Jones and Dos Santos are ready for the big time
When the fights ended and the lights turned out on the debut of the UFC on Versus two up and coming prospects walked out title contenders. Highly hyped light heavyweight Jon Jones and heavyweight Junior Dos Santos came into the night looking to make a splash into the upperclass of their divisions. They bothcame through with very impressive first round TKO’s and are prospects no more.
Jones fought in the main event against Brandon Vera who was once in this same spot, a former prospect. Jones was 9-1 entering the fight and the only blemish on his record is the Illegal elbow DQ to Matt Hamill in his last fight. Vera was to be the biggest test thus far for Jones, but the fight only lasted 3 minutes and 19 seconds as Jones rocked Vera with a vicious left elbow from top position. The impact of the elbow immediately sent Vera scrabbling into the fetal position where the fight was then stopped. Vera suffered multiple fractures of the face and will see a facial specialist this week to determine a timetable for return. Jones was impressive and another step up in competition within the light heavyweight division is in order.
Dos Santos fought in the co-main event against former title contender Gabriel Gonzaga. At 4-0 in the UFC coming into this fight Dos Santos was more raising star then up and coming prospect but this fight was still his biggest to date. Gonzaga had fought for the title before against Randy Couture and has also been ranked inside the top five previously. Dos Santos was suppose to get tested on the ground in this fight by Gonzaga only got one takedown which Dos Santos got up from right away. Once back to their feet Dos Santos took over knocking Gonzaga down and displaying some great ground and pound knocking Gonzaga out. The win moved Dos Santos to 5-0 in the UFC and 11-1 overall and likely the 5th spot in the heavyweight division.
So whats next for these two????
Dos Santos now in the top 5 of the heavyweight division could face another top 5 fighter in Cain Velasquez but I don’t think the UFC will do that fight just yet. He is likely to fight one more fight before fighting one of the top guys, mainly due to the current schedule. Mir and Carwinare fighting Saturday for the interim belt with the winner getting Brock Lesnar this summer to unify the belt. The loser of the Mir vs. Carwin fight is probably going to face Velasquez next leaving Dos Santos without a top 5 opponent for several months. A fight with follow UFC on Versus fighter Cheick Kongo is a solid fight to bridge the gap until the mini heavyweight tournament is completed.
Jones is now in line to fight a top 15 type guy within the ultra stacked light Heavyweight division. Names like Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin, Vladimir Matyushenko and Luis Cane come to mind for a possible opponent. Jones is a very young at 23 and could still use to get a few more fight under his belt before he hits the big time. Jones moved to Greg Jackson camp two fights ago and the changes were easily noticeable but giving him a little move time training there is only going to be a plus. Look to see him back in the cage very soon possible against one of the names mentioned above.
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