Thursday 26 September 2013

One of the Greatest Champions of All Times and a New Superstar



For the first time in his career Jon Jones, in his match up against Alexander Gustafsson has been put in a fight which did not provide him with a comfortable control of the distance.

Staying in the pocket often complemented sweede’s style and staying outside just proved what an important factor the size of Gustafsson was in this fight.  Alex’s constant target reaching jabs, wonderful footwork and unbelievable wrestling defence in his fight for the Light-heavyweight title of the world has shocked the community of Mixed Martial Arts. Behold, a new superstar has emerged.

It would be complicated to find another fighter who looked that good losing a decision. Neither Stephan Bonnar nor Mark Hominick can compare to what Gustafsson has done, mainly because of the previous domination of Jon Jones and the very low expectations for Alex. In many ways the story of this fight reflected the scenario of Rocky. Arena, full of Gustafsson fans went wild after every take-down stuffed by the underdog.

On the other hand, Jones has once again proven to be one of the greatest UFC champions of all times. Jon and the referee Big John McCarthy had to beg the doctor not to stop the fight after the fourth round when the cut over the champion’s eye started looking pretty hideous. Overcoming yet another horrible situation reminded us of his previous inspiring performances, be it defending Belfort’s arm-bar attempt or finishing Chael Sonnen with a horribly broken toe. The Light-heavyweight champion of the world has shown to be a living legend, a proud future Hall of Famer. And whilst once again he was booed out of the arena by some UFC fans, everybody knew that a living legend was leaving the building.

A concerning point that has emerged during Jon’s fight against Gustafsson was the amount of adversity the champion has faced when, for the first time in his career fighting an opponent almost his size. One could wonder what would happen if Jones had to meet one of the UFC’s super-human heavyweights. At the moment, probably, an idea of fighting a heavyweight does not sound too appealing to our Light-heavyweight champion of the world. 

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