Issue 118

August 2014

NICK PEET Fighters Only Editor-in-Chief on whether Jon Jones’ future could trump Anderson Silva’s past

So, Alexander Gustafsson and the entire fight public got their man after all. Jon Jones has been ‘forced’ to defend his UFC light heavyweight belt against the one person who has already pushed him far harder than any previous opponent. First blood ‘The Mauler’.

And yet what if Jones runs through the Swede the second time around? What if he raises his game to such a level that Gustafsson is sent packing in much the same way all Jones’ six other title challengers have been dispatched? Will the 27-year-old finally get the recognition he deserves? 

Unlikely. After all, Daniel Cormier, the former heavyweight stand-out who rag-dolled Dan Henderson in his second 205lb fight in May, would then surely be awaiting Jones. And many believe the 15-0 two-time Olympian could provide ‘Bones’ with an even tougher challenge than Gustafsson.

But then, what if Jones wins that fight too. What if Cormier and Gustafsson are both defeated by the champion in the next 12 months? Who’s the next great test? ‘Rumble’ Johnson? 

As Dana White said to me in Berlin: “If you’re Jon Jones right now, your next year is not easy, let’s be honest. But then if you’re Jon Jones and you get through Gustafsson again, and you beat Cormier, then damn!”

Just 12 months ago, remember, we’d accepted Jones as the best light heavyweight in the world. With a string of former champions in his wake, he’d proven himself as the stand-out 205lb’er in MMA and all talk was of a move up to heavyweight.

Then last September Gustafsson happened. He humanized Jones. He took rounds off the champion and

hurt him, badly, at times. And suddenly the rest of the division grew in confidence. Jones could bleed. Jones could be hurt. But, critically, Jones still retained his belt.

Glover Teixeira was next. He stepped up to face the champion in April and many thought he’d truly test Jones’ resolve following the Gustafsson war. Yet the Greg Jackson-mentored superstar was back to his ruthless best, efficiently destroying the Brazilian and his 20-fight unbeaten streak.

Any question marks about Bones’ attitude and commitment were soundly answered. So let’s face facts: Jones is as good as, if not better than, he’s ever been.

And so I’ll ask the question again: what if Jones is still champion in 12 months’ time, having seen off both Gustafsson and Cormier back to back? What title would he deserve then? Would that then make him the greatest light heavyweight in history, officially? 

Or perhaps he’ll simply be recognized as the true pound-for-pound champion? Or would it, indeed, make him a legitimate contender for Anderson Silva’s ‘Greatest Of All Time’ moniker?

After all, if Jones were to beat Gustaffson, again, and then Cormier, and if you then compared the quality of opponents he’d have faced, in what would then be his nine defenses, to those Anderson faced in the equivalent number, then the.difference would be startling. I mean, who did Anderson actually beat during his, albeit often punch-perfect, UFC title reign? For me, only a handful of his challengers even deserved to be in the Octagon with him.

Let’s look at it another way. When Muhammad Ali, arguably the GOAT in any combative sport, was reigning supreme in the golden age of heavyweight boxing, his legacy was defined by great rivalries against the likes of Joe Frazier and George Foreman, among many others.

But where are Anderson Silva’s great rivalries? How many times has Silva, like Ali did on so many occasions, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat? Or how many times has ‘The Spider’ come back from devastating losses – like those Ali suffered to Frazier, Ken Norton and Leon Spinks – to reclaim his world title? It’s the kind of courage and resilience Ali showed on so many occasions that truly marks a fighter out as a sporting great.

Chael Sonnen was really the only man, prior to Silva losing the title, that pushed him into deep waters. And even then it was Sonnen’s mistake in the closing seconds that gifted Silva the win.

What Jones has done already, and has the chance to build on in the next 12 months, by far exceeds anything Silva’s reign produced. Jones beat the man to become the man, and nothing but a string of former champions and legitimate contenders have followed since.

Victories over Gustafsson and Cormier would solidify Jones as an all-time great. He’d have proved himself the dominant force in his weight class during a golden era for the division. That’s the true measure of greatness.