MMA Legacy 03.15.10: Jon 'Bones' Jones
Posted by Bill Wannop on 03.15.2010
MMA Legacy is back, this week examining the careers of one of the most exciting young fighters in the UFC today, Jon 'Bones' Jones! Join us as we look over his short career, from his huge win over Stephan Bonnar, to his domination of Matt Hamill, all the way to his upcoming fight this Saturday with Brandon Vera!
Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. This week we focus on a fighter who will no doubt, one day become a champion, Jon ‘Bones' Jones! From his huge wins over Stephan Bonnar, and his domination of Matt Hamill, to his upcoming matchup with Brandon Vera, join us as we go over the short career of one of the most exciting fighters in MMA!
Jon Jones was born July 19, 1987 (making him 22 years old today) in Rochester, New York. When he was young he was raised in Endicott, New York, with his two brothers, Arthur and Chandler who are currently defensive linemen at Syracuse University. When Jon was in Union Endicott High School, like the majority of successful MMA fighters, he was a 2005 wrestling state champion. He went on to become a national Junior College Champion at Iowa Central Community College, as he worked toward an associate degree. Jon would go on to start a degree in criminal justice from Morrisville State College, but his academics were cut short when he was offered a contract in the UFC. He signed and became the youngest fighter in UFC history.
MMA Career
Jon partook in his first MMA fight on April 12, 2008 at FFP Untamed 20 when he faced Brad Bernard. Jones would make quick work of him defeating him in 1:32 of round one by TKO due to punches. Jon was back in the cage, one week later at Battle Cage Extreme 4 where he went to a three round fight with Carlos Eduardo. In the end Jones would be too much for him as he connected with a beautiful right hand to knock Carlos out cold.
At the event Ice Fighter Jones would submit Anthony Pina by submission in round one due to a guillotine choke, and would follow that up with a TKO victory due to punches over Ryan Verrett at War in the Woods 3. On June 20, 2008 Jon would face off against Parker Porter and would completely destroy him in 0:36 seconds by connecting with a punch that would knock him out cold at World Championship Fighting 3. On July 12, 2008 Jon would have his sixth fight in 3 months by defeating Moyses Gabin in the second round by TKO to go 6-0 in his MMA career.
It was at this time that Jon was contacted by the UFC. Jones had not only gone 6-0 in his early MMA career, but ended all of his fight, the majority in the first round. As well he had come out of every fight with no injury and thus was able to compete in a hectic 6 fights in 3 months! Jones signed with the UFC, and would get his seventh fight in 2008 at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy when he took on Andre Gusmao. In the opening round of the fight, Jones would be the aggressor with sloppy combinations and takedowns mixed with some unorthodox strikes such as back elbows and spinning back fists. Jones would hit a flying knee and then seem to rock Gusmao with a combination, but the referee, called for time claiming the knee was low. For the next two rounds Gusmao would be more hesitant and backpedal to avoid the takedowns and crazy strikes from Jones, which made the fight drag. In the end Jones was awarded the unanimous decision victory, and his explosive style was able to garner some attention and gain some new fans.
Jones would get a stiff challenge in his next fight when he took on Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2. Judging by the response that Jones received in his first fight, the UFC wanted to capitalize and push Jones as a new up and coming star by throwing him right into the mix with Bonnar, to see if he would sink or swim. In the opening round, Bones would try some spinning kicks in the opening minutes as well as manage to get some traditional takedowns on Bonnar, but Bonnar kept fighting to his feet. Jones would eventually get the back of Bonnar and execute a German suplex on Bonnar, but Bonnar would stand up only to get knocked back down by a spinning back elbow from Jones! The round would expire, with the crowd on its feet in support of Jones. The fight slowed in the second and third rounds as Jon Jones seemed to tire, but he still showed some great explosiveness reversing Bonnar's takedowns attempts easily and tossing Bonnar around. The fight would ultimately end up as a unanimous decision victory for Jones, who had not even been fighting for a year yet!
At UFC 100 Jones would take on former heavyweight and standout wrestler Jake O'Brien. In the first round, O'Brien pushed forward and seemed to have Jones a little on edge, as he looked uncomfortable in the fight. Into the second and Jones seemed more focused, and was able to land a spinning back fist, that hurt O'Brien. O'Brien tried to recover by going for a takedown, which allowed Jones to lock in a guillotine choke and put O'Brien out putting his record at 9-0, in only a year of action!
Next up Jones would face another tough contest when he took on Matt Hamill at UFC: Ultimate Fighter Finale 10. In the fight, Jones completely dominated the stand out wrestler Hamill. Once the two fighters clinched, Jones was able to toss Hamill like a rag doll to the ground, separating the shoulder of Hamill in the process. Jones would work on the ground eventually getting to mount and unloading on Hamill. While Hamill did defend the shots, he was not doing anything to get out of the position; he was basically hanging on for dear life. Jones however got a little carried away, and would hit Hamill with two downward elbows to the head, cutting him open. The referee would call time for the illegal blows and allow Hamill to try and recover. Hamill would not be able to continue and Jones was disqualified since the illegal blows ended the fight. After the fight, there was some debate as to whether or not Jones should have been DQ'd as the reason Hamill's camp gave that he could not continue was a result of the separated shoulder not the illegal blows. Jones took the loss in stride, knowing that he dominated the fight and simply made a rookie mistake.
Jones will take on Brandon Vera this Saturday in the main event of UFC on Versus 1. This is another tough test for Jones, as Vera can be a dynamic and devastating striker at times, something that Jones has not faced at this point in his career. I am not sure if Vera will be able to handle the athleticism and explosiveness of Jones, who if he can get Vera down to the mat, will be able to dominate Vera. If Vera is able to stop the takedowns, then it may be a tough night for Jones, as Vera will not doubt take advantage of the openings Jones leaves with his wild striking. It is a very interesting matchup, but in the end I see Jones getting the victory and further climbing up the ranks in the light heavyweight division.
Jon Jones has come amazingly far in a little over a year of his MMA career. He entered the UFC only 8 months after his first fight, and he has dominated some top level fighters. Jones has a wealth of athletic ability, and always tries to put on exciting fights, which makes him a pleasure to watch in the cage. He is in a good camp with Greg Jackson and will no doubt only improve and I feel eventually capture the light heavyweight title!
Various News
Liddell-Ortiz Off, Liddell-Franklin On?
Some of the major news coming out of the UFC, has to do with the fact that the fight between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, opposing fighters on the upcoming season of the ultimate fighter, was reportedly off. Dana White has come out and expressed on his twitter, that this rumor is untrue and that Tito-Chuck is still on, while Franklin is set to face Couture.
The report that Liddell-Ortiz was off and Liddell-Franklin was on was reported by MMAJunkie, which is a reputable source so something seems to be up. The rumor originally was that Ortiz pulled out of the fight for unknown reasons. I'm thinking that this fight may be in jeopardy, but Dana White believes that he can work things out with Tito and get this fight with Liddell to happen.
This would be a huge blow to the Ultimate Fighter Reality series if the fight was off, as part of the reason for the show is to have the opposing coaches' fight at the end and I was looking forward to Chuck destroying Tito again. I cannot say I am too surprised if Tito pulls out of the fight however, as he seems to have a knack for getting hurt, and having excuses. While I am excited for the matchup with Oritz, the even better matchup of Liddell vs Franklin would be a great fight. Both guys are exciting, both need a win and this has been a dream matchup for many years
Well that does it for another week of MMA Legacy. See ya next week!
Jones loves the spinning back elbow and tries to use it in every fight... it's a shame that move is also illegal since it's a strike to the back of his opponents head.
If Bonnar didn't have such a granite head and was dropped/ unable to continue, Jon would more then likely have 2 dq's on his record right now.
I also don't know why people are writing Vera off so quickly. Brandon has a MUCH better wrestling background, a brown belt in BJJ, and far more accurate striking then Jones.
Jones will be notably stronger, have better cardio, and have his pterodactyl like wing span advantage, but wild shots and illegal blows won't win him the fight.
Posted By: cyks (Guest) on March 15, 2010 at 10:53 PM
Vera also has no heart and it's always his undoing.
Posted By: WilliamMorgan (Guest) on March 16, 2010 at 04:04 AM
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Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. This week we focus on a fighter who will no doubt, one day become a champion, Jon ‘Bones' Jones! From his huge wins over Stephan Bonnar, and his domination of Matt Hamill, to his upcoming matchup with Brandon Vera, join us as we go over the short career of one of the most exciting fighters in MMA!
Jones would get a stiff challenge in his next fight when he took on Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2. Judging by the response that Jones received in his first fight, the UFC wanted to capitalize and push Jones as a new up and coming star by throwing him right into the mix with Bonnar, to see if he would sink or swim. In the opening round, Bones would try some spinning kicks in the opening minutes as well as manage to get some traditional takedowns on Bonnar, but Bonnar kept fighting to his feet. Jones would eventually get the back of Bonnar and execute a German suplex on Bonnar, but Bonnar would stand up only to get knocked back down by a spinning back elbow from Jones! The round would expire, with the crowd on its feet in support of Jones. The fight slowed in the second and third rounds as Jon Jones seemed to tire, but he still showed some great explosiveness reversing Bonnar's takedowns attempts easily and tossing Bonnar around. The fight would ultimately end up as a unanimous decision victory for Jones, who had not even been fighting for a year yet!
