7 Reasons Jon Jones Will Be the Best UFC Fighter Ever

Thirty years from now, Jon Jones will be one of the athletes you'll be sure to tell your grandchildren about.

He can't claim he is the best UFC fighter ever just yet—that distinction probably belongs to Anderson Silva and his ridiculous string of title defenses—but Jones has already established himself as a pound-for-pound great. The title of "Best Ever" isn't too far behind.

Jones' rise to the top of the UFC's marquee division has been nothing short of spectacular. Following a run to a title shot that included wins over veterans such as Stephan Bonnar and Vladimir Matyushenko, Jones has defeated four consecutive former champions to claim the belt and keep it.

Defeating a string of champions like Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans is a task that is unparalleled in the sport.

However, for Jones to earn the title "Best Ever" and continue to build upon his legacy, he will need to continue his dominant reign while continuing to fight the best in the world.

Here are seven reasons why "Bones" will be able to do just that.

Dominance

With Jon Jones, it isn't that he beats the fighters he has beaten that makes him special—it's the fact he dominates them.

Early in his career Jones has established a dominance over opponents that we have only seen from the likes of Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre. Opponents spend more time trying to figure out how to beat Jones than they do actually mounting an offense.

It's very rare to witness a moment in a fight where Jones isn't completely in control. It wasn't even until his fight with Lyoto Machida—the 10th of his UFC career—that we ever saw Jones get tagged with a solid strike.

How did he respond? By shrugging it off and going on to dominate Machida in the second round en route to a second-round submission victory.

Even when Jones is unable to get the finish he is able to dominate. Jones' latest title defense against Rashad Evans was a great example of his ability to control an entire fight from start to finish, as he used creative striking and distance to completely and utterly neutralize any attack that Evans had on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Jones' ability to look miles ahead of his competition is what has made him the fastest rising star in the company's history and a lock to become a legend of the sport.

Creativity

"What was that?"

There's a chance you've uttered these words if you've ever seen a Jon Jones fight; the techniques he uses can be far from usual.

From the chin strikes that he used to loosen up Ryan Bader's defenses on the ground to the jumping shoulder strikes he employed against Rashad Evans in the clinch, Jones isn't afraid to try something new in the octagon.

All of the greatest fighters in MMA history have the ability to adapt and make changes to the game plan on the fly, and Jones has that ability in spades.

Jones' creativity has no ceiling and it's hard to tell what kind of bizarre techniques we will see from him next. After Jones' beatdown of Evans, which included the use of the aforementioned shoulder strikes and standing elbow strikes, Jones referred to his striking as "elementary."

If that's what Jones considers to be elementary, we can plan on him continuing to unleash new ways to devastate his opponents every time out.

Size

To watch Jon Jones fight, it quickly becomes apparent his size gives him a tremendous advantage as a light heavyweight. However, to simply say he is dominant because of his size is both lazy and false.

At 6'4" with a freakish reach of 84.5" Jones looks just as much like a basketball player as he does a fighter. However, it isn't enough to simply have size. Jones isn't dominant simply because he is extremely rangy.

It's the way Jones uses his size that makes him nearly unstoppable. Jones makes it nearly impossible to close the immense gap between him and his opponent without eating a firm jab or taking a kick to the kneecap.

Jones' understanding and utilization of finding his range in the standup game have allowed him to slowly pick his opponents apart from the outside and allow him to dictate where the fight takes place.

Even when/if Jones moves up the heavyweight division (more on that later), finding a way to close the gap and neutralize Jones' range advantage will be a tough task for most opponents to solve throughout his career.

Versatility

The largest reason for the current aura of invincibility that Jon Jones has is the fact that his game is so complete.

Most fighters with an extensive background in wrestling come in to the sport of MMA with very underdeveloped striking and rely heavily on their wrestling until they develop some skills on their feet. Jones has the skill set to win anywhere the fight goes.

Jones has picked opponents apart on the feet, he's wore opponents down with his signature ground-and-pound elbows and he's delivered dynamic strikes and throws from the clinch. The only place we haven't seen Jones display brilliance is from his back—it could be a while before someone can put him in that position.

If Rashad Evans—who trained with Jones for years—couldn't expose any weaknesses in Jones' game, it's hard to imagine anyone being able to exploit them (if he has any) in the near future.

Greg Jackson

So much of success in MMA is dependent upon having the right game plan and sticking to it.

While improvisation and adjusting on the fly is a requirement for success, solid game-planning gives a fighter the best chance for success, and luckily for Jon Jones he's coached by the best strategist in the business.

Greg Jackson is the MMA equivalent to Bill Belichick when it comes to strategic genius. Jackson's acumen for game-planning and all things strategy are a perfect match for Jones—a master in his own right at being disciplined and patient in slowly breaking his opponent down.

Jackson has played an integral role in the development of Jones from a raw yet promising prospect to polished, dynamic champion and should continue to play a role in Jones becoming the greatest fighter in the history of the UFC.

Drive

Here's where Jon Jones' perceived arrogance comes into play.

Call it arrogance, call it confidence, but either way Jones is very aware of the potential he has. You can tell by what he says he can see the whole picture when it comes to his legacy.

After Jones' second title defense against Lyoto Machida, it would be easy to justify Jones becoming a bit complacent and satisfied with his position. Unfortunately for his opponents, that's just not how he works.

Instead, Jones looked beyond future opponents Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson, entertaining the idea of taking on a top-10 heavyweight for the fans.

This is a perfect example of when Jones' detractors will rush to say that Jones is cocky, arrogant, disrespectful, etc. However, this is just another example of the vision Jones has for his future.

To an extent every great athlete in the history of sports has been arrogant—it's what drives them to become the dominant athletes they are.

Michael Jordan was perhaps one of the most driven athletes in the history of sports. His drive led him to dominate the NBA en route to six NBA titles and multiple personal accolades on his way to becoming widely recognized as the greatest basketball player that ever lived.

Jones admitted to believing his own hype on the program SportsNite while hyping his fight with Evans, but Jones also stressed that he is working to make his hype come true. So while some may consider that cocky or arrogant, Jones' aspiration to continually expand his legacy will ultimately drive him to become the best fighter in UFC history.

Potential

The most important reason Jon Jones will go down as the best fighter in UFC history is the massive potential that he has.

When all is said and done and Jones eventually retires from the sport, there's no telling how impressive his resume could be. He could have just as many title defenses as Anderson Silva in a division that is arguably much more difficult to navigate.

He could be a multiple division champion, as it's only a matter of time before he eventually moves up to heavyweight. With a skill set like Jones', even heavyweights would have a difficult time figuring him out and that's before he puts on the required bulk to compete in the heavyweight division.

With Jones' marketability, it's hard to tell how big of a star he will be, but with a rumored sponsorship with one of the major shoe companies coming, according to Jones' manager Malki Kawa, the likelihood of Jones becoming the UFC's biggest mainstream star is already becoming a reality.

The reality of Jones becoming the best UFC fighter of all time won't be too far behind.