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By: Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist
In just over two weeks time Jon "Bones" Jones will be back in the Octagon, aiming to follow up on his career best win over Brandon Vera when he tackles wily veteran Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko at UFC on Versus 2.
The fight with Vera in March saw Jones dominate and then stop a man who was once himself regarded as "the next big thing." Vera left the arena that night a broken man, with his eye socket fractured and his pride in tatters, as he knew he was defeated by a man who was simply a superior fighter.
It was this performance that proved Jones is ready for the big time. After such dominating displays against the likes of Stephan Bonner, Matt Hamill and Jake O’Brien, Jones looked set to start his assault on the top ten light heavyweights. The win over Vera had many calling for bouts against Forrest Griffin, Thiago Silva or perhaps a fight with Rich Franklin as Jones' next test, so it was something of a surprise when Matyushenko was named as his next opponent.
Over the years a number of up and coming fighters have fallen from grace when they have come up against experienced opponents, similar to Matyushenko, and Jones will need to be ready for a battle come August 1. Jones has so far defeated very strong opposition, but it will be this next fight that will make the case for calling him a prodigy much clearer.
There's precedent in the UFC, as far as the young up and comer vs. cagey veteran is concerned, and that should temper those ready to crown Jones. As a teenager, Vitor Belfort exploded into the UFC, blasting away everyone in his path, finding himself as the man widely considered to be the face of the future as the UFC began to grow. Belfort then faced off against Randy Couture and was taken into the deeper waters by "The Natural,” who eventually stopped the overwhelmed Brazilian.
It was a shock result at the time, but in hindsight was just another example of what a phenomenon Randy Couture is. One thing is for sure, that fight pulled the carpet from under Belfort's feet, his "prodigy: status was tarnished and, despite a fantastic career overall, he has never quite hit the great heights he was once predicted to reach.
B.J. Penn has, of course, been known as "The Prodigy” for years, and no man more deserves that moniker more than Penn himself. With a glittering career that has seen Penn hold the UFC championship in two different weight classes, the Hawaiian native is destined to one day take his rightful place in the UFC Hall Of Fame.
It would be unfair at this point to compare the meteoric rise of Jon Jones to that of Penn, but his near flawless performances in the Octagon so far make it difficult not to. Jones has not once even looked troubled in his five UFC bouts, and left the tough Matt Hamill a crushed mess when they fought.
Should Jones dispatch of Matyushenko, then an opponent in the top ten is a must for his next fight. "Bones" will need to take on and defeat the likes of Rogerio Nogueira and Forrest Griffin before we can really begin to dream of Muay Thai wars with the likes of Shogun Rua or Anderson Silva.
The only concern: if Jones runs through Matyushenko on August 1, he may be thrust toward the top end of the ladder too soon, and as we have seen with the careers of Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheick Kongo and more recently Todd Duffee, too much hype can only leave you with one place to go – and that’s down.
While fighters like Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez are living up to their hype and are both riding huge waves of momentum, helping inject more excitement than the heavyweight division has ever had before, it is Jones who looks the most like the next Prodigy.
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Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Specialist and guest columnist at ESPN.co.uk. Please email any comments or questions to Chris at; mmatorchuk@gmail.com or look us up at http://www.facebook.com/mmatorchuk2 our new MMATorch Facebook home for UK Fans!
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