UFC 128 Recap
If you doubted Jon Jones’ -200 odds in UFC 128 betting as the challenger against the legendary Shogun, then you were mauled this weekend just like the former champ. A new day is dawning in the UFC, and Jones has become the newest face of the company thanks to an improbable list of events that all went down on Saturday.
Jones won a championship and ended an attempted robbery. Like you, my weekend was absolutely ridiculous and nowhere near as productive.
Jon Jones is the youngest UFC title holder in the company’s history and with his freakish ability and even freakier reach, there’s high hopes that he’ll enjoy a great title run. That’s something we haven’t been able to preach about the light heavyweight division for a long time.
Aside from Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, who combined for nine successful defenses over five years, the light heavyweight championship has been passed around like a group purchased prostitute at a bachelor party. If you strip away Lyoto Machida’s first defense against Shogun, it’s fair to say that the title hasn’t been defended by anybody since Quinton Jackson at UFC 75.
Just saying that speaks to how competitive the division is, but that may not be a great thing. Anderson Silva has dominated the middleweight division since October 14th, 2006 giving him nearly five year as the king of the castle. Georges St-Pierre has held his title since April 19th, 2008 with a three year reign under his belt and growing exponentially.
For the most part, that’s made any of their title defenses must-see events. People have hated on Silva for a while, especially after the way he bullied Damian Maia. It’s almost impossible to find someone that doesn’t like Georges St-Pierre. Either way, you never want to miss any of their fights because fans tend to have a complex about watching something great implode. What Silva and St-Pierre have done is unthinkable, and we tend to think that it’s impossible to recreate the long runs that they have had.
After watching what Bones Jones did to Shogun at UFC 128 betting, the light heavyweight division looks to have their guy now. The 23-year old is still entering his physical prime and with just 14 lopsided fights under his belt, he also doesn’t have the wear and tear that past champions were hindered by. His physical skill set, however, isn’t the only thing that Jones brings to the table.
In what has to be one of the most humble post-fight interviews, Jones proved that he is void of having a flawed ego, and that’s as inviting to his newest fans as it is endearing to the entire world of UFC betting. The fact that he stopped a robbery the morning of the fight swept through the media and has already made Jones the newest poster boy of the UFC.
That in itself gives Jones the type of mainstream appeal that the UFC desperately needs in one of its impact divisions. Jones has had an amazing career thus far, but he hasn’t really racked up a laundry list of quality opponents. That is until he downright ended Shogun on Saturday night, coming through on his almost bewildering -200 odds to win in UFC 128 betting pools.
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