MMA’s New Prodigy

As if MMA fans hadn’t already stretched the boundaries of every superlative known to man in their collective attempt to describe the rise of Jon Jones, the man had to go ahead and add “superhero” to the list on the same day that he dominated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

I mean, seriously. It’s as if Jones, or “fate”, or the freaking cosmos for all I know decided that the last few holdouts that hadn’t given the man his due had to be given notice. I don’t care how much it’s been talked about since- the man stopped a fleeing thief on the same day that he become the UFC’s youngest champion ever. No amount of “letting it settle in” can make that less ridiculous.

Jones’ entire career trajectory so far seems to have been arranged for maximum jaw-dropping potential. Following impressive performances against competitors who are respected, if not supremely-skilled, Jones took a big step up to face fellow blue-chipper Ryan Bader in what many expected to at least be a competitive bout. It wasn’t. Ditto for his next foray into the big time, a huge leap into the cage against the consensus number one light heavyweight in the world, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. We saw how that went.

It’s true that in much of my coverage of Jones and his fights previously, I have been slow to buy into the hype. Because of my downright insane position that in order to believe that Jones is the best light heavyweight in the world, he should have to face some competition that would befit such an honor, I may have even been called a Jones “hater”. In this case, as usual, the term “hater” means “someone with whom a person disagrees and would rather dismiss outright than debate with”. Stupid term. But enough about that.

Suffice to say that I have been impressed with Jones in the past, it’s just that I also hold the other great light heavyweight fighters in the sport in high regard. However, what I saw from Jones on Saturday night changes things quite a bit. At first, I was disappointed that Shogun looked out of shape, slow and just plain sluggish in his first fight after a ten month layoff, but further reflection has led me to realize that whether Shogun was at his best or not, this kid made him look like an amateur.

The fact that Jones has been training for about three years makes all this business even harder to believe. With all due respect to BJ Penn, Jones is a prodigy in the strictest sense of the term (while Penn is not at this point, since he’s no longer a youth by any stretch of the imagination). To train for three years and to dominate the level of competition Jones has is something that even the biggest Jones fans may not be able to fully process. This is not 1998. You aren’t supposed to be able to do that anymore.

Other fighters have had quick success relatively soon after starting MMA training, but they did it differently. Generally it’s been former wrestlers (like Jones) that come into the sport and use their strong base in grappling to notch early wins while they round out the rest of their game. Jones, meanwhile, now appears to be just as gifted as a striker as he is on the mat. He also has an instinctive and impressive submission game and already may have the best ground and pound in the entire division.

Just as impressive is the fact that Jones has handled all of the attention, hype, quick success and accolades with a level head and a great attitude. Jones is one of very few athletes in any sport who properly manage the barely-visible line between “supremely confident” and “overly cocky”.

While Jones is certainly talented, picks up new techniques and skills quickly and has a ton of athleticism, balance and strength, those aren’t the qualities that could give him a career that no other light heavyweight before him has had. Out of all of the assets Jones has, nothing will serve him better than his great mindset and his terrific work ethic. He’s already reached the top of the proverbial mountain at the young age of 23 years old. Many others who have accomplished similar feats in MMA and other sports have burned out or sabotaged their own careers in one way or another.

Don’t count on that happening with Jones. Who knows who will be the first person to every truly defeat him and when that will even happen…this year? Next year? In five years? Never? However, when or if that person takes the title away from Jones, you can bet that he’ll have made them earn it.

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Tags: Jon Jones, Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, the man's a freaking superhero, UFC