Roundtables
ROUNDTABLE: Is there any interest in a Jon Jones rematch against UFC on Fox 4's potential title challengers?
Aug 1, 2012 - 5:25:06 PM

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

With UFC on Fox 4 determining the next challenger to the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, and all four potential options having been defeated handily by Jon Jones, are any of the rematch possibilities interesting?


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Dude, Jon Jones could fight Raggedy Andy (and I don't mean Wang), and I'm plopping down my money to watch. Jones alone is reason enough to order a card (as is GSP, as is Anderson Silva). When you only get a small handful of times to watch someone who may go down as the best there ever was (No Bret Hart), then you do it whether he's fighting Shogun Rua, Brandon Vera, or a seven year old who's taken one TKD class at the Y.


FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Somewhat, but not a lot. A Jones vs. Shogun rematch would likely end the same way the first fight ended, with Jones beating Shogun down. I haven't seen anything from Shogun that would suggest otherwise. I would have some interest, though, because of the possibility of an upset. I have zero interest in seeing Brandon Vera fight Jon Jones, I find the very idea of this happening laughable and ridiculous. Anyone who thinks such a fight would make sense needs to reassess their line of thinking.


GRIFFIN MARSH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

No, because I know and the world knows Jon jones will destroy them. I hate to keep a response this short, but no. I mean are you picking against Johnny at 205 against anyone, except Anderson Silva? Nope. He's that much better than the division.


ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I certainly do not think Brandon Vera will be challenging for a title any time soon. He was cut from the UFC after his humiliating loss to Thiago Silva at UFC 125 just last January. He was reinstated after Silva popped dirty on PEDs. He also lost to Jon Jones and Randy Couture in two of his last three fights. His lone win since 2009 was a decision at UFC 137 against Eliot Marshall. Shogun Rua is a completely different story altogether. He is an enduring champion and is coming off an all-time great fight against Dan Henderson at UFC 139 last November. He did lose this fight, but he has beaten Machida, Liddell, Coleman, Alistair Overeem times two, Ricardo Arona, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Quinton Jackson, and I could go on. I would love to see a rematch between Jon Jones and Mauricio Rua. I know the outcome will be the same as the first fight, in which Jones dominated Rua, but he has a much stronger argument for a title shot. Jon Jones is running out of viable opponents at 205 and Shogun is one fighter deserving of a title shot.


BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I have a minimal amount of interest in seeing Jones fight Shogun again, however I would rather see Ken Shamrock get a title shot next than Brandon Vera who has won only one fight since 2009. Jones would squash any of the four men who could be considered after the Fox card. Bader? No. Machida? No. Shogun? Maybe. Vera? Hell no. It's a lose-lose scenario since Dana White seems to have forgotten about Alexander Gustaffson being in the running, or perhaps after a destruction of Rampage Jackson Glover Teixeira could find himself propelled into a spot to fight aswell. Jones has thinned out the division very well, the only question that remains is if he can handle the H-Bomb and Dan Henderson.


JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

This is going to sound weird since he's the least dynamic seeming of the four, but I think if Ryan Bader goes out and really blows up Lyoto Machida, I'd be most interested in seeing him rematch Jon Jones.

And I say this only because he is the only guy who didn't get absolutely crushed by Jones. Machida got his faced sliced open and put out cold, Shogun got worked over the worst of any of them and Brandon Vera had to get surgery after getting what Jones did to him.

Ryan Bader was just out of his depth and kind of just gave up by the second round. If he appears to have improved and dusts Machida, he'd still lose to Jon Jones, but it could look a little different. At the end of the day isn't that what we're looking for anyway?


SHAWN ENNIS, MMATORCH SENIOR COLUMNIST

Whether it's Shogun, Vera, Machida or Bader doesn't matter. I don't find any of them all that compelling, but if I had to pick I'd say Machida. "But Shawn," you're saying, "Machida is only 2-3 in his last five fights!" And you're right. But so is everyone else in the running (except for Bader, who's 2-2 but will be 2-3 after Saturday). That's the problem with the light heavyweight division right now. None of these guys are ideal challengers, but who else is there? Of course there's the requisite Gustafsson/Davis response to that question, and why Vera is fighting Shogun instead of Gustafsson is beyond me, but that's just how it is. I think Gustafsson needs another fight (probably the winner of whichever fight doesn't get the title shot), and Davis will probably need another as well should he win on Saturday. The point is that the division is shallow and if you want names, all the names have lost to Jones. Badly. So you either put him in with someone he already beat, or with someone nobody knows. It's a lose-lose situation, but the UFC just hasn't built up young contenders in the LHW division like they've needed to. What was the question again? Oh, right. Machida. So he'd lose to Jones anyway, but it's a fun style matchup for a round or two.