Re-post from Bleacher Report Three-and-a-half years ago, in the early fall of 2011, the present-day reality of the UFCs light heavyweight title picture would have seemed outlandish, ridiculous and utterly impossible. Anthony Rumble Johnson will never fight Jon Bones Jones, you would have said. Bones was coming off a fourth-round destruction of Quinton Rampage Jackson in his first title defense; Johnson was head-kicking natural lightweights while repeatedly struggling to make the welterweight divisions 170-pound cutoff. To be fair, you probably wouldnt have said the words I just unfairly put in your mouth. The mere concept was too outrageous to even consider. At the time, that line of thinking would be like saying today, A banged-up former professional wrestler in his late 30s with absolutely no mixed martial arts experience will never make his fighting debut for the UFC! Wait. Whats that? That actually happened? Just like CM Punk fighting in the UFC actually became a real thing, so too did Johnson battling Jones for the light heavyweight strap. This sport is weird, guys, and Johnsons journey from bloated welterweight to bloated middleweight to perfect light heavyweight represents just another footnote in the book of oddities that is the UFCs ever-filling history log. After Johnson found a home at 205 in August of 2012, hes rattled off seven consecutive victories, becoming increasingly terrifying with each trek to the cage. The UFC came calling Rumbles name early in 2014, asking the former welterweight to take on rising contender Phil Davis at UFC 172. Were giving you another shot. Dont mess this one up. Make things right, they seemed to say. Or maybe they were just bringing in a warm body with some name value to set up Davis eventual rise to title contention. Either way, Johnson nodded in understanding and marched to battle focused, rejuvenated and reinvented. He felt at home back inside that eight-sided cage, and he marked his territory all over Davis face for the duration of their three-round bout. A brutal knockout of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in his next outing, and Rumble was officially a top contender for Jones strap. He needed to clear one last hurdle, and the opportunity would be his. Unfortunately, that hurdle stood 65 and possessed scary boxing skills that already gave Jones the fright of his life as champ. Taking on Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on Fox 14 Saturday evening, Rumble once again faced the odds. And once again, he triumphed. Now, Rumble is Jones newest test, the latest in a line of challengers that consists of the corpses of Rashad Evans, Daniel Cormier, Lyoto Machida and five other downright scary combatants. Terrifying as he may be, to avoid joining those names in Jones trophy case, Rumble will need to be perfect. Hell need to be better than he was against Nogueira, Davis and even Gustafsson. Hell need the performance of his lifetime, and Im not sure he has it in him. Rumbles big—and perhaps only—advantage in his fight with Jones is his one-shot stopping power. His ability to knock an opponent out with one solid shot has produced some highlight-reel finishes throughout his career, and even though Jones chin is phenomenal, theres no doubt that one good shot from Rumble can close the deal. But what does he have after that? When has he fought a wrestler, a master of distance, a diverse, creative striker or a cardiovascular freak like Jones? Never. Hes never fought anybody as good as Jones in any one of those areas, and he surely hasnt fought anybody who owned all those skills at once, because Jones and only Jones can make that claim. When has Rumble even had to test his gas tank at 205? You can point to his decision over Phil Davis, but Davis did not make Johnson work like Jones will. Davis retreated and literally ran away from Johnson at times, allowing Rumble to move forward and to pick his shots. Unless Rumble lands the big shot early, you can guarantee Jones will initiate some clinch wars and force Johnson to carry his weight along the cage. Ask Glover Teixeira or Cormier how that worked out for them. On the other hand, when has Jones fought a fighter with bigger power than him? Plenty of times. Since capturing the belt, literally every challenger save Chael Sonnen possessed more raw power than Jones
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 13:14:50 +0000