Jon "Bones" Jones is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC today, and he proved his status by defeating previously undefeated Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 by unanimous decision. His strong performance hasn't deterred some longtime UFC veterans from doubting him in his next scheduled fight, however.
Fellow light heavyweights Rashad Evans and Ryan Bader believe Anthony "Rumble" Johnson has the tools to finally dethrone Jones. Evans has even had the courage to openly predict a knockout victory.
"You either have punching power or you don't, and Jon does not have that sort of punching power. Now if you look to take him down, good luck. You are going to be hit before you go in," Evans said.
"Jon is very creative, and AJ has never been in there with someone as creative a striker as Jon, but let's be honest here, Jon can get hit. AJ's hardest punch is the uppercut, and I think that if they start exchanging, and they will start exchanging, he'll knock Jon out."
Johnson has the entire UFC world buzzing after making quick work of Alexander Gustafsson, the No. 1 contender for Jones' belt, in his home country Sweden. Gustafsson had given Jones the fight of his life at UFC 165.
Bader, who fought on the same fight card as Johnson and Gustafsson, stopped short of predicting a victory for Rumble. Instead he chose to highlight all of Johnson's abilities.
"Anthony Johnson's a beast," Bader told MMAjunkie. "He went out there throwing big punches and he was relentless. He hurt (Gustafsson), then kept on him and finished the fight. He definitely deserves that title shot, and it's going to be a great fight between him and Jones, for sure. He brings a different style than what Jones has been seeing. I'm very interested to see how that goes down."
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