It seems not even a criminal can de-rail the hype train surrounding Jon "Bones" Jones.
Hours before his UFC 128 main event, the light heavyweight stopped a would-be thief by chasing him down, putting him in a figure 4 leglock long enough before police to arrive.
He then stepped into the Octagon -- and laid a sound beating on one of the most athletic fighters the sport has ever seen, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
From dominating the clinch to throwing knees, to a spinning elbow with holding his opponent against the cage, Jones did it all Saturday night. In doing so, the 23 year old is now the youngest champion in UFC history.
Afterward he said ""It means a lot to me, but now I know I have a huge target on my back. And when you guys come and strike at me, I'll be ready to strike right back."
Next for Jones : Joe Rogan was quick to announce that Rashad Evans will be the new champions first defense. After hearing the argument that Rua was a "step up" in opponents for Jones, and with the one sided domination he showed, It will no doubt be a sight to see if Jones is as dominant as he was over Rua.
Next for Shogun : Ring Rust and not being 100% will get plenty of overkill. I say throw him in there with the winner of Rampage-Hammill or the winner of Machida-Couture.
In the co-main event, Urijah Faber showed that he's ready to step in with the 135 lb. champion Dominick Cruz in an impressive 3 round performance against Eddie Wineland. Faber was a little hesitant in the first round, being out grappled and out clinched. But from the second round on, he was able to utilize his wrestling, scoring takedowns and dominant positions over Wineland. The 3rd round showed much of the shame, and Faber was able to gut out a unanimous decision victory.
Next for Faber : Perhaps a slot on the 14th season of "Ultimate Fighter" coaching against Dominick Cruz and a featherweight title shot.
Next for Wineland : Perhaps another victory or 2 away from being thrown into the title mix. Either Mike Brown or Damacio Page.
Nate Marquardt got out of a few guillotine attempts and secured a unanimous 30-27 on all 3 judges scorecards against Jim Miller, who was replacing Yoshihiro Akiyama on short notice. After a close first round, Marquardt was able to use his superior wrestling and grind it out.
Next for Marquardt : I say Michael Bisping is a good matchup.
Next for Miller : Perhaps Yushin Okami.
Dan Miller took on WEC standout Kamal Shalrous and handed him his first loss as a professional, securing a 3rd round TKO victory. Shalrous, who up until this point had been advertised as having a head of rock, looked rather ordinary and turtled up after Miller hit him with heavy uppercut, promptly stopped by Herb Dean.
Next for Miller : a fight with the Winner of Ben Henderson - Mark Bocek.
Next for Shalrous : Learning how to box and defend. Throwing wild hooks got you plenty of looks in the WEC, but if you're going to continue to fight like Fedor Emelianenko in his best days, you'll get beat to the punch every time.
Honorable Mention : Did anybody else see rapper Ice-T and his wife taking pictures of her breasts while Jon Jones was getting in the cage? Also, Miller may have floored Shalrous with that uppercut, but Shalrous took a heavy head kick up on his face in the 1st round and walked through it. Maybe he's not used to getting a punch?
Mirko Cro Cop going into the cage for perhaps the last time, and for all intents and purposes was winning his fight against Brandon Schaub -- before a punch and a faulty knee failed him and he falled flat on his face.
2-2 for the night, which leaves me a disappointing 11-12-1 on the year. I'll hope to do better on the next card, which is UFC Fight Night 24, live from Seattle next Saturday.
Until next time, fight fans!
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