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misterjonez's picture

Go back a few fights, to his fight with Ryan Bader, and you see a guy who not only dominates his opponents in convincing fashion, but who takes his opponents on at their strengths and demolishes them!
The fight with Bader saw Jones easily outwrestle him, even throwing him around like he (Bader) belonged two weight classes down.
The fight with Shogun saw Jones break him down with strikes, eventually dropping him with a beautiful left hook to the liver.
Against Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Jones simply out-boxed him while kicking his leg into oblivion and, eventually, taking him down for a mercy-killin- erm, choke.
Lyoto Machida?  He outworked him in the clinch and blew him apart with that one hellacious elbow, closing in for the kill - and first submission loss of Machida's career.
Rashad Evans was thoroughly outclassed on the feet, as well, even managing to land the occasional power shot through which Jones contemptuously walked through.  He didn't finish him, but the domination was as clear as a Seahawks vs. 49ers game in Levi's Stadium.  He even whipped out his now-patented, and deceptively devastating, short-elbow which somehow moonlights as a jab.
His fight against Belfort saw a great moment, where Jones' arm was almost torn off and mounted over Vitor's mantle, but he survived the deadly attack and ended up picking The Phenom apart.  This, perhaps, is the lone break in the pattern I'm about to point out.
Chael Sonnen was just there to put Jones over, and he did it well, I thought.  Jones fought through a dislocated toe in that fight, while outwrestling the prolific Sonnen at his own game, before mercifully ending it in the first round.
His fight with Alexander Gustafsson was one for the ages, and again, he took the Swede at his own game.  An accomplished kickboxer prior to his UFC career, Gustafsson found himself in a flat-out dogfight, which was so unexpected that he actually shot on Jones and, to everyone's surprise, took him down in the center of the cage.
Against Teixeira, Jones showed uncharacteristic respect for his opponent's primary weapon - Glover's devastating punching power - so, instead of diving head-first into the fight, what did he do?  He nearly tore Teixeira's right arm (his power arm) off with a never-before-seen shoulder jerk while they were clinched up against the cage.  Teixiera never threw a killer punch with the arm all night after that, and Jones picked him apart with strikes for the rest of the night.
And, against Daniel Cormier, a decorated Olympic wrestler who was undefeated at both Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight prior to the match, Jones simply out-grappled DC, taking him down several times before Cormier, clearly acting to protect what little remained of his pride, fought tooth-and-nail to return the favor in the last rounds, succeeding once for what the commentators referred to as a 'moral victory,' since he was clearly down on all cards.  The one place Cormier could have beaten Jones was in the clinch, where his shorter stature, explosive power, and decorated grappling resume could be brought to bear for maximum effect.  So where did Jones choose to fight him?  Why, in the clinch, of course - and he handily beat DC at his own game, resulting in an utterly crushed and devastated Cormier to break into tears during the post-fight press conference as he verbalized his (wholly unfamiliar, for him) feelings of despair at having failed to emerge victorious.
In every single instance, outside of maybe the Belfort fight, depend on how you look at it, Jon Jones attacked his opponents at their strengths and he won in convincing fashion.
I honestly don't think I've ever seen that in top-level athletics.  He's a special, special talent, and it was clear even when watching him on grainy, handheld footage from his first fights in the 'minor leagues.'

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