutes as he took experienced veteran Vladimir Matyushenko. Jones would once against effortlessly out grapple an experienced wrestler, getting Matyushenko on his back and quickly assuming side control. From this position Jones transitioned to what is referred to as the Ivan Salaverry position/mounted crucifix, with Jones being able to trap both Matyushenko’s arms. With his opponent unable to defend his head, Jones landed a quick succession of elbows which caused the referee to stop the fight.

Jones rise through the ranks of the light heavyweight division continued as he took on undefeated ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner, Ryan Bader. While Jones was considered the favourite to win, no one was expecting an easy fight, due largely in part to Bader’s wrestling credentials and knockout power.

Although the fight went longer than Jones previous two fights, he was thoroughly in control for the duration of the bout before locking in a modified guillotine choke to win in the second round. Jones was able to exhibit some extremely unorthodox moves that confused Bader, such as a backwards jump over the head of his crouched opponent to take his back. Moves like this showed the uniqueness in Jones approach to MMA but also a confidence in his own natural abilities.

Following the fight Jones would be informed that his then training partner Rashad Evans would be unable to challenge for the title due to an injury he suffered in training. As a result Jones was offered to take the fight against Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, which was in less than 6 weeks time. For any other fighter this would be a huge ask on such a short notice, but for Jones this was almost six weeks too long. As Jones showed in the fight against Rua that he already had the ability to beat the world’s top light heavyweight.

In the build up to the fight with Shogun, Jones had been rumoured to have been signing photographs for fans as ‘Jon Jones Champion 2011’. a move which had angered Rua who felt slighted by the lack of respect Jones had been showing him. While Shogun would be coming back from a year long hiatus from the sport, the result of an knee injury he picked up winning the title from Lyoto Machida. It is hard to discredit Jones victory as being a matter of good timing due to the ease he was able to pick apart such a experienced fighter.

Many expected Jones’s to cause Shogun problems with his takedowns, few expected him to give Shogun problems on the feet given Shogun‘s Muay Thai pedigree. Furthermore, no-one expected Jones to land a flying knee to Shoguns jaw seconds in to the fight which rocked the champion. In interviews after the fight Shogun credit’s the knee as being pivotal in the proceedings that followed, stating that he was badly rocked by it and never fully recovered.

In the fight Jones would mix together his arsenal of flashy strikes, Greco roman takedowns and elbows on the ground to devastate the tough Brazilian. Shogun valiantly fought on but the result of the contest was never in too much doubt. After Shogun failed to hook in a leg lock at the beginning of the third round, it was the beginning of the end for his reign as title holder. Jones continued to batter Shogun with strikes from inside his guard. Shogun managed to make it back to his feet but was in a very bad condition, he staggered backwards across the ring with Jones stalking him, smelling blood. Finding Shogun with his back pinned to the cage, Jones landed a hard left hook to the body that buckled Rua, catching him with a knee on his way down. The referee waved off the fight seconds before Shogun himself taped on the floor to signal his resignation from the contest and an acknowledgment that he had been defeated. When the newly crowned king of the light heavyweight division was interviewed post fight, his first words were ‘Jon Jones champion 2011’, a cocky reminder of his prophetic boasts before the fight.

Jones would go on to defend his belt against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in a fight he controlled using his extraordinary reach advantage. Keeping the fight at distance Jones was able to avoid the powerful punches of Rampage on the inside. Jones was also instructed by his coach Greg Jackson to throw kicks to the body every time Jackson looked to throw a hook, with the foot landing underneath Rampage‘s punching arm. As a result, Jones was able to nullify the power of Rampage by punishing him every time he looked to get on the inside. After wearing down the former champion Jones was able to secure a rear naked choke in the 4th round to finish the overmatched Rampage.

With that victory Jones became one of only two men to defend the Light Heavyweight Title since Rampage lost it in the summer of 2008 to Forrest Griffin. The other man is none other than Jones’s next opponent, Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida.

The fight this Saturday is intriguing as Machida actually matches up with Jones far better than any of his last opponents. Lyoto possesses great takedown defence as unmatched ability to fight at range. If Jones is unable to take Machida down then he might fight himself getting picked apart by the defensive Brazilian. Also in the fight Jones’s reach may work against him as Machida will be able to cause damage if he can get on the inside. Because of this Jones will prefer to keep the fight on the outside, however this is a risky strategy as Machida is very intelligent at moving in and out of his opponents reach, although it is yet to be seen if he can overcome a  reach a large as Jones.

While striking I fully expect for Jones to utilise kicks to the body similar to Shogun did against Machida. By focusing on the core of Machida rather than his elusive jaw line, Jones will have a higher success rate in landing strikes. Machida prefers to fight on the counter but could be in for a ‘long’ evening (sorry) if Jones can stifle him with singular strikes such as jabs and Muay Thai Teeps.

Both men possess power to end the fight, Jones has a reliance on flashy spin kick and jumping knees but he is most powerful when throwing strikes on the ground. As a result I think his best strategy is to attempt to take Machida down and work from inside his guard. While Machida has great takedown defence and good clinch game, I expect Jones is the better athlete as should be able to get Machida to the ground. If Jones wants to keep the fight at range he will be negating his physical gifts and could see himself in similar situation to Rashad Evans when he fought Machida. Greg Jackson was Evans coach for that fight and he now coaches Jones, surely Jackson would be wise not to make the same mistake again.

Fighters with long reaches don’t respond well to being swarmed on the inside. An notable example of this is six foot eleven world champion K1 fighter Semmy Schilt, who suffered three loses to fellow Dutchman Peter Aerts. These fights were won due to Aerts not being afraid to step through his opponents jab to land his shorter punches on the inside. Jones actually as 1 inch longer reach than Semmy, but doesn’t have the same height and will be easy to hit if he cant establish his range early. Although this gameplan isn’t reminiscent of ones Machida has used in the past it could be used as counter measure should Jones be able to get the better of the fight on the outside should it become a slow paced point fighting contest.

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