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By: Griffin Marsh, MMATorch Contributor
Just over a week ago Jonny "Bones" Jones validated his legitimacy as the best fighter in the light heavyweight division. Even before his dominant performance against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, I ranked Jones as the number one light heavyweight in the world solely because I believed he was and is the best fighter who consistently fights in the division.
After Jones' dismantling of Shogun, many fans, including myself, called for a bout between Jones and Anderson Silva. After breaking down both fighters in depth, I feel Silva is not a good match up for Jones. Like Lyoto Machida, Jones uses a wide open stance to defend against opponents strikes and throws wild crazy blows hoping to connect. Jones doesn't possess one punch knock out power, as he's shown in most cases he finishes his opponents once he's grounded them or in later rounds after he's worn them down, provided the fight didn't go to decision.
When looking at Anderson Silva you see a powerful, fast, quick and accurate fighter who has a proven chin, having taken many punches from fighters just as powerful, if not more so, than Jones. Anderson is an excellent boxer with amazing counter punching ability and would be able to stand in the pocket with Jones, which provides a horrible matchup in the striking department for Jones as we have yet to see his chin tested, or his cardio during the championship rounds. One thing is for sure, if he fights Anderson, he will get punched often and hard.
Then there is the wrestling aspect of a match up with Silva. Some believe Jones will use his wrestling ability against Silva and try to win the bout by that method. When I take Jones' wrestling into consideration I cannot help but notice that Anderson has fought fighters with much better wrestling credentials and finished each one.
Since Anderson Silva may be a nightmare matchup for Jones, in my opinion, the question becomes "who should Jones face after he takes care of Rashad Evans?" The answer to that is a move to the heavyweight division. Jones admittedly has trouble dropping to the 205 lb. weight limit at times, and a move to heavyweight would be quite natural for him and most likely would allow him to keep his speed.
There is no heavyweight in the world today ready for what Jones brings to the table in the striking department. His movement and quickness with his kicks will cause problems for many fighters in the heavyweight division. The only issue that concerns me is if his wrestling ability is strong enough to consistently avoid takedowns against fighters such as Cain Velasquez or Brock Lesnar.
Should Jones move to a heavyweight superfight, it could allow for a win-win situation for him and the UFC. After Georges St. Pierre gets past Jake Shields and Anderson Silva does the same against Yushin Okami, the UFC will likely push for that fight to take place. In that instance, another superfight could be in store between Jones and the top heavyweight in the world.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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