The UFC has a new light heavyweight champion, and it's a 23-year-old star in the making named Jon Jones. At UFC 128 on Saturday night, Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history, beating the stuffing out of Shogun Rua and winning a third-round TKO.
Jones, who has been a professional mixed martial artist for just three years, threw the legendary Rua around the cage like he was a nobody, dominating him both in the stand-up and on the ground, and finishing him with vicious strikes that left Rua's face a bruised and bloody mess.
"It means a lot to me," Jones said afterward. "But now I know I have a huge target on my back."
Jones tried a flying knee to start the fight, but Rua was ready for it. Jones also came flying with a spinning kick, which Rua dodged, but then Jones took Rua down and planted him on his back. After controlling Rua from the top for a couple of minutes, Jones stood back up, where he went to town on Rua, landing punches and kicks and keeping Rua at bay with his superior reach. Rua weathered the storm and got out of the round, but it was a round that Jones won handily.
Jones went right back to work in the second round, landing an array of strikes that included a sweet spinning back elbow against the cage. Rua had no answer at all, and Jones was using his superior reach to pound away at Rua while Rua could only lunge back in Jones' direction. Later in the round Jones put Rua on his back again and brutalized him, hitting him hard in the face and keeping his forearm on Rua's throat. It was another very one-sided round for Jones.
And then came the third, when Jones fulfilled his destiny and became the Next Big Thing in the UFC. He's a superstar on the rise, and he's a worthy champion.
"He was better than me," Rua said afterward, through his translator.
In fact, Jones is better than anyone in the light heavyweight division. He's amazing.
The UFC has a new light heavyweight champion, and it's a 23-year-old star in the making named Jon Jones. At UFC 128 on Saturday night, Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history, beating the stuffing out of Shogun Rua and winning a third-round TKO.
