Mixed martial arts has its own Haley’s Comet — an glorious, awesome force of nature that pops up once in a long while and vanishes just as quickly as it appears.
Jon Jones is Haley’s Comet.
We wait months and months to see “Bones” Jones, who I believe now ranks with Anderson Silva and Fedor as a guy you just can’t wait to see. The moment finally arrives and it’s over in mere seconds. The guy has become so dominant at 205 pounds that we barely even get to glimpse his immense skill set before his fights end.
On Sunday night, in a flash, he used his reach to close the gap quickly on Vladimir Matyushenko, used his strong grappling to score a takedown, showcased vastly improved BJJ to rapidly pass the Janitor’s guard…and the fight was over in a matter of seconds. Jones unleashed a hailstorm of violent elbows and bludgeoned Matyushenko into oblivion, just as he did Brandon Vera and Matt Hamill in his previous two bouts.
It was thrilling to see another virtuoso performance from the unpredictable and well-rounded Jones. At the same time, it was frustrating to see him come and go again so quickly. Enough is enough. This guy has embarrassed the middle-tier of UFC light heavyweight gatekeepers. He needs a top-notch opponent.
Thankfully, Dana White has indicated that Jones will get just that: a “top-eight guy in the world” in his next fight. That would mean one of Shogun Rua, Rashad Evans, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin or Ryan Bader, right? The problem is that virtually all those fighters are booked for bouts with each other right now.
The available guys: Griffin and Franklin – are hurt. Franklin’s arm was badly broken in June and Griffin pulled out of his bout with Little Nog. But what about Thiago Silva? The Muay Thai striker ducked Jones earlier this year and pulled out of this weekend’s fight against Tim Boetsch with a back injury.
Silva’s back injury doesn’t seem to be too severe, so maybe he could face Jones next? Maybe whoever is fight-ready first between Silva and Griffin could get the next shot. And I wouldn’t bet against Mr. Jones.
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