Jon Jones has really earned a title shot against Maurício Shogun Rua after his quick rise through the light-heavyweight ranks. After Rashad Evans was injured training for his bout against Shogun Rua it was Jon Jones who was tapped to fight Rua. Shogun regained the glory of his PRIDE days after working his way up the ranks after struggling with lingering knee injuries early on in his UFC career. He knocked out UFC hall of famer Chuck Liddel and he was the first man to beat Lyoto Machida at UFC 113 last May.
There was quite a bit of hype leading up to the UFC 128 title fight as the media, as well as Jones himself, were already prematurely crowning Jones as the new light heavyweight champ. Rua came into his first UFC title defense as the underdog, even Rua himself said he felt he was an underdog coming into the fight.
At UFC 128 in New Jersey it was Jon Jones who walked out of the Octagon the the light-heavyweight champion, and the youngest one at that. Early on be brought it to Shogun has he landed punches, knees and elbows from the feet and on the ground.
The reach advantage as well s Jones striking and wrestling prowess proved to be too much for Shogun as he succumbed to the stream roller that is Jon Jones half-way through round three.
After the fight Rashad Evans made it somewhat official, saying he will indeed fight Jon Jones for the UFC light-heavyweight title.
March 19th, 2011 by Ray
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