UFC 128: 7 Things Jon Jones Must Do To Become the Greatest LHW of of All Time

Jon “Bones” Jones earned his title shot against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 by defeating Ryan Bader just a month ago at UFC 126.

The move had some scratching their heads, wondering why a relative newcomer to MMA was fighting in a championship bout so early in his career. Still others believe that Jones not only deserves the title shot but that he may be well on his way to becoming the greatest light heavyweight of all-time.

The way Jones has dismantled his opponents thus far is nothing short of terrifying. Fighters like Jake O’Brien, Brandon Vera, and Vladimir Matyushenko were all violently destroyed before Jones took the first fight of his career against a consensus top fighter in Ryan Bader.

Many of us believed it would be a highly competitive fight between perhaps the world’s top two up-and-comers at 205 pounds.

We were wrong.

Not only did Jones completely dominate the action in the first round, he convincingly finished the fight in the second round with a mounted guillotine choke. There was no question who the better fighter was.

When Rashad Evans was removed from the UFC 128 card due to an injury, the UFC scrambled to find a replacement. With Jones’ impressive victory, the decision was announced on-air to give Jones his first shot at the gold currently held by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

When these two combatants meet this weekend, we may very well be seeing the passing of the torch. Shogun is considered by many to be the greatest light heavyweight fighter in MMA history, but Jon Jones looks like the man who may reinvent the division altogether.

But in order to take the title as the greatest light heavyweight of all time, Jones will need to get through these seven steps.

7. Improve Standup Technique

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LAS VEGAS - JULY 11: (R-L) Jon Jones connects with a right punch on Jake O'Brein during their light heavyweight bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jones defeated O'Brein by second round tapout. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

No one denies that Jon Jones has the technical skill to be one of the, if not the, best fighter on the planet. As a former JUCO National Champion wrestler with tremendous power given his frame, the base for Jones’ game is already solid.

The biggest question mark in his game, and perhaps the thing that Shogun Rua can exploit at UFC 128, may be Jones’ standup.

With a reach of 84.5 in, “Bones” is well known for having the longest reach in UFC history. But given his relatively low amount of experience in mixed martial arts, Jones doesn’t display particularly excellent technique on his feet.

Yes, he is inventive and yes, he can do some ridiculous damage. But striking isn’t all about offensive skills. Sometimes your defense is every bit as important as your offense. For Jones, defense is the area for concern.

When Jones throws punches, those with more experience than I have observed that he regularly leaves himself open to counter strikes. This is particularly true when he starts throwing powerful combos, as he often throws punches and lets his hands drop versus bringing them back up to his chin.

Shogun is the type of fighter who preys on this type of mistake, and it could be a major factor when these two elite fighters clash on Mar. 19.

Then again, Jones’ reach advantage affords him the ability to do things that might spell disaster for other fighters. He hasn't been caught yet, so time will tell if this is a legitimate concern or just pointless nitpicking.

6. Defeat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua To Win UFC Light Heavyweight Title

It’s not common to see a 23-year-old kid in his first title challenge listed as the betting favorite by the major sports books.

But that’s what we have at UFC 128 when Jon Jones faces Shogun Rua.

Experts believe that Jones is not only going to be competitive with his more experienced opponent, but that he is actually more likely to win the fight. He’s not a huge favorite but the fact that Jones is listed as the favorite speaks worlds of how confident the odds-makers are that Jones is already the best light heavyweight in the world.

But even if he’s unable to beat Shogun, it won’t be the end of the world for Jones. In fact, Shogun suffered a loss early in his career when he faced Renato “Babalu” Sobral in just his fifth professional fight. He was able to recover and continue on his path to greatness.

Jones has only been fighting for about three years, and he still has plenty of time to hone his craft.

If he does win, though, the UFC may very well be looking at another dominant, seemingly unbeatable champion like Anderson Silva or Georges St. Pierre.

5. Defend the Title Against Top Competition

Defeating “Shogun” Rua is a great start, but it won’t be the final step in Jones’ ascension to the top of the all time light heavyweight rankings.

In order to truly be the best of all time, he will need to be a fighting champion. He’ll need to be one who defends the title three-plus times per year and does so against all comers—even friends.

Jones and the man he replaced in the title fight at UFC 128, Rashad Evans, have taken a lot of heat recently from the media, fans, and even UFC President Dana White when they decided they did not want to fight one another.

Dana White famously bashed the fighters, claiming that they really couldn’t be that good of friends considering they just met one another a few months back.

It has since been learned that the fighters are willing to fight if, and only if, it’s for the title.

If Jones wants to be considered the best of all time, beating Rashad Evans and other top fighters like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, and Forrest Griffin is going to be important.

4. Stay Motivated and Healthy

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LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 01: Mixed martial artist Jon Jones arrives at the third annual Fighters Only World Mixed Martial Arts Awards 2010 at the Palms Casino Resort December 1, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

How many times have we seen a fighter look like he is going to be the most dominant man in the history of his division, only to see him succumb to the bright lights of being a champion, or get injured?

It happens seemingly at least once every year.

Guys like BJ Penn, Chuck Liddell, Brandon Vera, and Mark Kerr have all been noted as fighters who were at or nearing the top of their respective class when injuries, lack of concentration, or a combination of both led to them slipping.

Talent alone can only take someone so far. At a certain point, determination is the most important thing a fighter can have.

Jones appears to be highly dedicated, and there is no reason for us to question that yet, but things can change when the belt is around your waste and the whole world is slapping you on the back and saying, “you’re the best” instead of, “you could be the best.”

3. “Prove It” in a Rematch Against Shogun

One of the tough things about winning a title in MMA is that it so rarely happens that a challenger wins the title in a convincing enough fashion that the previous champion doesn’t get a rematch.

As we saw with the Machida vs. Shogun matches, sometimes even when the challenger comes close but falls short, we even see an immediate rematch.

If Jon Jones is able to defeat Shogun and win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, no matter how he does it, there will inevitably be fans and members of Shogun’s camp that call for a rematch.

It’d be hard to debate that Shogun would deserve it given his track record. His punishing knockouts over Lyoto Machida, Chuck Liddell, Alistair Overeem, and Rampage Jackson show that he is capable of beating anyone on any night.

Jones may be the present and future of the division, but look for the UFC to give Rua a rematch if he loses the belt. He might need to win a fight or two to get it, or it could be like BJ Penn when he lost to his UFC Lightweight Championship to Frankie Edgar and he received an immediate rematch.

2. Enjoy a Long, Consistent Career

The mark of a true champion is not just someone who excels in the short-term, but in the long-term as well.

Fighters like Shogun Rua, Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson have all held championships at 205 pounds, but they have also been successful for a long period of time.

Meanwhile, fighters like Forrest Griffin, Vitor Belfort, and Tito Ortiz were all champions themselves, but don’t realistically have a claim to being the greatest light heavyweight of all time.

Many people have made the comparisons of Jon Jones’ early career to Vitor Belfort’s rise to success when he first started. Belfort defeated Randy Couture to win his first title, but his career after that was filled with many peaks and valleys.

But the scariest thing about Jon Jones is that, at 23 years old, he has probably not even reached his prime yet. If he can continue to grow as a fighter, stay committed, and avoid losses to questionable opponents, it will go a long way toward his own claim as the best 205 pounder in history.

1. Get Out Before Father Time Catches Up

Jones is one of the youngest fighters in the sport’s history to have a chance at holding a championship belt in one of the major promotions. His rise to the elite is something that is extremely rare in any sport, but especially mixed martial arts.

Most fighters need years and years of training before they are able to fight and defeat the best in the world in the manner that Jones has been doing it. He has defied the odds by shooting up the rankings in what may be the deepest division in mixed martial arts.

If “Bones” does win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship this weekend, his record will look a lot like the one Fedor Emelianenko had put together when he won the PRIDE Heavyweight Championship.

Like Jones, Fedor had mowed through most of his competition on his way to facing a Brazilian MMA legend, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. But also like Jones, he had suffered a “technical” loss that most experts completely disregard.

From the day he won his title, Fedor would go on an unbelievable streak of 18 straight wins before he finally lost back-to-back fights in his two most recent Strikeforce appearances.

But despite Emelianenko’s unbelievable career, when he lost back-to-back fights, people began to question whether he was really as good as his record indicated. In fact, UFC President Dana White infamously went on a Twitter rampage, ripping Fedor’s fans after his most recent loss to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

The man had run through the world’s heavyweight division for the better part of a decade but there were still people who were unconvinced that he was the best ever after the losses.

Jones has a long career ahead of him, and hopefully, he’ll be making enough money that he doesn’t have to continue to fight for the rest of his life. He could retire at 30 years old and still have fought for a decade.

But fans are fickle. If he doesn’t retire at the right time and he starts getting beat near the end of his career, there will inevitably be detractors who will refuse to give him the credit he has earned, even if he has completely smashed his opponents in the past.

When it comes to being the consensus “greatest of all time”, it’s not just about being great during your prime. The old song comes to mind, “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.”

If Jones would like to someday be known as the greatest light heavyweight of all time, he will have to continue his impressive career, but also time his eventual retirement just right.

UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones Fight Card, Results, News and More.