Jon Jones Seemingly Has Everything to Lose at UFC 135

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While the conversations surrounding Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva have been hijacked by a obnoxiously vocal minority who have declared them simply too boring to satisfy the blood lust that is apparently inherent in this sport, current UFC Light Heavyweight champ Jon Jones can do no wrong. His flashy, highlight reel ready style has steamrolled everybody in his path, most recently Shogun Rua who had no answer other than pathetically tapping to strikes in the third round during their title match back in March. Even when he loses he’s the one who looks awesome, who is still standing while his opponent is reduced to a bloody heap left for dead in the center of the cage. UFC President Dana White, never shy about injecting his wrong headed pound for pound opinion into the debate has stated that besides his title Jones will also be defending his right to be called the #3 fighter in the world (sorry Jose Aldo, I guess you’re just not in the right division). Not that he has anything to worry about as he comes into this match against Rampage Jackson, unquestionably one of the toughest and most accomplished MMA stars we’ve ever seen, as a hefty -600 favorite. Instead of wondering who will win Saturday night everybody instead is focusing on whether or not Jones’ lethal striking will be enough to finish Rampage and his famously durable cranium.

The question I have on my mind and we anticipate Saturday night, however, is a more philosophical one and that is how long this honeymoon between Jones and the oh so flaky MMA nation can possibly last. He reached a near jump the shark moment back before his UFC 128 fight with Rua when he helped apprehend a pickpocket which was then used as a selling point for the PPV as the UFC brass broadcast the fact from every megaphone they could find. This week none other than Alec Trebek had a thing or two to teach them about humility as he returned to his show for the first time since also chasing down a thief and despite the obvious damage done to his body during the incident he was too modest to mention the heroics directly. There has also been two high profile blood feuds that he has been embroiled in since we won the title 6 short months ago. The first was with Rashad Evans and even though the fans took his side it’s hard to say that Jones wasn’t at least a little arrogant during the whole thing. Now he’s also rubbed Rampage the wrong way and one does have to wonder about the truthfulness of his upstanding superhero character that he plays on TV. A loss, or even a lackluster performance this weekend and we can only assume that the fickle folks who consume this sport will sour on his star and begin searching for a new idol to worship.

The fight itself should be interesting especially considering the “Can he or can’t he KO Rampage?” angle. There is always concern with fighters who have never had to fight off their back before as to whether or not they have any skills in that department but I don’t see Rampage taking Jones down so I guess we’ll have to wait and find out. Rampage has never been overly fond of training and he has pretty much abandoned his wrestling game all together. That means we’ll be left with something of a slug fest which should give the fans exactly they want and effectively chase the harshness that is the card that comes before it. Jones has never really had a bomb dropped on him so we don’t know about his chin either though in this case I can’t imagine Rampage not slipping a few past his defense. Even with the tempting odds betting against the champ would be unwise but for a fight supposedly this lopsided there are a ton of subplots to keep us occupied. Does Spygate out Rampage as a genius or as somebody suffering from a paranoia disorder? Just how tough is Rampage’s head? Once it is all said and done I fully expect Jones to be on top, I’m just curious to see if his rose still smells as sweet.