Anderson Silva wasn’t the only one who made a statement at UFC 126 as Jon Jones earned a title shot.
Jon (Bones) Jones has a tattoo on his body of a Bible verse (Philippians 4:13), which says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Apparently the UFC shares the sentiment, because they’re throwing the 23-year-old phenom right into the fire, with a title shot on short notice against the very dangerous veteran Mauricio (Shogun) Rua.
Jones showed tremendous poise -- and showed off his ridiculous talent -- in dominating and choking out a previously undefeated Ryan Bader. But he was humbled by the announcement Joe Rogan made moments after his victory that he’s being offered the championship fight in place of an injured Rashad Evans, who blew out his knee and has been forced to pull out of the match.
Jones, who dropped to his knees inside the cage immediately in response to the honour, is actually a modest guy, yet gets knocked by some as being cocky because of his flashiness.
Opponents should be more worried about his skills rather than his flash, as he displayed them in spades against Bader, a former Ultimate Fighter winner who had never faced a man of Jones’ calibre.
In their fight Saturday, Jones found himself taken down almost immediately and caught in a guillotine attempt -- a dangerous one, considering Bader’s arms appear like tree trunks compared to those seemingly skinny ones of Jones.
But those lanky limbs, when spanned generate the longest reach in the UFC at 84.5 inches and they came in very handy in the bout. Jones escaped that early hold and maneuvered himself into a dominant position to begin inflicting damage and basically never looked back.
From then on, Jones was quick, attacked from all sorts of angles and eventually got those arms wrapped around Bader’s neck for a tremendous choke, that forced Bader to tap late in the second round and earned him submission of the night. Rua, who was cageside, got a nice preview of what he can look forward to at UFC 128.
Their championship bout will take place in Newark, N.J., another dream come true for Jones, who hails from Rochester, N.Y., since he’ll have a chance to be crowned champion close to home.
“My whole high school will be there,” Jones said during the post-fight press conference. “And my New York base will be there for me and I’m not going to let them down.”
Jones continued to point to his faith for how things have worked out for him.
“I give God the glory for everything that happens in my life,” Jones said. “Things like this just don’t happen without someone looking out for you and giving you favour and I feel like I have God’s favour.
“I feel on top of the world right now.”
The matchup is only six weeks away, so the natural question is whether that’s enough time to get ready for such an important fight. Jones says absolutely.
“My confidence is very high. I’m already in shape and I have six weeks to make myself even better,” he said. “Usually I spend my training camps getting in shape. I’m already in shape, so right now (my coach) Greg Jackson actually wants me to calm down ... (He) is like, ‘You’re already peaked out. I can’t have you trying to peak out for six more weeks. I need you to chill out and take some time off.’”
Rua, who was also invited to the post-fight press conference, says the late change in opponent isn’t a concern for him either.
“I have been training very hard for a fight on this date,” Rua said, translated. “I see it as motivation to train harder. As a champion, I have to fight everybody (they put in front of me).”
UFC president Dana White said he found out as he was driving to the arena Saturday that Evans was out of the bout with a sprained ligament that will sideline him 6-8 weeks.
So they frantically threw this plan together, telling Rua that if Jones were to win, they wanted to put him in the title fight.
Rua agreed and when Jones had his arm raised, White walked in and asked him if he wanted the fight. Jones didn’t hesitate.
And while he admitted he wasn’t expecting it, he believes he's ready for it.
“I had no clue my title shot was coming,” Jones said. “Would I have asked for it? Sure, my goal is to be considered the best fighter in the light-heavyweight division ... I feel as if it’s my time.”
Now Jones will have the chance to prove it.
