Keeping Up With Jones

Keeping Up With Jones

On Saturday, September 21^st, UFC light heavyweight champion and #1 ranked pound for pound fighter Jon “Bones” Jones will attempt to break Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz’ record of five straight defenses of the UFC LHW belt.

Since beating PRIDE legend Mauricio Rua in March of 2011 to win the title, Jones has successfully defended his title against the best of the best in the division. With dominant wins over MMA superstars Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, “Suga” Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen, “Bones” has positioned himself to, not only break Tito’s record, but to  do it by beating more quality opponents. During Jones’ title reign he has finished 4 out the 5 fighters he has faced with Chael Sonnen being the only opponent who was not a former UFC champion.

Jones is not only a polarizing figure inside the octagon, he has also had some high profile lapses in judgment. Whether it was the D.U.I. in which he smashed his Bentley into a tree, his reputation as a “diva” or his part in the complete cancellation of UFC 151 where he turned down a fight with Chael Sonnen after his scheduled opponent Dan Henderson was forced out of the title bout a little more than a week before the fight, Jon has been a lightning rod for criticism by fans and media and even drawing the ire of UFC president Dana White. Still, this should never take away from the extraordinary physical abilities Jones possesses and his desire to be the best fighter to ever grace the octagon.

Since former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was knocked out by current UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman this past July, the microscope of the MMA community is more focused than ever on Jon Jones. The possibility of “Bones” breaking Tito’s record and taking part in “superfights” is a testament to all that he has accomplished in a relatively short amount of time and at a such a young age. If Jones does beat Alexander Gustafsson on September 21^st to break Ortiz’ record, he will have done it in just over 2 ½ years. Compare that to Tito’s 5 defenses which took nearly 3 ½ years coupled with the quality of his opponents, Jones’ dominance in the division is truly awe inspiring.

In modern mixed martial arts, our generation has seen some of the best fighters in the history of combat sports. Anderson Silva and his record 16 straight UFC wins and 10 successful middleweight title defenses, George St. Pierre’s dominance of the UFC welterweight division and current streak of 9 straight title defenses and, now, Jones’ attempt at a record breaking career, we are blessed as fans to watch these athletes in their prime. Love him or hate him, you have to admit the greatness of Jon “Bones” Jones. Will Jones fall short of breaking Tito’s record, or will the future stars of the light heavyweight division always be trying to keep up with Jones? We will see Saturday, September 21^st, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and live on Pay-per-view.

Enjoy the fights and stay safe

Randy Casjens
Twitter- @SavageRandy