What next for Jon "Bones" Jones?

[AntiHero0503]

If you guys are watching The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, you know that Jon Jones just lost his fight against Matt Hammill due to a DQ for point of the elbow strikes to the head. My question is simple, what is next for this obviously incredibly talented young fight. My opinion is that he doesn't need to fight a can, it is unfortunate that he lost from a DQ, but I don't believe that he should be knocked down too far. Hammil will be out for a while due to what looked like a broken nose and a shoulder injury, so an immediate rematch is out of the picture. My thoughts with it is maybe a fight with Luiz Cane, Rich Franklin, or possibly even Brandon Vera, all around mid tier guys that will put on a tough and exciting fight for Jon Jones.

 

[INDYjon22]

I would like to see a rematch where he avenges this loss, but there is only one real answer to this question. Give him one of the top guys. Seriously, he kicked the shit out of Matt Hamill in that fight and showed he is ready for some better guys. I am not trying to take anything away from Hamill, he is a good fighter, but he is not in Jones league. Jon Jones showed that he can dominate good fighters tonight and deserves a true step up in competition. I am a strong believer that Jon Jones is the future of the Light Heavy Weight division and the UFC needs to give the future his shot.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Tonight demonstrated more than ever that Steve Mazzagatti is the worst ref in MMA. Jon Jones was on his way to having his most devastating and dominating victory yet against someone who was considered to be his biggest challenge. He passed with flying colors. What a takedown he had to get him in position. That ground and pound was some of the most brutal I've ever seen. Hamill's eyes were fucked up beyond belief, as was his nose. I've never seen Hamill take a beating like that. There came a point where Hamill wasn't defending himself at all, and Jones was asking Mazzagatti where the stoppage was. It never should have gotten to the point where Jones got DQ'ed when the fight should have been stopped to begin with.

This "loss" means nothing for Jones, as he proved that he can take that next step to being considered an elite Light-Heavyweight. I think the perfect fight for him would be Rich Franklin. Both guys have beaten Hamill. It's a good fight to see how Jones fares against a true top contender, and Franklin gets his feet wet as a light heavyweight.

 

[Mr. Truth]

We can't entirely blame Mazzagatti for this one. While he should have stopped the fight earlier, he wasn't the one who declared it a DQ. I read that the judges used instant replay to render a decision, the first time instant replay was used in UFC history (or at least in Nevada, not sure if it's been used elsewhere). When they went to the replay, it showed more then one 12-6 elbow being used, so they said that was what hurt Hamill. Granted, Jones looked at Mazzagatti multiple times as if he was trying to get him to stop the fight, so again, another strike against him. As for what's next, i'd have him in a match high on the card against a higher tier fighter. I'm not saying he'd win, but with so much raw talent, the only place Jon Jones can do is go up.

 

[Slyfox696]

In all honesty, Jones should never have looked to Mazagatti to stop the fight. Jones should be SOLELY focused on beating the hell out of his opponent. And I don't believe Jones was trying to get the referee to stop it because of Hamill being out, I think he was trying to get it stop because of all the blood that was pooling in Hamill's eye. I haven't been updated on all the rule changes of the last couple years, but I DID believe that if blood was impairing the vision of a fighter, then the cut needed to be looked at and decided if the fighter could continue to fight. The fact Hamill was declared the victor, when he was cut up, had blood in his eyes, was fully mounted with strikes reigning down on him, and when he couldn't continue due to a dislocated shoulder is just absurd, regardless of whether Jones hit him with an illegal strike.

What's next? I don't know, but I think Dana should put him up against someone close to the title, to see how real this kid really is.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I was really impressed by Jones last night. I'd seen people all over the internet saying how Hamill was going to derail the hype train only for his ass to get handed to him, taken away and handed back to him again. Then again, anyone with any hype surrounded by them is going to have the bandwagon derailed every fight according to the IMMAC (Internet Mixed Martial Arts Community).

The only place for him is up, obviously. I expect most people still consider him undefeated. Fuck it, I'll go with GuyCompton and say he should be paired up with Rich Franklin to test his mettle once again.

All aboard the hype train. Choo choo.

 

[jmt225]

I agree with most here, hopefully something big is next for him.

Lil' Nog would be a great match-up, but I guess it would be a little unfair to Lil' Nog to match up with him right now.

Rich Franklin isn't a bad idea, but I think Rich would do much better against Jones than most in the division. Franklin's one of the most well-rounded fighters in the entire sport. Don't let that Vitor Belfort fight full you. That was as big of fluke as I've ever seen in an MMA fight. Besides, Franklin vs. Forrest is what I really want to see right now, lol.

But somebody like Ryan Bader though I think makes the absolute most sense. Both Jones and Bader are relatively new, but both have looked so far as in a way that they could compete with the best of the best in the UFC LHW Divison. So I say match those two up against each other, and who ever comes out the victor in that one, you could put him in a mega fight against a huge name, with the winner of that one getting a shot at the LHW Championship.