Right from the opening bell, Jones fought with both confidence and unpredictability. He began the fight crawling towards Rampage on all fours, and used a variety of other unconventional techniques throughout. As the fight progressed, Jones slowly turned up the pressure. By the end of the 2nd round, the young champion was beginning to run away with the fight. Early in round 4, Jones took Rampage down, and secured the rear naked choke for the tapout. This was only the second time Rampage was submitted in his lengthy career.
What was the high spot of this fight?
There were a lot, but the moment where you really knew it was just a matter of time came at the end of round 3, when Jones channeled his inner Anderson Silva and began clowning the overmatched Rampage.
Where do these guys go from here?
Jones will now attempt to do what no man has done since Chuck Liddell - successfully defend the Light Heavyweight title twice. The general opinion is that he is the man to finally give some stability to the division, but to do so, he'll have to defeat Rashad Evans in a grudge match. After that, the winner of Dan Henderson vs. Shogun should be next in line.
For Rampage, the future is considerably less clear. He still has the weapons to be a player at Light Heavyweight, but he's probably gone from title contention. Post-fight, Rampage called out Shogun for the 2012 UFC Japan show. Should Henderson defeat Rua, a Rampage vs. Shogun rematch in Japan sounds like a fantastic idea. After that, the UFC will have to decide if they want to match Jackson with other legends like Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, or if they want him testing the young guns like Phil Davis.
Watch it now, later, or never?
Now. I'm not quite sold on this being the Jon Jones Era just yet, but he certainly made a strong case with this entertaining and dominating performance.
More BE coverage of UFC 135 in the full entry.
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UFC 135 Results: Time to Embrace Underutilized Lighter Weight Classes - Brent Brookhouse
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/9/2...-embrace-underutilized-lighter-weight-classes
UFC 135 Results: Will Rashad Evans Spoil the Jon Jones Era? - Fraser Coffeen
UFC 135 Results: Dana White Expects Matt Hughes to Retire - Mike Fagan
UFC 135 Results: Two Heavyweight Fights On PPV A Big Mistake - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones Says Rashad Evans Doesn't Have His Number - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva Isn't Happening - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones vs. Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson Post-Fight Recap and Analysis - Mike Fagan
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage Results - Event Doesn't Provide Enough Bang for the Buck - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson Fight Video Highlights - Anton Tabuena
UFC 135 Results: Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck Fight Video Highlights - Anton Tabuena
UFC 135 Post-Fight Press Conference Coverage - Tim Burke
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones Limping Backstage After Dominating Rampage Jackson - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Jon Jones Forces Rampage Jackson to Tap Out - Matthew Roth
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage - Live Results and Play-By-Play for Main Card - Bloody Elbow
UFC 135 Results: Josh Koscheck Knocks Out Matt Hughes, Doesn't Retire Him - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Mark Hunt Picks Up A Decision In A Grueling Fight - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Travis Browne Defeats Rob Broughton by Unanimous Decision - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Nate Diaz Forces Takanori Gomi to Tap By Armbar - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Tony Ferguson Breaks Aaron Riley's Jaw In The First - Matthew Roth
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage - Live Results and Play-By-Play for Spike TV Prelims - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Tim Boetsch Gives Nick Ring His First Career Loss - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: Junior Assuncao Fails to Impress with Win Over Eddie Yagin - Matthew Roth
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage - Live Results and Play-By-Play for Facebook Prelims - Brent Brookhouse
UFC 135 Results: Takeya Mizugaki Ends Cole Escovedo With A Knockout - Matthew Roth
UFC 135 Results: James Te Huna Ends Ricardo Romero's Night By KO - Matthew Roth