JON ‘Bones’ Jones, the greatest talent the sport of mixed martial arts has ever seen, makes his long-awaited return in Las Vegas on Saturday night and the fight world is captivated.
It’s more than three years since we last saw Jones in competition. This weekend he makes his heavyweight debut against leading contender Cyril Gane for vacant UFC championship.
What we do know is Jones has added around 40lb to his six-foot-four frame. What we don’t is how that extra muscle mass will impact on his fluid fighting faculties.
A decade ago, a 23-year-old Jones became the youngest UFC champion in history and would go on to dominate the light heavyweight division using a level of skillset and finishing prowess never seen before inside the Octagon.
During his reign, Jones single-handedly closed the chapter on a Who’s Who list of Hall of Fame careers. He changed the sport forever, did things no fighter had done before, and became a global pay-per-view star.
Just a gentle reminder of what Jon Jones is capable of… pic.twitter.com/aCS5CjPDM5
— Michael Morgan (@mikewhoatv) January 14, 2023
However, Jones’ fighting career is also tainted by a litany of arrests, convictions and suspensions.
TROUBLED GENIUS
Amongst a swathe of hit and run, DUI, domestic violence and recreational drug related police reports, Jones has also returned positive PED tests on numerous occasions, leading to him being stripped of his championship on three occasions.
The son of a Christian preacher, Jones has always maintained his innocence, of course, but it’s tainted his athletic achievements.
But sports fans are fickle, and if Jones were to recapture UFC gold in a second weight class this weekend his chequered past will be exactly that, in the past.
However, that’s easier said than done against Parisian Gane, who has emerged in the space left by Jones’ absence to fire fresh impetus into a rapidly revitalised heavyweight division.
Gane, 32, was unbeaten in 10 fights before he ran into Francis Ngannou in January last year, losing his first UFC title shot on points. But he bounced back spectacularly on home soil in September with a third round TKO over Tai Tuivasa.
On the feet, this is a really even matchup. Gane is elusive for a heavyweight, light on his feet and is a creative cumulative striker very much in the Jones style. His grappling skills were exposed somewhat against Ngannou, but he went the distance and has grown in defeat.
Cyril Gane na estréia do UFC na Françapic.twitter.com/CfjNVdRKCu
— MMA NA VOZ (@mmanavoz) February 27, 2023
It’s hard to know exactly which version of Jones will land at the T-Mobile Arena, just yards from the Strip. Will the move to heavyweight rekindle that love affair with the sport and inspire him to unleash another viral moment?
Or is Jones just going to simply be a larger version of the champion who laboured to decisions over second rate opposition as he did at the back end of his 205lb campaign?
Personally, I’m a romantic, and I believe the fear of being exposed by a next generation athlete as accomplished and as big as Gane will ensure Jones will indeed turn back the clock and produce something special.
