What difference a day makes. A quick prologue before you begin reading this week's edition of Thy Kingdom Come.
There have been numerous times after UFC 182: Jones vs Cormier where I've tried to force myself to sit down and compose this opinion piece on UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones. However every time I have tried, I've been distracted.
For once in my life I have to applaud my short attention span, because had I wrote this on Monday, it would have been totally obsolete by now. A day is a long time in MMA, let alone a week.
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by Andreas Georgiou - @AGeorgiouMMA
At UFC 182, Jon Jones used his clinching, his strength, his reach to out-class and easily dispatch of Daniel Cormier, his fiercest rival to-date, but not his toughest test.
Cormier struggled the whole fight; except for round two and possibly three, to get his shots through to Jones, and it took him nearly 25 minutes to take the light-heavyweight champion down ONCE.
Whereas, in the fourth, "Bones" continuously broke his opponent's spirits with numerous takedowns, polarising the story that favoured Cormier in the wrestling department.
With a man broken, and another victim added to Jones' growing list of formidable opponents, the Jackson's Gym fighter continued to tease Cormier, through teeth of gritted hatred.
Dana White announced, despite the low attendance of 11,575 and gate $3,700,000, that the pay-per-view had blown away the original estimates of 750,000 buys, with the actual total expected to be just under one million.
Jones pocketed $500k to Cormier's $90k in terms of salary, which in itself shows the high regard that the promotion have for their 27 year-old champion, but is he the greatest of all time?
Honestly, no.
What Jones has done in the sport, in such a short time, at such a young age is nothing short of phenomena. He's decimated every test the UFC have put in front of him and by doing so has rightfully cemented himself as the "pound for poud" best MMA fighter on the planet, well if you believe in that sort of thing.
When you look at the dauntingly long list of fighters Jones has put to bed, it's scary. From Lyoto Machida, to Chael Sonnen, to "Shogun" Rua, he's beaten strikers, grapplers, wrestlers, lovers, haters, he's beat them all. So why isn't he considered the greatest of all time?
Look at it, look at the phrase. The greatest of all time. Not only must one be great, but one's greatness must transcend time and space, it must surpass a single generation, to be the greatest there ever was, you must excel both in the cage, and outside it, too.
The booming force behind the original no-holds-barred Ultimate Fighting. Royce Gracie took North America by storm after his emphatic victory at UFC 1. Jiu-jitsu was fairly unknown in the western world, and was underrated in every aspect of sport by westerners. Alas, Gracie stood tall in Denver, Colorado having introduced the most bad-ass, painfully awesome martial art the world had ever seen.
Anderson Silva, one of the most brash, arrogant and gifted fighters to ever enter the cage. During a time when the UFC needed stability, during it's major growth period, Silva brought that to them. He defeated every single American, Canadian, International hero put in front of him, and for the most part he didn't even seem interested in what his opponent's could do.
Fedor Emelianeko stood as the most fearsome fighter for over a decade, prior to his set-backs in Strikeforce, "The Last Emperor" was truly considered the last of a lineage of great fighters. He not only helped mixed martial arts grow in Russia, but his homeland recognised the achievements that Fedor had bestowed upon their nation with numerous high prestige awards.
Above are just a few examples of; in my eyes, some of the greatest men to ever fight martial arts. They gave their lives to the sport, they accomplished everything possible during their time period and unquestionably left their mark on the sport.
In five years time, will we still be talking about Jones? Of course we will, he has unlimited potential. Just this past week, after already making himself disliked by the public during the Cormier fight build up, his notoriety hit another blockade. Jones tested positive from cocaine metabolites in a December 4 pre-fight drugs test, thrusting himself into an unwanted media spotlight.
The New York fighter checked himself into rehab, and God willing he will become a better man, father, husband and fighter from this. Even the greatest make mistakes, but Jones must learn from this if he wants to be considered the best there ever is, was and will be.
Upon his' return, the world will be watching. Some to see him fail, others intrigued from his mainstream nonsense, but a few who truly believe his ability is second-to-none. Will we, one day, be able to list his name next to those of Silva, Fedor and Gracie? I hope we can.
He became a champion, he dominated, he now faces adversity, he will either come out of this a greater fighter, a better role model, or he will fall in the shadows of the legends that have walked before him.
The story of Jon Jones is far from over, in fact, i'm unsure if it has even begun, and because of that, he must wait in patience before he can call himself the greatest ever.
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