Jon Jones: Breaking Down 7 Keys to His UFC Domination

It's no surprise that Jon Jones has taken the MMA community by storm. "Bones" burst onto the seen against Jake O'Brien on The UFC's biggest stage: UFC 100. After dismantling O'Brien like a reverse Transformer, Jones showed no signs of slowing down.

Since then, Jones has become a superstar and risen as quickly as the sport itself.

Here are the seven keys to his domination of The UFC.  

Key #1: Style

Whether it's spinning back fists, flashy front kicks, or coming at his opponents with unpredictable combos, Jones is a threat to anyone he steps in the cage with. 

His wrestling is top notch, his striking is confusing, and he's better conditioned than a free trial of Head and Shoulders.

These all lead to an exciting, hard to defend style that ultimately leads to Jones' ability to finish fights.

Key #2: Timing

Just like Hughes defeating Gracie ushered in the new school of mainstream fighters almost a decade ago, Jon Jones is the first to usher in a new breed of fighter.

Stylish, marketable, and sponsor friendly, Jones gained super stardom by finishing fights in the most entertaining ways imaginable and he's only getting better.

The UFC's Hughes-Era fighters were starting to age into the twilight of their careers and fans were ready to find their new golden boy. The timing was perfect for a superstar to be born and develop right before our eyes.

Key #3: Reach

84.5 inches.

That's 34.5 inches per arm.

With 34.5 inch arms, Jones can grab a penny from the shallow end of an Olympic sized pool without getting his face wet.

With 34.5 inch arms, Jones can touch the top and bottom of Lil Wayne's new rims.

With 34.5 inch arms, Jones' left arm is a full 11 inches longer than the worlds smallest man.

With 34.5 inch arms, Jones can also punch anyone in The UFC with enough distance left over to not get punched back.

Jones' 84.5 inch reach is the longest in The UFC and he uses that advantage to not take as much damage as he dishes out.

Key #4: Marketing

Jones isn't as protected as say, Michael Bisping, but Jones has been quietly ushered into super stardom by his bosses at The UFC. He's appeared on more talk shows than any other fighter in the UFC, not to mention radio shows, award shows and clothing line debuts.

His beef with Rampage Jackson played out on a national scale with features on both MMA Junkie and Yahoo! Sports, both of which ran multiple spotlights before their UFC 135 headlining bout.

Another feud with Rashad Evans has also played out in a less publicized fashion but it still helps with making Jon Jones a household name. Always portrayed as the "good guy," Jones gets the best of these feuds and tends to back up the image with wins inside the cage.  

Key #5: Camps

Jones is a stand out in Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico. Jackson lays claim to coaching some of the most high profile talent in The UFC, Jones included.

Training with fighters like Melvin Guillard, Brian Stann, and (formerly) Rashad Evans, will propell any fighter from good to great.

With a willingness to learn and a work ethic rivaled by none, Jones absorbs the knowledge passed down from Team Jackson like a ShamWow. 

Most importantly, he takes that knowledge and punishes his opponents like they owe him money.

Key #6: Youth

If becoming the youngest UFC champion in history isn't enough, it gets worse—he's getting better.

If you watch his fights in sequence, you'll notice Jones attempting more and more techniques in his early bouts and all but mastering those techniques in his most recent fights.

Jones has a solid seven years left in his prime, which is good news for him and very, very bad news for anyone weighing close to 205 pounds.

Key #7: Teasing

The so called "superfight" between UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and George St. Pierre appears to be more and more of a pipe dream. But the chance of Anderson Silva fighting Jon Jones seems more and more of possibility. 

Silva has made the Twinkie laden journey from 185 to 205 pounds twice before and Jones, who's small for a light heavyweight, could potentially make his way down to 185.

The chance of "Superfight II: The College Years" has MMA fans salivating at the ever-turning rumor mill.

As the two continue to clean out their respective divisions, the gap between their eventual meeting seems to be getting smaller and smaller.

As they climb the pound for pound rankings, it becomes impossible not to wonder what would happen if the two most explosive fighters in the sport finally met.