Jon Jones: "I've patterned my career after Anderson."
by Giada Esposito on October 07, 2010

When Jon Jones made his UFC debut against Andre Gusmao back in 2008 at UFC 87, it was obvious from the start that "Bones" was going to be something special.

Although it would take Jones a couple of fights to develop the ferocious, bone-breaking finishes that have characterized his recent matches, there was an electric sense of intensity and unbridled potential about the 21-year old that drew immediate attention. Not many people doubted that the lanky, well-spoken preacher's son with the unconventional striking and unshakable focus was destined to make waves in the UFC.

How right that initial impression has proven to be.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the man making a meteoric rise up the ranks of the UFC's stacked light-heavyweight division has modelled his thinking on the most successful fighter in UFC history: middleweight champ Anderson "The Spider" Silva.

"I've bathed myself in Anderson Silva," Jones told Yahoo.com. "I've patterned my career after Anderson. You can't really say you know Anderson Silva, because, like me, he can pull off pretty much anything he wants to pull off, whatever he trained for that specific fight. So, you can't know Anderson Silva, but you can understand who he is and how he thinks and how he operates."

Jones, whose 11-1 career record is marred only by a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill, a man he was brutally dominating before the fight was stopped due to illegal elbows by Jones, will next face fellow rising star and undefeated prospect Ryan Bader (12-0) in a match rumored for UFC 127. 

Jones respects the challenge Bader poses, but thinks he sees chinks in his opponent's armor after watching Bader defeat Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 119.

"I thought Ryan Bader was exposed a bit as far as his wrestling ability. Nogueira not being a wrestler and considering the fact that Nogueira was able to stuff a lot of his takedowns, it was very interesting for me to watch. But I respect Ryan Bader as an opponent. I respect that he's never lost a fight. I am up for the challenge and I'm excited by the challenge."

At the end of the day though, no matter who stands before him in the Octagon, Jones' dream remains the same.

"I feel I'm this close to getting a shot at being the UFC light heavyweight champion of the world and I'm not going to slow down or allow pressure to get in my way now," Jones stated. "My dream is right in front of my face and I'm fighting someone I respect a great deal, so that will inspire me to train even harder."

 |  (116) Comments Mtx: For some reason I think he comes out a bit cocky here but for other I dont really care. I think this guy has the right to be cocky, he really is a beast. I still would not talk about the LHW title if I was him, I like what the UFC has been doing with him. We still need to see how Rua comes back. But he will get the title at some point, thats for sure. shawnb: I'm a Jones fan, I was hooked from his Bonnar fight. So creative with his throws and strikes. D_V: I'm a fan. I think he's over rated though. His ground game just isn't there to fight Rua and if he fights Lyoto he'd get KTFO. B_Type13X2: So does that mean he is going to go find Chonan and get flying kneebar'd? GO HARD: Jon Jones would beat the crizzap out of Shogun. q; ) i love that hes cocky and talking about the title. okay so if he loses than people say ohhh he was thinking too far ahead... fuck all thatshit, i say speak what u speak, if u lose its cuz u lost.. theres no thing as thinking too far ahead , thats just fight fan talk blah blah blah!! War Jon Jones!! just please... never fight Andy. q; D IwishIwasMMA: Bones WILL be annihilated by Machida. Machida has some of the best take down defense in MMA.. not just the sport. Even if you do get him down, wtf is Bones going to do? Who all has done damage to him besides Rua after a knockdown? Good point.. If the fight did not touch the ground between Machida and Bones... Bones would still be annihilated. His striking is WAAAAAAAY too unorthodox. He constantly puts himself in bad positions. He is too fancy. That all catches up with you at some point. If he fucks around with Machida, he is going to the hospital with a concussion plain and simple. Shogun..? Jones just simply cannot handle him period on the feet. His best bet in that fight is to pray.. His ground game is bad. His top position is holy... and not in the godly way. Leaving his body parts around in bad places all the time will eventually get you tapped by someone good on the ground... oh look there is shogun. He still is not ready for the big dogs. Beating Bader will prove he is in that level, but not at the top still. Beating someone like Thiago Silva or Nog will prove that to me though. No not Forrest Griffin. IwishIwasMMA: Of course Bones can achieve that high level. Of course he is still evolving. As of now though.. He has not quite evolved to his later stages. I have nothing against Bones and believe he is a GREAT prospect, possibly one of the best in the sport (POSSIBLY)... His striking has gotten SOMEWHAT better, but I mean you can still see serious mistakes in what he is doing IMO. He has a lot of options in his striking, but if he is taken down by a wrestler, what will he do? If he attempts something stupid against Bader, he will be on HIS back. What is his guard like? Is he a better wrestler than the top wreslters of the division? Is he stronger than those top guys? IMHO.. Bones has answered few questions with the guys he has fought so far. GO HARD: Bones destroys Shogun... said it again. i dont care about analasys and who should win... Bones would pick that turd up.. slam him and drop BOWSS! EverlastingSpringtime: I think itl be a great match up, Jones has been tested in the clinch, with his striking, now we will see his wrestling tested. I think the only fair criticism at this stage about Jones is about his ground game and only because he hasn't been put in any dangerous positions on the ground yet. Bader has some of the best wrestling in the division, i wouldn't be surprised if he gets Jones to the ground. Although if Nog got back to his feet, Jones shouldn't have too much trouble. Great test for Bader also. This is the first time ive heard Jones talk about the title, i think its good, its about time. He has taken his time rising thru the ranks and he has said he's in no rush to get to the top in the past. Good to see him hungry, not good for his opponents. Crimsonred: I think it's just as silly to say that Machida would rape Jones as it is to say Jones would rape Machida? Or even Shogun, although I think that the bum knee would hurt him a lot in the fight, and Jones is the master game planner... Here's the thing: in his last few fights, Jones has showed us nothing. Absolutely nothing. We don't know how good a striker he is, how he is off his back, his jits game, or the toughness of his chin. Because he's gone in their and made his opponents play his game so well that all we see is the takedown and the finish. We know he has beastly elbows, and that's about it. And I kinda think that's how he likes it. Out of curiosity, any of you guys changing your tune if he goes in there and straight up anhialates Bader, once again leaving a void of footage? Crimsonred: I think he'll win, but I sorta doubt he'll destroy him. All the same, I wouldn't be surprised either. thug4less: To be fair, how many people thought he would use and abuse Matyushenko like he did besides his most ardent of nuthuggers like GH? People can try to play it off all they want but he went out there and dominated a seasoned veteran of the game that's pretty far from being a can. Highly doubtful if Bader could have done that. Personally, I think Jones is going to beat Bader but I wouldn't sign off on utter domination. Then again... hindsight is 20/20, isn't it? GO HARD: Darth Bader is gonna look like Chewbakka after Jon Bizzones DESTROYS him!! B_Type13X2: Jones needs another 2 years of training before he will truly be ready to touch the top of the division. horizontalcracker: In all fairness T Silva was injured against Rashad, I believe he had a fucked up back. I think the Shogun nuthuggery here is fairly justified. A healthy Shogun (not necessarily 100 percent) is the best damn light heavyweight on the planet. D_V: Chuck was scared so he got up right away. Forrest did okay but then again, Rua was gassed the whole time and was so fat that he had trouble forward rolling into guard. He didn't even wear his stretchy spandex for that fight, guys. You want to see his ground game, watch the Arona and little Nog fights where he easily outclassed both of those guys on the ground, the two best 205s in the sport for bjj other than him. Then watch him and Machida and see how little Lyoto could do with him. Rua trains with Xande and has trained with Maia. Both of them speak highly of his bjj. If he wasn't world class they wouldn't say so. GO HARD: u cant tie a knot when ur getting crushed by Jones elbows. Wandering_Minstrel: Is it weird that I turned down poontang on Friday night? B_Type13X2: The way I see things.... 1. Shogun 2. Machida 3. Evans ^ l 4. Rampage 5. Jones 6. Bader ^ l 7. Lil Nog 8. SIlva 9. Franklin 10. Forrest where the l + ^ represents a clear gap in skills and separates the division in tiers. Take someone from the 7-10 block and put them against the #1-3 block and they should lose about 70% of the time. Take a a 4-6 block and put them against 1-3 and they should lose 60% of the time.... a 4-6 block and put them against a 7-10 and they should win 60% of the time. Those fighting in their same block should either lose to those in their tier or win against those in their tier 45-55% of the time. The LHW division is really competitive and it is very important to view things objectively. I like shogun he is infact my favorite fighter but I cannot dismiss Jones and say he has no chance. In fact I give Jones a 35-40% chance of beating shogun right now. horizontalcracker: Thiago Silva is not a top 10 LWH, maybe top 10 ufc lwh JujitsWho: Thuggy......since when do you have teeth? lol I think what Iwish was saying is that, judging from his past performances, Bones doesn't strike him as a future striking beast. Nobody can say for sure either way because anything can happen. It was an educated guess based on facts at hand Also, Iwish touting Shoguns BJJ from past fights and using it as an example of his current level is totally acceptable IMO Reason being, its already proven that Shogun is a monster on the ground. People can, and do, focus on other aspects of fighting like you said, BUT, that doesn't mean they drop in pre-established areas ya know? Not to mention, the last time we saw Shogun display his BJJ, he was a brownbelt. The fact that he is a blackbelt now should show you that he has not lost skill. Moreover, it should show you that, not only has he not lost skill, he has improved. He just likes to stand. We have seen Shogun on the ground at full health very rarely in the UFC. The Machida fight was the last time. He was taken down, and almost IMMEDIATLY swept one of the better top players around. That is skill, plain and simple. It may be under utilized, but its still there. Just my thoughts on the matter :) GO HARD: its always best to say it like this for me.. Jones would crush shogun with elbows.. just like brock beat down mir. why? cuz i fawking say so. q>: ) horizontalcracker: I really don't even know what the argument is about. JujitsWho: Brutals lol Little_Kang: only 205ers outside of the UFC that matter are Gegard, King Mo and Fejiao Little_Kang: oh I should clarify. I don't have those 3 above T.Silva but I think they are top 10 JujitsWho: I would take all three of them over guys like Brilz, Bonnor, Kryz, The Janitor etc.... there is a lot of garbage at 205 in the UFC. Some good talent, but a lot of trash too horizontalcracker: I might have mousasi at an 11 spot, I just don't know where to put Forest Griffin these days JujitsWho: And Silva is above all three of them I think Mousasi could probably take Silva though Little_Kang: I don't think Forrest should be that high JujitsWho: Nog would take him.......if he could avoid being KOd
HOW WILL THE THIAGO ALVES VS. MARTIN KAMPMANN FIGHT END AT UFC ON FX 2?
Alves def. Kampmann via TKO/KO
Alves def. Kampmann via submission
Alves def. Kampmann via decision
Kampmann def. Alves via TKO/KO
Kampmann def. Alves via submission
Kampmann def. Alves via decision
TAKE ANOTHER POLL!