After watching Jon Jones' dismantling of former champion Shogun Rua, I can't help but to make comparisons to Georges St. Pierre and his rise to the top.
Much like Jones, when GSP thrashed Hughes to win the championship, he looked unstoppable. At the time, GSP's fighting style was very similar to what we've been seeing from Jones, and like GSP has proven to be, Jones also shows potential for marketing appeal.
But the one similarity that stands out the most to me is, like GSP (prior to the Serra fight), Jones has not been hit.
We all know what happened to GSP when he got hit. We all know what happened to Brock Lesnar when he was hit. How Jones will react to being hit, hard, is still a mystery. Will he show the toughness and resiliency of a Fedor Emelianenko or Anderson Silva, or will he panic and give up?
Only time will tell.
We've all witnessed the change in GSP's fighting style after being hit hard. He now, admittedly, fights "safe," and this has resulted in numerous dull, decision outcomes. Since regaining the title, GSP has had some assistance from the UFC matchmakers, who have helped by giving him opponents who are either one-dimensional (Alves, Koscheck, Hardy), have little to no punching power (Fitch, Shields) or are just too small (Penn).
If GSP gets past Shields, I'm hoping that the UFC won't be able to deny the winner of Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim a title shot.
It will be interesting to see just how tough Jon Jones is. At the moment, Jones looks unbeatable. But no one is unhittable.
My personal opinion is that Jones is EXACTLY like GSP. He's an athlete posing as a fighter.
Jon Jones will get hit, and when he does, let's just hope that he doesn't turn into another boring champion.
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