UFC on Fox 5: Jon Jones Says Rory MacDonald Will 'Finish' B.J. Penn

"Bones Knows" that Rory MacDonald will finish B.J. Penn at UFC on Fox 5.

That would be quite a feat for MacDonald, especially considering that Penn is notorious for being one of the hardiest fighters in the UFC.

In 26 professional fights at various weight classes, "The Prodigy" has only been finished in the Octagon once—by UFC legend Matt Hughes. Georges St-Pierre technically stopped Penn in their January 2009 superfight at UFC 94 as well, but not by his own hands—Penn's corner threw in the towel after four grueling rounds of punishment.

UFC president Dana White visited Jon Jones on the set of The Ultimate Fighter during filming for the UFC on Fox 5 video blog (segment at 5:40), where Jones made some bold predictions for the upcoming Fox event:

"

I got Rory MacDonald on that fight. I think he's going to finish [Penn]. I respect B.J. a lot, but B.J.'s a guy who's gotten a little comfortable, I think. [With] Rory, it's another one of those things—experience versus ambition. I give ambition the edge every time, being a young guy.

"

Bones also picked Ben Henderson to win his second title defense this weekend, stating that while challenger Nate Diaz was good at many aspects of MMA, Henderson was plain "better" in every area where "Diaz" is simply "good" at them.

Although opposing TUF coach Chael Sonnen picked Diaz and Penn to win their respective fights, Jones agreed with his rival on the two other main card bouts featuring Mauricio Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson and Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown.

"Bones" stated that youth and ambition would push the rangy Gustafsson to defeat Rua, while he also favored Swick to beat gritty veteran Brown.

Jones and Sonnen will be featured Tuesday nights on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter in January—a move predicated by poor Friday night ratings for TUF: Live and TUF 16. Once filming for TUF 17 is over, Sonnen is expected to challenge Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, making that his third title bout in five fights.