UFC 128 Prediction: Mauricio Rua vs Jon Jones Who Will Bring the Belt Home ?

With his victory over fellow rising star Ryan Bader, Jon Jones was quickly offered to replace Rashad Evans to fight for the UFC’s Light Heavyweight belt. Without hesitation, Jones Jumped on the opportunity and accepted the fight.

A big question that will be asked by many who will view this fight is: Can Jon Jones defeat the current champion in Shogun Rua? My prediction would have to be a no.

Why do I think that? 

Shogun is more physically powerful then Jones, and his Muay thai is just some of the most brutal that the UFC has ever seen, which was clearly demonstrated in his knockout victory over Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in their rematch back in May of 2010 after a controversial decision loss to Machida prior to that fight. 

Also, something to take into consideration is that Shogun also faced much higher competition then Jones has (Rampage, Overeem, Nogueira and Liddell, for example).

However, Jon Jones does posses that unorthodox style that can present some problems to the current champion, not to mention that his wrestling is very good as well, as was shown in his fight with Ryan Bader. He dominated the entire fight against the bigger, stronger fighter, eventually sinking in a modified guillotine choke. 

I know that some people might say that Jones’s wrestling could be the key factor for him winning the fight.

But we should not forget that Shogun is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, and is very capable of handling himself if the fight hits the ground, better, I think, than any of Jon Jones previous opponents.

So I am not saying that Jones cannot win this fight; I just think that Shogun is too strong and too powerful for the title challenger, and also has much more experience.   

I’d have to say that, of the key factors in this fight, striking is fairly even, Shogun has the edge in terms of power and strength but Jones will have the edge in wrestling and reach.

A lot of factors play left and right with this fight, but i would have to give this fight to Champ, Shogun Rua By TKO in the second round.