10 Reasons Why Jon Jones Will Be Remembered as the Best UFC Fighter Ever

Jon Jones has already done a lot in his young MMA career. But the key word is "young." Still, Jones has shown the most promise of all the budding MMA prodigies, especially those in the UFC.

Here are 10 reasons why I believe he will be remembered as the best fighter UFC fighter ever.

Time To Grow

At 23 years old Jon Jones has a long road ahead of him. Being that he's already made a success of himself in the most popular MMA organization on the planet, he has plenty of time to further establish his dominance.

Jones has never sustained a serious injury in the Octagon. Some call this luck, and some think an injury is inevitable, but at least at his current rate Jones will likely walk away unscathed from most of his matches.

Like well-conditioned wrestlers such as Randy Couture, who is fighting into his mid-forties, and Joe Stevenson, who has more than forty fights on his record, Jones may well be a serious competitor for the next twenty or so years.

Power

Just ask Matt Hamill how powerful Jones is. Hamill didn't last through Round One against Jones, and despite obtaining a win via disqualification (annoying 12-6 elbow rule), Hamill was nothing but a helpless, lifeless dummy underneath Jones's mount.

Growing Skill

By training at Jackson's Submission Fighting, Jones is constantly competing against some of the best fighters in the world: Rashad Evans, Shane Carwin, and Nate Marquardt to name a few.

What has all this done? It's made Jones constantly adapt, and given his current rate of success, the ceiling is quite high for him.

Reach

84.5 inches, the longest reach in the UFC. Even if Jones were somehow bested standing, he could easily keep anyone at bay with that cross he calls a jab.

If you closely watch the Brandon Vera fight, you'll see Jones isn't so much concerned with passing Vera's guard. He didn't have to with that huge elbow coming down and ending the fight.

Unorthodox Striking

Jones admitted that he emulates Anderson Silva's style of fighting while adding his own flair. This odd approach to fighting has made him very difficult to time, and nobody has done it to date.

Add that evasive, creative style to Jones' power and wrestling background, and we have a combination that many heavyweights couldn't handle.

Wrestling

No, that's not Superman in the picture, but it might as well have been. Jones has evidently learned a lot from his buddy Rashad Evans about dominating competition on the ground.

Speed

When fighters stop attacking to in order to strategize in real time, Jones uses his amazing speed to either fake a strike and shoot or front kick or clinch his opponent and slam him hard to the mat.

Even on the ground, Jones probably has the most lethal elbows of anyone in the UFC. The combination of his opponents taking the time to guess and Jones's speedy strikes makes for a devastating combination.

Balance

In MMA one of the main goals is to take your opponent out of his best phase of fighting or at least beat him at it. The thing with Jones is that he seems to be the Renaissance man of MMA, as he can do it all.

The interesting thing is how he ties it all together. Admittedly it's still too early in Jones's career to gauge his actual style of fighting, but need there even be a solidified style?

Jones adds all the best elements of fighting into an interdisciplinary approach that has thus far been beyond the limits of everyone he's faced, and despite poorly timed stoppages, Jones might just continue to dominate everyone he faces.

Versatility

In an interview Jones stated that he has probably not finished growing and that if he gets big enough, he plans to move to heavyweight. Being 6'4" and weighing in at a lean 205 lbs, Jones would not have any problem getting right in the mix, since he walks around at about 230 lbs.

A Jones addition to the heavyweight division would prove to be an interesting one. The division has fighters ranging from smaller heavyweights like Cain Velasquez to huge guys like Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar. Jones would fit right in the mix without a problem.

Record

Jones stated that the Hamill "loss" was bittersweet. It was sweet because the pressure of carrying an undefeated record is now over, but it's bitter because it wasn't really a loss.

Nevertheless, his 10-1 record is nothing to be disappointed in, and as he keeps improving, so should his record.