UFC 135: Exploring the Parallels Between Jon Jones and Anthony Pettis

Upon first glance, there's not much you would think these two have in common.

Jon Jones is the UFC light heavyweight champion and the youngest champion in UFC history.

Anthony Pettis was the final WEC lightweight champion. He lost out on his UFC title shot due to a draw between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard and his own loss to Clay Guida.

One thing these two do have plainly in common is that they are very young and both are elite fighters.

Both are 24 years old and held belts at the age of 23.

They have a bit more in common than that, though.

Both fighters went 6-0 prior to being signed by the UFC/WEC.

Further down the line, these two each lost their first fight, both in controversial fashion.

Pettis' loss came in the form of a split decision to Bart Palaszewski at WEC 45; Jones' loss came via DQ due to illegal elbows to Matt Hamill at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale.

It could be argued that both of those losses could have been wins on the fighters' records, and they could both theoretically be undefeated.

In both of their next fights, they came back in resounding fashion.

Pettis won via KO and earned knockout of the night honors, defeating Danny Castillo in the first round. Jones won via TKO and also earned knockout of the night honors, defeating Brandon Vera in the first round.

Two fights later, it happened again.

Pettis submitted Shane Roller with a triangle choke (his third one) and earned submission of the night honors. Jones submitted Ryan Bader with a guillotine choke (his third one) and he too earned submission of the night honors.

In their next fights, they each fought for and earned their respective titles. Jones won the UFC light heavyweight belt; Pettis won the WEC lightweight belt.

Pettis was then absolved into the UFC lightweight division, and was supposed to fight against the winner of the Frankie Edgar-Gray Maynard title fight.

They fought to a draw, and Pettis decided to put his No. 1 contender status on the line—or defend his No. 1 contender status, if you will—against Clay Guida.

Pettis dropped a unanimous decision to the underdog Guida.

After Jones defeated Ryan Bader, he was offered a title shot against Shogun Rua.

We all know what happened, as Jones was able to handle Shogun easily and win the title.

Tonight, Jones takes on Rampage Jackson in the first defense of his title, and Rampage is a huge underdog.

If the parallels between these two are to continue, then Jones may be in for a rude awakening.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @tmt2393.

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