Wow, Jon Jones is going to be like my new favorite fighter. Dude's a beast. Though Shogun looked pretty weak out there.
Shogun didn't look weak, IMO. Out of shape and gassed--yes, but he was just manhandled by a much better, bigger, and more versatile fighter.
Davis needs to work on his striking if he wants to have a chance against Jones, So far he's been getting by with his superior speed and strength but I don't see that working against Jones.
Jones is a BAD MAN!!!!! lol Hes' gonna dominate 205. Bring Silva up from 185. Come on Dana! Jones aint no Forrest Griffen!
We all agree for once. How can you deny such a dominating performance. Rua beat some of the best at 205, and Jones just steamrolled him. Unfuckingbelievable!
Agreed, there is just no denying that Jon Jones is maybe the greatest talent we have ever seen in the MMA. His beat down of Rua was probably the most impressive beating I have ever seen. I actually picked Shogun to take advantage of Jones when they were up right, but he was too slow, and the aggressive free flowing style of Jones just made Shogun not sure what to do in the standup.
Yea, I don't think I've ever seen everyone agree on one fighters dominance in this sport. Rua tapped from a beating...I've never seen that before.
Seems like JJ is coming it at exactly the right time. A lot of the big names from just 2-3 years ago are gone or on the downside of their career. The only guy I give a chance to beating Jon Jones is Machida due to his quirky and unique fighting style. Of course everyone is saying Jon Jones will dominate the divisions for years... which was the exact same thing almost everyone on here and other sites was saying after Machida won the title. MMA is too diverse and unpredictable to say such a thing anymore. Hell Anderson Silva nearly lost his belt and no one saw that coming.
I would actually like to see Shogun vs Lil Nog 2, but I fear Shogun it may be another long night for Shogun. It's funny that a few months ago I was saying Jon Jones vs Thiago Silva was FOTN material. But now it looks more like KOtN. Dudes got scary talent. JJ vs Anderson seems almost inevitable. Granted it happens in the next couple of years, before Anderson starts declining. Only Anderson and Machida have a shot to beat him IMO.
This. JJ looks excellent and has since the moment we all saw him step into the octagon. That said, I'm not one to crown a guy too early and 205 is the last division where I would do so. Like you said, a lot of the most dangerous guys from a few years ago are on the downside of their careers but none the less its a brutal division. Pretty much everyone can end a fight in a single punch and IMO if you're the champ of that division there are no non-threat title defenses (I'm looking at you 185 lb division). I was going to say the same thing about Machida and how he blew through the 205 division to become champ and everyone thought he was going to be another GSP/Silva. Lots of people thought Brock was unbeatable after his win over Carwin. Of course JJ has clear advantages over both of those guys. Hes a great wrestler which allows him to control whether the fight will be standing or on the ground, something the brazilians typically have going against them. Hes a freak athlete and clearly has a sort of extraordinary MMA IQ. His stand up looks a lot better than Brock's. But I'd like to see a few title defenses. Rashad's probably got little to offer but he does know JJ well and his power is underrated, if he gets inside and lands a clean right hand it could be all she wrote. We haven't seen JJ's chin tested no? We know Rashad has a shitty chin though and I reckon he has zero success against JJ. After that though I think Machida and Rampage will be interesting matchups. Phil Davis is a nice up and comer but still needs a few fights against better competition to earn a title shot. Thiago Silva was on the rise before the positive steroid test, hes another terribly dangerous striker. Strikeforce guys will be integrated over the next couple years- Hendo, Feijao, King Mo, Moussassi. I'm sure we'll see some more great prospects coming through the division over the next couple of years as well. FTR I do think Bones is hot shit and its hard to see him losing to any of those guys. That said, its also hard to see anyone beating them all consecutively. His wrestling allows him to control guys like Machida, Moussassi, T. Silva, Feijao. They're still very dangerous though. Then you've got Rampage, Rashad, King Mo, Hendo, etc. who may have the wrestling to keep the fight where they want it. They're also very dangerous. Lets just see how JJ does with a few other top level guys at 205 before we put him in a class with GSP/Silva.
Sadly, it seems like Anderson is relatively uninterested. I don't know whether to blame Dana or Anderson but they both talk about fighting the best, putting on the fights people want to see, finishing Anderson's career with a string of fights against great fighters, etc. Now it seems like he'll stay at 185 forever. We're lead to believe GSP/Silva may be nearing but I'm really not going to get my hopes up and I won't get my hopes up for Silva/Bones either. Its been all talk for YEARS and I don't see any reason to believe it will change now.
Surprisingly the buyrate for this event is very underwhelming at just under 500k. I suppose Shogun is less of a known commodity, as is Faber. Jones will eventually be a big draw but needs time to introduce himself to the casual (aka idiot) fans.
Rua says this knee, IIRC the first strike thrown by Jones, was the beginning of the end for the fight. Rua couldn't recover and he's disgusted by his performance. A few days later...
