Jones Vs Rumble | Long Island MMA

     Ever since Jon Jones became the UFC’s youngest champion at the age of twenty three he has been dismantling every opponent that he has been given. It seems that no man has the physical or technical capabilities to defeat the champion. Jon Jones utilizes a wide range of unorthodox and sometimes perplexing attacks that are devastating to his opponents. Working in his favor is his massive length. The range that the champion possesses over the rest of the light heavyweight division is staggering.

    
     Essentially, for the majority of light heavyweight fighters Jon Jones is able to strike with elbows when they are in punching range; as well as land kicks when they are out of their offensive range all together. A good example of this range issue would be Jones bout against Rashad Evans. Evans is a former champion and no slouch, however, he was simply unable to strike effectively against the champion. He was struck several times with elbows and was unable to return anything of merit. The only individual able to mount a successful offense against Jon Jones was Alexander Gustafsson. Known as the Mauler, Gustafsson is actually taller than Jones and their similar physique made for quite the even match up, however, the bout ended in a decision in favor of the champion.

   
    Now, with his latest victory over Daniel Cormier the question is to be asked: who can beat Jones? It may in fact not be such a hard search! The Blackzilian’s camp has proven itself time and time again with impressive talent such as Long Island native Ryan LaFlare who will be facing Damian Maia at UFC Fight Night 62.  In regards to the light heavyweight title however, one of LaFlare’s teammates may be the one to dethrone the champion. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has been tearing through the division in a terrifying way. He has had several impressive victories which display his destructive power. Most prevalent to the question would be his victory over Jones greatest challenger, “The Mauler”. Johnson finished Gustafsson within the first round of their bout and Gustafsson’s bout against the champion went the distance; so this leads one to wonder just how will Jones fare against such a seemingly unstoppable force in the division? If Jones was unable to finish Gustafsson will he be able to go the distance with “Rumble”.

    
     Some keys for Jones to defeat Johnson would be to utilize his technical striking abilities to land precise strikes and then exit the range of Johnson. However, the tenacity and ferocity of Johnsons striking may prove to be too overbearing, as seen in his stoppage of Alexander Gustafsson. This will certainly be a fight to watch! For the first time it may seem more likely than not that the champion will fall. We will see when the two collide if in fact Jones is ready to rumble. 

By Joe Ninomiya