2010-08-02 02:25:33 +0000 #1
If the scent of overwhelming hyperbole forces you to part open your eyelids and request lemon juice be poured into your eyeball, it's probably best to look away now, while you still have the capacity to see. Similarly, if your name happens to be Jon Jones and you kick butt for a living, steer clear of reading the following, as it will only further inflate your ego, distract from training obligations, paper over bad habits and, perhaps lead you to pose topless before a full-size bedroom mirror and proclaim, Yes, I most certainly am The Man, aren't I?.
With all that said, the aforementioned Mr. Jones is, indeed, The Man, or at least will grow into that title once he reaches his mid-twenties and breaks free of being The Boy. For the time being, Jon Jones is a 23-year-old mixed martial arts phenomenon by way of Rochester, New York, and a fighter threatening to become the sport's first genuine breakout, homegrown and organic superstar.
Jones has been groomed on a steady diet of mixed martial arts since becoming a state wrestling champion as a senior at Union-Endicott High School in 2005. Once he'd broken free of the shackles of education, Jones, having snared an associate's degree at Iowa Central Community College, sought creative avenues within which he could pursue a professional fighting career. Not the fighting type, Jones was a blank slate, a wet-behind-the-ears whippersnapper, and someone who'd later be molded, nurtured and transformed into 2010's most vital and important young mixed martial artist.
Combining his background of nothing with a sponge-like ability to process new information, Jones entered mixed martial arts in 2008 as the archetypal improviser, the fighting Charlie Parker. He had no boxing background, had entered zero jiu-jitsu competitions and wore only belts of the Calvin Klein variety, yet Jones' fighting naiveté would ultimately aid his development. With no preconceptions or delusions, Jones started from scratch, as one of the first gifted fighters to approach mixed martial arts as their combat starting point.
After all, mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have only been buzzwords since the mid-1990s and, so while many of the men at the top right now are incredible fighters and athletes, very few were raised solely and exclusively on a diet of MMA. Jones is the new breed, the first of many who will approach mixed martial arts as a single concept and sport, thus making the competition and fight for survival only that much tougher.
www.ufc.com/index.cf...ews.detail&gid=84227
With all that said, the aforementioned Mr. Jones is, indeed, The Man, or at least will grow into that title once he reaches his mid-twenties and breaks free of being The Boy. For the time being, Jon Jones is a 23-year-old mixed martial arts phenomenon by way of Rochester, New York, and a fighter threatening to become the sport's first genuine breakout, homegrown and organic superstar.
Jones has been groomed on a steady diet of mixed martial arts since becoming a state wrestling champion as a senior at Union-Endicott High School in 2005. Once he'd broken free of the shackles of education, Jones, having snared an associate's degree at Iowa Central Community College, sought creative avenues within which he could pursue a professional fighting career. Not the fighting type, Jones was a blank slate, a wet-behind-the-ears whippersnapper, and someone who'd later be molded, nurtured and transformed into 2010's most vital and important young mixed martial artist.
Combining his background of nothing with a sponge-like ability to process new information, Jones entered mixed martial arts in 2008 as the archetypal improviser, the fighting Charlie Parker. He had no boxing background, had entered zero jiu-jitsu competitions and wore only belts of the Calvin Klein variety, yet Jones' fighting naiveté would ultimately aid his development. With no preconceptions or delusions, Jones started from scratch, as one of the first gifted fighters to approach mixed martial arts as their combat starting point.
After all, mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have only been buzzwords since the mid-1990s and, so while many of the men at the top right now are incredible fighters and athletes, very few were raised solely and exclusively on a diet of MMA. Jones is the new breed, the first of many who will approach mixed martial arts as a single concept and sport, thus making the competition and fight for survival only that much tougher.
www.ufc.com/index.cf...ews.detail&gid=84227
