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We often hear that Anderson Silva is a "once in a lifetime" fighter or that Fedor Emelianenko is the same, and others will get the tag of being "once in a generation"; and descriptive comments such as these basically mean that you need to do what you can to watch a certain guy fight, because you simply will not see that which he can do very often if ever again at all.
Jon Jones is one of those fighters.
Check that. Jon Jones is not one of those fighters, but rather he is one of a kind. At least for now. If I were to compare him to any other MMA fighter on the planet, it would be impossible. The closest fighter of any kind who fought in a manner similar to Jones would be the former boxing champion "Prince" Naseem Hamed who competed at featherweight. Hamed was unorthodox to say the very least, but was so quick and so powerful that seemingly piss poor technique worked famously for him. Those who tried to rein him in and work on his mechanics were soon left banging their head against the wall and came to the realization that Hamed would not fight like anyone else.
Jon Jones fights like Jon Jones, and to try and break down his mechanics will drive you insane. He has the speed, the build and the sheer athleticism to pull it off, and he hasn't even begun to scratch the surface in terms of his development. Jones is one of those fighters to watch, and here is to hoping his bout against Jake O'Brien makes air on the UFC 100 PPV so that more people can catch a glimpse of someone who just might make some waves in the near future.
Jon Jones is a 21 yr. old fighter who hails from Rochester, New York and currently fights out of Endicott, New York. Jones trains as a member of Cortland, New York's Team Bomb Squad. Jones was a state champion wrestler at the high school level and would go on to earn National Junior College Champion honors while attending and competing for Iowa Central Community College. Jones had designs on obtaining a degree in Criminal Justice but following one semester at Morrisville State College, higher learning took a back seat to fighting as he signed a four fight contract with the UFC.
Jon Jones made his professional debut on April 12, 2008 when he took on and scored a first round TKO victory over Brad Bernard on the FFP-Untamed 20 card in Forxborough, Massachusetts. This in and of itself is not necessarily remarkable, but the fact that he would fight three more times in less than a month is. Jones would fight six times in three months before getting the call from the UFC. This is simply unheard of, and is the fistic equivalent of the 12 yr. old genius who is working on his college degree while his friends are giving each other wedgies in the middle school gym locker room. Jon Jones entered into the world of mixed martial arts and made it to the big show in less time than it takes a winner of 'American Idol' to put their CD on store shelves.
Jon Jones' career record stands at a sterling 8 wins against zero defeats with 5 of his wins coming by way KO and 1 by submission. Obviously he has not tasted defeat yet, but in just eight bouts he has faced steadily tougher competition each time out. His first bout for the UFC was against Andre Gusmao at UFC 87 and his unanimous decision win stirred everyone who witnessed the bout.
This bout with Gusmao was a wonderful collection of spinning back fists and a couple of low blows as Jones used his athleticism and reach to wear down and summarily defeat his opponent. The fight itself was nothing remarkable, but it was Jones who stood out more than for just getting the unanimous decision. Those who watched this fight knew they were watching someone that they needed to keep their eyes on.
Jones' next fight was on an even bigger stage as it took place on the main card of the St. Pierre vs. Penn-headlined UFC 94 PPV. His opponent was Stephan Bonnar, who was making his return to the Octagon following a long layoff due to a serious knee injury. Jones was the stronger man for much of the fight and was able to successfully take Bonnar down often and avoid getting into an out and out slugfest, which could have possibly favored Bonnar. Jones unleashed a spinning back fist which dropped Bonnar, and even broke out a suplex in this match, and proved to be even more unorthodox in winning this unanimous decision than anything we had seen previously. Jones is unorthodox, yet painstakingly efficient and who knows what surprises he may have in store for his bout with Jake O'Brien; but what is for certain is that another win will move this young man that much closer to the very top of this division.
Jake O'Brien is a 24 yr. old fighter from Indianapolis, Indiana who fights out of the Integrated Fighting Academy. He currently competes at light heavyweight but previously fought at heavyweight and achieved some success with a win over Heath Herring at 'UFC Fight Night 8.' O'Brien wrestled at the prep level and went on to attend and compete for Division I powerhouse Purdue University for two seasons before trying his hand at mixed martial arts.
O'Brien's career record stands at 11 wins against only 2 losses with 8 of his wins coming by way of KO. Notable fighters that O'Brien has bested include the aforementioned Heath Herring along with Christian Wellisch. His two defeats have come at the hands of Andrei Arlovski at UFC 82 and Cain Velasquez at 'UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin.' O'Brien made his light heavyweight debut a successful one in defeating Wellisch at UFC 94 and will look to do the same against the very dangerous Jones at UFC 100.
Styles make fights is a cliche we often hear, and in this case it will be O'Brien's style which makes this fight. Jon Jones is a stud, and even Frank Mir would say the same, but I am not too sure that this is the right fight for him at this moment. I could be completely offbase but O'Brien has solid wrestling skills and is in many ways as dangerous to Jones as even Bonnar was. Jon Jones will be a star in the UFC, and sooner rather than later, but I have a nagging feeling that he will be tasting his first defeat at the hands of O'Brien in their fight at UFC 100.
Bent's Prediction: Jake O'Brien by way of Split Decision
Look for Jake O'Brien to dictate the pace of this fight and push Jones in hopes of tiring out the young fighter. Jones gassed often in his bout against Bonnar, and it is very likely the same thing will happen against the grinding wrestler in O'Brien. Jake is going to want to take this fight to the ground and Jones is going to be looking to keep this one standing and to utilize his speed and angles but I have a feeling O'Brien will get his way.
I believe this one will be very close and come down to the judges' perception, as well as where they put the most weight in terms of scoring the bout. Jones will look a lot better in this one and land the dazzling shots, but O'Brien will be the unassuming worker who methodically takes Jones down and controls him throughout. The reason I imagine this will be decided by split decision is because I feel it will be Jones who will look as if he is doing more and that this will affect the judging in some respect. When all is said and done I see O'Brien getting a big win and Jones simply hitting a bump in the road to stardom. Jones will get there but just not yet and not at UFC 100.
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