UFC 135 Results: Is Jon Jones the Anderson Silva of Light Heavyweights?

At UFC 135, Jon "Bones" Jones dominated Quinton "Rampage" Jackson en route to a fourth-round chokeout victory in his first defense of the UFC light-heavyweight belt.

Throughout the contest, Jones employed unorthodox strikes, holds and even fighting stances to confuse, brutalize and, it seemed at times, almost hypnotize Jackson. The win ran the 24-year-old Jones' MMA record to 14-1.

The diversity and artistry of Jones' attack immediately brought another dominant fighter to mind: middleweight champion Anderson Silva. So is it fair to think of Jones as the Silva of the light-heavyweight division?

Short answer: yes. Yes, it is.

It is not only the way in which Jones attacks that makes this an apt comparison; it is the accuracy and the consistent excellence of the results. Neither man attempts to be exciting merely for excitement's sake. They do it because it flows out of them naturally, and because it makes them pretty darn hard to prepare for, much less fight.

They also share a propensity for attacking from the outside, and for a relatively extended feeling-out period followed by increasingly frequent bursts of activity. They both love to attack from all angles; they strike using all the points of the body, and also work to finish in the ground phase (though Jones probably does this more so than Silva).

Finally, though it is just a coincidence, Jackson's wide eyes and gaping mouth closely mirrored the helpless look of another MMA legend caught in a similar position, Dan Henderson, just before he tapped out of Silva's rear naked choke in their 2008 UFC/Pride title unification bout.

Jones has a long way to go before he is on the level of Silva. Everyone does, seeing as how Silva is the best fighter in the world at the moment. But their unbridled success at the highest levels, and the electrifying and unique methods each uses to attain it, put them in a club with few, if any, other members.

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