Jon Jones is pretty much the perfect athlete.
He’s young (23), tall (6-foot-4) and muscular (a cut 205 pounds) with a superhuman reach (85 inches).
Once upon a time, he would have ended up in the NBA or the NFL.
Heck, his brother, Arthur Jones, did end up in the NFL.
But Jon Jones didn’t.
“Bones” is in the UFC.
That’s very good news for mixed martial arts fans — and very bad news for the promotion’s old guard.
Jones ushered in a new era for the sport Saturday night in Newark, N.J., hammering Mauricio Rua for three rounds before a referee stoppage gave him the light heavyweight belt.
The fight was a blowout, but it represented so much more. Now the youngest champ in UFC history, Jones is the vanguard of a new generation of fighters whose athleticism and creativity are a true evolution.
Saturday’s main event was only a taste of things to come. The era of the UFC superathlete is here.
