Future Champ? Jon Jones Talks about Brandon Vera and the Dangers of MMA

Matt Hamill looked pretty bad following the fight.

In early December, Hamill squared off with fast-rising UFC light heavyweight prospect Jon Jones. The result was not pretty. Hamill suffered a deep cut on the bridge of his nose, and he had a badly injured shoulder.

The fight did not even last one full round.

On the other hand, Jones was in perfect shape. He did not have any markings on him. It did not even appear as if he was involved in a fight.

Nevertheless, Hamill was declared the winner, and Jones suffered his first defeat.

Due to a somewhat obscure rule, Jones was disqualified for using "12 to 6" elbows on Hamill. Basically, a 12 to 6 elbow involves dropping your elbow straight down to an opponent’s head. As Jones was on top firing off countless unanswered punches, he decided to switch his strategy and start dropping the illegal elbows.

That is when the disqualification happened. Jones would say at the post-fight press conference that he never even knew the rule existed.

Hamill, however, did not tell his side of the story. He was not there. He had already left the arena for the hospital.

The former amateur wrestling star was diagnosed with a grade 2 shoulder separation and dislocation. He also received multiple stitches in his nose.

"I try not to think about it that way," Jones said, when asked if he was concerned about permanently injuring Hamill. "I would never intentionally try to hurt someone—I mean to try to give them a career-ending injury."

Mixed martial arts is obviously a very rough sport. Two guys going into a cage to fight is certainly dangerous.

"It’s what we signed up for," Jones said. "One day, I may be in a situation like that—I could get messed up pretty good, but I am prepared for that."

Now, Jones is preparing for his next opponent. He is set to take on Muay-Thai specialist Brandon Vera in the main event on the first ever UFC show on Versus. The card will air on Sunday, March 21.

Vera is a big step-up in competition for Jones. The former heavyweight fighter has already fought three prior UFC champions—Frank Mir, Tim Sylvia, and Randy Couture. Vera is 1-2 in those fights.

He wiped out an unprepared Mir, who was in no real shape to fight and lost a snooze-fest to Sylvia. Vera also lost a controversial decision to Couture last November.

Jones, who has only been fighting professionally for about two years, is not concerned about the experience disadvantage.

"I definitely feel ready to fight Brandon Vera," Jones said. "I wouldn’t take a fight I thought I would lose."

Should Jones defeat Vera, he would likely vault himself into immediate contention for a chance at the light heavyweight championship, but Jones is not looking past the formidable opposition right in front of him.

"Title shot isn’t even what I’m thinking about," Jones said. "Brandon Vera is the title shot. I’m not looking past him. He’s in the way of my ultimate dream—the light heavyweight title."

Jones believes that he will make a strong showing but stopped short of guaranteeing victory against Vera.

"I can’t control the outcome, but I can control my effort," Jones said about the fight. "I predict that I will put out an amazing effort. I am definitely going to put out some amazing techniques."

In order to get ready for Vera, Jones is going to use his experience from the Hamill fight.

"I attacked Matt Hamill at his strength—wrestling," Jones said. "What I learned from the fight is to not doubt my own abilities. I learned to not give people credit for their strengths."

"Brandon Vera is supposed to be such a great Muay-Thai striker? I’m going to let him prove that he is."

For that to happen, Jones is going to have to put himself at risk for injury. He could very well leave the octagon in the same condition Hamill did.

"I train very hard," Jones said, when asked if he is worried about getting hurt. "I train for the worst but hope for the best. You have to be crazy enough to embrace the risk."

The physical preparation Jones goes through is only half of getting ready. The other half is the mental. The young phenom is very aware that there always will be the potential for injury in any mixed martial arts fight.

"I know that if I don't try to do it to him, he's going to try and do it to me."