UFC 128 Fight Card: Is Jon Jones Ready for Shogun Rua?

April 12, 2008. Doesn't seem like such an important a day, does it?

Rampage Jackson was the light heavyweight champion, and he was coaching on The Ultimate Fighter against Forrest Griffin.

Anderson Silva had just beaten Dan Henderson a month before, and a week later, Georges St-Pierre would reclaim his title from Matt Serra.

While all this was going on, Mauricio Rua was rehabbing his knee that he injured in training for his UFC debut against Forrest Griffin. In the midst of all this, a young fighter was making his pro debut.

Jon Jones defeated Brad Bernard and won his first professional fight by TKO after only 1:32.

At the time Jones made his debut, Shogun was already a legend of the sport.

Over the next three months, Jones fought five more times and improved his record to 6-0.

Jones was then signed to the UFC, and in his debut, he defeated Andre Gusmao via unanimous decision on the undercard of UFC 87.

Rua was the next of the two to fight, and after a 16-month layoff, Shogun defeated Mark Coleman via TKO in the third round.

Shogun was now 17-3, and his biggest win was over Ricardo Arona when he won the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix. Jones was 7-0, and his biggest win was Andre Gusmao.

Bit of a discrepancy, no?

Two weeks after Shogun beat Coleman, Jones faced off against Stephan Bonnar. In one of his best performances inside the Octagon, Jones won a unanimous decision over The Ultimate Fighter: Season 1 runner up.

Shogun still has a pretty large edge over Jones.

Fast forward two years. Shogun is 19-4, the UFC LHW Champion, and looks primed for a long title reign. Jones is 12-1 (a DQ loss); his biggest win is over Ryan Bader, and he is the No. 1 contender to Shogun's belt.

Shogun is a legend of the sport. He is a black belt in BJJ, and he has some of the most vicious striking in MMA history.

Jon Jones is a 23-year-old kid. He is a former JUCO Wrestling National Champion, and he is one of the most unorthodox strikers in the UFC.

Shogun made his pro debut when Jones was graduating school—middle school that is.

Taking all of this into account, we can only wonder.

Is Jones ready for Shogun?

In every single performance, Jones has gotten better. He has breezed through all of his competition, and has never been in any danger of losing a fight.

Every time he has fought, it has been his "toughest challenge yet," and none of them have challenged him.

Brandon Vera came into the UFC with aspirations of being the first fighter to simultaneously hold belts in two different weight classes.

Vladimir Matyushenko was 24-4 and was the former IFL Light Heavyweight Champion.

Ryan Bader was 12-0 and was The Ultimate Fighter: Season 8 winner.

Jones is about to take another step up in competition and fight a legend of the sport.

Jones will either breeze through this and show that he is untouchable, or Shogun will offer some real competition for him.

Jones is absolutely ready for this fight. Look for Jones to dominate or expect a Fight of the Year candidate.

I say Jones is ready for this, but we'll all find out on March 19.

Think I'm right? Think I'm wrong?

Sound off in the comments.

UFC 128: Shogun Rua vs. Jon Jones: Results, News and More