Bones vs. Suga: Who will become the best Light Heavyweight in MMA history?
Posted on January 31, 2012, 10:28 PM by Evan Holober
Mixed martial arts, when compared as a sport to its contemporaries like football, basketball, and baseball; is just a kid. It was born from a combination of Vale Tudo shows conducted in Brazil from the early 1920’s, and Japanese professional wrestlers who wished to conduct shoot matches to prove their skills were real rather than compete in events with predetermined endings (which morphed into the SHOOTO organization). Of course this all culminated in The Ultimate Fighting Championship which was started by Art Davie, but is now run by Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta. Now what does this history lesson have to do with Jon Jones or Rashad Evans? Simple, whoever wins their much anticipated bout at UFC 145 should be considered the best light-heavyweight to compete in MMA thus far.
Now I know a few of you will be saying right away; “What about Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell, or Mauricio Rua? What about Dan Henderson making a great run late in his career, added on to his PRIDE tenure”? Those are great questions to ask, and every one of those combatants deserves the moniker “All-time Great”. However, none obtained the amount of continued success over the quality of fighter faced by both Jones and Evans. The competition level in the UFC today is just flat out harder to go up against then what the aforementioned former champs faced. Over their careers, Jon and Rashad have beaten seven former UFC Champions, one former IFL champion, one former PRIDE champion, and three TUF winners.
Jon “Bones” Jones might already have the most impressive resume of any light-heavyweight in MMA. His summary of conquered foes reads like a UFC hall-of-fame induction roster: Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida, Stephan Bonnar, and the list keeps on going. Ten of his fifteen career wins have come in the first or second round. His title capturing performance against Shogun, along with his two defenses against Rampage and Lyoto, were all decisively finished. He has succeeded in taking each one of the men he’s faced in the Octagon to the ground, and his striking continues to improve with each fight. Add on that his past two title defenses ended in submissions against Machida who had never cried uncle, and Jackson who only tapped out once against Kazushi Sakuraba (when he took the fight on just a few days notice); and you have maybe the most complete fighter in MMA.
“Sugar” Rashad Evans is a monster as well. Although he doesn’t contain Jones’ talent for finishing off his opponents (eight finishes is seventeen career wins), he still has beaten some of the top names in the last five years of fighting. Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Rampage, Tito Ortiz, Michael Bisping, and just recently Phil Davis were all defeated by the former Michigan State Spartan. The last two performances in particular saw Evans take leaps in the way he fought. Against Tito he pressured the bigger man all fight until the worn down Ortiz gave up when a nasty knee crushed his body in the second. In his title-eliminator with Phil Davis he barely took a back step all fight as he landed short precise punches while mixing in takedowns (with great grappling) to take a dominant decision victory. If Evans is able to become the first person to legitimately beat Jon Jones, then he is more than worthy of the “best 205lber of all-time” distinction.
That is a big if though. Jonny Jones has some who would call him the “baddest man on earth” (which is a term this writer would agree with). Evans will have to use his speed to keep Jones on his toes, and mix in wrestling whenever possible. However, the discussion about where the winner ranks in MMA history along with the inevitable non-stop trash talk from both sides makes the build up to this fight almost as exciting as the match itself.
If I may steal a line from Bart Scott for an ender: “Can’t wait”.
Comments
that 85 inch reach combined with being 6 ft 4 means jones goes into every fight with a huge advantage in the stand up but you have to facter in that evans saw him coming up maybe knows a few holes in his game i think this fight has to happen but i would say jones goes in as the favourite plus rashad aint a big 205 at 5 11 and could probably make 185 jones is almost as big as you can be at that weight
jones does have the reach and size advantage. he also uses it better every time he fights but rashad is very good at using his head movement, level changes, and speed to get inside against fighters with longer reach then him. almost everyone rashad has fought has had a height and reach on him. all that being said i think it is jones should be able to win this fight unless he lets his emotions get the best of him. he seems to be irritated about this fight already and rashad is going to talk all kinds of trash to try and get in his head.
jones doesnt know what emotions are when he is in the cage... dude becomes a robot designed to murder people..
jones 2nd rnd TKO via hell-bows ~
Styles make fights. Evans has tools that can beat Jones. Jones has several tools to beat Rashad. Anderson still can move up in weight. It is almost like a golden age in the LHW division. I still think that Silva will defeat Chael in devastating fashion, move up defeat either Rashad or Jones and retire, having never lost in the UFC. Just a feeling I get.
You obviously missed Silva saying he would never fight Jones after inviting him to a party then classing him as a friend. Jones would fight Silva though.
Like both guys a lot but think no one beats Jones at LHW.
Evans is a great fighter, but would have to win and hold the title for some time before he can be mentioned in the same echelon as Chuck Liddell. Sorry, but Chuck was a true champion, meaning he dominatd his division for quite awhile, holding the belt. Evans had the belt for 10 minutes, and though I agree the competition is more fierce these days, Evans is not there, yet.
On the other hand Jones is a position to pull an A. Silva move off in the LHW division, meaning he could very well do what Chuck did and perhaps more in a stacked division. I see Jones going down in history as the better and more accomplished of the two.
"Sorry, but Chuck was a true champion, meaning he dominatd his division for quite awhile, holding the belt."
I love Chuck so I hate to say this, but Chuck dominated in the UFC in a time period where most of the talent in the world was in PRIDE. I guess it's all about how you see Tito and Randy at 205 in that time period.
On top of that Chuck had some bad losses early in his career, then after people figured out his style, he was done for at the highest level.
If Evans beats Jones, he will have wins over 4 former champions plus the first defeat of the dynamo that is Jon Jones. Not to mention the monumental KO of Chuck himself.
Very true. Shogun is still the best LHW of all time in my eyes, though I'm extremely bias. The future is never certain, Jon Jones could sustain some career debilitating injuries and go down hill, so I personally would wait until a fighter remains dominant for a long period of time before "best in MMA hisotry" comes into question. Although, the winner of the fight will seemed to have completely cleaned out a division. Rashad has been beating good fighters for a long time, and Jones has dispatched of all of the top fighters very quickly. I'd have no problem calling the winner of this fight the best LHW of all time.
Jones is extremely talented but all it takes is one mistake. machida was said to be the best lhw of the new era and now he has 3 losses in 4 fights. plus the rest of jones opponents never fought somebody with that reach difference so did not know what to expect where as rashad trained with him many times and will not be surprised by the distance. he has a better chance of winning than most people think
I'll root for Rashad simply because he comes off as a real person to me.
So Jones is a figment of our imaginations then?
If Jones gets through Evans, I don't see anyone else in that weight class stopping him. Eventually Jones will move to HW, as his frame will continue to fill out over the next five years and it will be very difficult for him to make weight at LHW. At some point moving to HW will be a logical move, and he'll find more legitimate challengers there anyway.
Not to many fighters in the HW that has Bones skills, i see him beating the shit out of Mr. Humble Dos Santos right now.
He's already asked for a HW fight at the end of 2012. He said Dana and Lorenzo shot him down.
Maybe Reem will show him how to do that easily.
Yeah i said RIGHT NOW!!!
JDS would blitz Jones just like the struve fight.
Jones knows how to deal with his reach advantage though, struve doesnt
Do you really think the winner of this fight is the best LHW of all times?
I still have it:
1. Shogun
2. Liddell
3. Wanderlei
4. Jones
5. Ortiz
6. Rashad
if Jones beats Rashad AND Henderson, then he is the best of all time, but right now I still have to go with Shogun, Liddell and Wanderlei
Ortiz at 5? Ahead of Rashad, Rampage, Machida and Couture? And as much as I love Wandy, I would have Jones above him in that list.
Hey man,I bet if you took your top six(minus Jones) they could all beat Jonny-iF THEY FOUGHT HIM AT THE SAME TIME lol funny huh?
no
Evy 3-4 yrs there will be a new MEGA STAR in not only the lhw div, but in every weight class in mma. The sport is eveolving like crazy, the ww had gsp, now rory macdonald is the next big shit.
yea, maybe there will be a guy 7 ft 5 with a 90 inch reach that will make Jones look like a midget trying to kick a giraffe.
If Jones career ended today is he a hall of famer? What do you guys think?
I still think Machida is the best style against Jones. Machida made a mistake that was his demise but Jones himself was having trouble with Machida to lose R1. I would suspect that machida would find a way to beat him now that he has fought him and knows where the success lies. He is vastly superior in the striking and movement and he could learn a way to keep himself from the power of Jones like Frankie did with BJ. He could KO Jones too. I am not saying he is better than Jones but I do believe he is better per cubic inch.
I respect your opinion but @ the same time Mr Machida needs to go to the back of the line & when he do get another chance, hope he don't get choked out on his feet again.
I agree with alot of you, Jones is definitely everything he's seem to be. His figure and stature is one thing alone that seems impossible to deal with let alone his technique, raw talent and just pure genius. The way this kid talks, you can tell he's so far intellectually developed that he's going to grow no matter what. You can never count rashad out though, He has 1 loss and he's grown soooo much as a fighter as well since there.. he's been an absolute monster and hasnt lost since then... he's diserved a shot more than once and training with jones he knows him inside out.. if there were areas where jones isnt comfortable or has weakness that we havent seen in fights, we have to take into account that rashads seen it, and knows it... and you can be damn sure hell try to expose him. Regardless amazing fight, im going for reshad because i love him but well see! its going to be a war
Is this Mrs Rashad?
rashad hasnt been as active, and looking at the last couple fights, tito and davis arn't comparable to rampage and machida
i'd be comfortable saying that the winner is the best lhw in the world, at present, not of all time
Jones has accomplished more in the last year than Rashad has in his entire career.
The youngest UFC champ of all time. Beat three champs/former LHW champs in one calendar year! And they were all dominant wins. Defend the belt twice.
I'm not saying Jones is the greatest. As good as he's been, he has to keep it up for a few more years but statistically, he still has a chance.
Rashad is an excellent fighter. He may be champion again. But the greatest? That ship has already sailed.
Suga had a marginal victory over Rampage, and then beat Ortiz and Davis, neither who is even in the top 5 at 205. Even he wasn't happy with his fight with Davis.
If it was up to me. I'd have Jones fight Hendo and make Rashad fight Machida again.
Is Dan a better fight for Jones because he's been more exciting? Because just comparing their last fights, Evans has been much more dominant.
Wow greatest LHW champion in history,Evans couldn't even defend the title once.As of right now Jones has been the best champion since Liddell,but why don't we wait and see what happens before we make an assumption as big as the article suggests!!!
Who the hell is this guy Evan?? Articles are almost as bad hass his horrid comments.....So Did you read about the pride days online? Or were you a fan then?? Dont answer I'm a hater anyways
I just got a job contributing here, hi. Ah, well gotta disagree there, I make some pretty witty comments sometimes. Yes a lot, then and now. Yes I was. Ah, sorry should have read the whole comment first.
Well the article was ok..The title makes me biased I think....
Machida Karate!
Jones is dominating at a time when the top 5 or 6 are the best there's ever been in the same division unlike Liddell who dominated a far weaker division. That said I don't think a comparison can be made purely on that basis as virtually all divisions are deeper and better than they were years ago. Would Hughes have dominated like he did at WW if there was the talent there is now back then? Would Liddell?
Jones probably will be classed as the greatest outright if he keeps up his win streak going and for me has the most potential of any fighter to ever grace the sport but then others have had similar auras of elite ability and invincibility and didn't quite live up to it so we'll have to wait and see.
As far as Evans goes, he is a tough fight for anyone. His movement is excellent and his wrestling is superb. Brings different tools than Machida does and will be a conundrum for Jones to figure out, which I expect he will.
Who knows what MMA holds in the future? Maybe some young talent will come along in a few years and clown Jones as if he is an amateur. MMA is evolving in terms of ability and styles and versatility. For now Jones is one of the new breed but that doesn't mean he is the complete fighter. Just way more complete than many of the old guard.
I agree with a lot of what you said here. That's why I tried to use "best yet", more than "greatest of all time" in the article.
The title wasn't exactly my idea.