Thursday, January 29, 2009

Jon Jones' quest

I asked a few in the MMA loop their thoughts on Jon Jones and his bout with Stephan Bonnar Saturday at UFC 94. They either never heard of him or only knew of him, and all wanted to know more about him, so I jumped at the chance to pen a feature on Jones for Junkie and learned he's extremely mature for a 21 year old, who is also a father and soon to be engaged.

Once Jones arrived in Las Vegas this week, he declined a room at the host MGM Grand, optiong to stay 10 minutes off the strip to avoid the myriad of distractions Sin City along throws at you. Bonnar has been out of action for a year, recovering from a serious injury and still rebuidling a reputation soiled when he tested positive for steriods after his second with with Forrest Griffin. Yet Jones' limited MMA experience has him listed as an underdog.

That's exactly how he wants it. This quote from Jones sums up what he's all about:

"The reality of this thing is I have 15 minutes to prove to everyone, and to myself, that I belong in the octagon. People tend to hype you up a lot and tell you you're going to be the next great thing. I don't need that. I need reality. Reality is I'm the underdog, and I need to come with everything."

Fan comments were plentiful and intelligent, which the many having Jones winning the fight. I concur. Jones takes a huge step up the ladder with a second-round TKO.

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