Jones vs. Machida Recap: Jones' Versatility Leads Him Past Machida

Jon Jones used every weapon in his arsenal to defeat Lyoto Machida tonight.

Jones put Machida to sleep with a choke hold in the second round, and he continues his dominance in the light heavyweight division.

I have to say, for the first eight minutes of that fight, I thought we might see a new champion. I’ve said all week long that Jones would destroy Machida because of his reach advantage, but Machida took it to Jones early.

Machida rocked Jones in the first round, and it was the first time we ever saw Jones in trouble inside the octagon. Jones quickly recovered and landed a few strikes in the second round. He capitalized after nailing Machida in the second round, took him down and dropped a brutal elbow that cut Machida open.

After that, the fight was all Jones. Jones landed a left cross that dropped Machida, and then, he secured the choke hold. With the victory, I can’t help but look forward and think what’s next for Jones.

Obviously, everyone wants to see him against Rashad Evans, and if Evans gets by Phil Davis, that will be Jones next task. That will be a big one folks, and Evans is the one guy that I think can challenge Jones for his title.

I’m not saying he can beat Jones, but I am saying that he’s the only guy in the division that can. Jones is just too good, and he proved with his victory over Machida tonight that he can come back and win when things aren’t going his way.

The sky is the limit for Jones, and we’ve been saying this for quite some time now. Tonight, he actually looked human for a round or two, but in the end, he stopped yet another tough opponent and looks like he’s on a completely different level than the rest of the group.