At 6 feet 4 inches and 205 pounds, Jon “Bones” Jones is the rising star of the UFC light heavyweight division. His wingspan is somewhere around 85 inches — that’s 9 inches longer than his body. An impressive wingspan combined with his bony build makes Bones a fearsome opponent in the Octagon.
Jones, a natural wrestler, has diversified his arsenal and added jiujitsu and Muay Thai to his skill set. The spring in Jones’ knees is only paralleled by the speed in his 7-foot-long wingspan.
Though it may be early in the 24-year-old’s career, many have called him the second coming of Anderson Silva, the current UFC star. And with a 14-1 record, talk may not be so cheap.
To fully understand Jones’ skills, look at his past fight records, particularly his belt fights against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Shogun, a Brazilian jiujitsu master as well as a Muay Thai professional, challenged Bones in both of his specialties: wrestling and Muay Thai. However, his superior reach and groundwork led to a third round TKO. With his defeat of Shogun, Bones effectively became the youngest light heavyweight champion at the age of 23.
Of course his winning of the championship belt would gain the attention of many with their eye on the title. Bones’ most recent opponent was none other then Quentin “Rampage” Jackson. Rampage had previously held the belt and had lost it to Shogun. Shogun then went on to lose it to Bones.
Rampage is a vicious fighter whom many have described as the “Mr. T” of UFC. His record stands at 32-9, and his losses have been to fighters such as Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans.
So a fourth round tap out by Rampage, who claimed to be “in the shape of his life,” was the last thing you would expect, right? However, the reach and unorthodox versatility of Jon Jones proved to be a hard nut to crack.
Though Jones defeated both Rampage and Shogun, the fights weren’t impressive. Jones has never been caught on his back or in a position where he was truly tested. In his fight against Shogun, Jones was in complete control. Against Rampage, Jones’ reach made the fight one sided.
So who can make Bones turn up the tempo? Evans. His combination of speed, intelligence and groundwork may be enough to challenge Jones’ superiority in the light heavyweight division.
