UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson
Odds: (-500 Jones /+350 Jackson )
Betting Pick: Jones
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In the main event of the evening, former Light Heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will look to regain his title against dominant young champion Jon “Bones” Jones. This has all the makings of a very competitive fight. Both of these guys can throw bombs, both can wrestle, and if a foil exists for Jones’ freakish athleticism, it is Jackson’s years of experience fighting the best in the world on two continents. Still, Jones has made some pretty great fighters look like clowns, so Jackson will have to overcome one of his toughest obstacles if he wants to reclaim his belt.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been one of the best Light Heavyweights in the world for years. He is a very skilled wrestler who likes to let his hands go, and he has a surplus of punching power and throws huge haymakers to great effect. He doesn’t really have much in the way of submissions, but his brute force method of escaping submission attempts has proven quite effective for him. This is going to be a tough matchup for Ramapge stylistically. Against Rashad Evans, Jackson was unable to dictate position against the smaller Evans because of Evans’ superior speed and wrestling. He is going to have his hands full trying to control Jones, who is as good a wrestler as Rashad, just as fast, and substantially larger and more dangerous. If Jackson wants to leave with Jones’ belt, he is going to need a career performance and to put every part of his game together perfectly.
The champion, Jon “Bones” Jones, has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the Light Heavyweight division. The only loss of his professional career was a DQ against Matt Hamill in a fight he utterly dominated from open to close. Jones has never even come close to losing a fight, and every time he steps into the Octagon he seems to have improved dramatically. His reach is one of his most important weapons, and no one in the division can match it. He has devastating punching power and very fast hands, and his ability to hit guys from halfway across the octagon makes him someone to truly fear. His wrestling is also extremely good, both with shoot takedowns and from the clinch, and on the ground he has devastating ground and pound and very good submissions. He doesn’t seem to have many holes in his game despite his relative lack of experience, and his physical dominance can hardly be overstated.
Quinton Jackson is still one of the best Light Heavyweights in the world, but Jones is a whole new breed of fighter. Stylistically they are similar in that they are wrestlers who like to throw punches, but I think Jones is the better striker, the better wrestler, better on the ground, and physically superior. Rampage will make it a fight for sure, but in a five round fight Jones just has too many weapons for Rampage to last. Eventually I think Jones will power Jackson to the ground and put him away with punches. Jon Jones retains his Light Heavyweight title by T/KO.
Prediction: Jon Jones via third round T/KO.
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