Five Things We Learned At UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko

UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko came to us from the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California last night.  As with all events, we learned a lot about what’s going on in the sport and the UFC.  Along with this, here are five important things to take away from the night.

1. Jon Jones is ready to take on anyone in the UFC light heavyweight division: The thing about Jones is that he takes very adept MMA fighters and makes them look worse than mediocre in every way.  After all, his opponent, Vladimir Matyushenko, had won 11 of his last 12 bouts coming into last night.  We’re talking about a former IFL champion here, with some of the best wrestling skills in the division.  But against Jones, he was taken down with an ease that would’ve made you wonder about his takedown defense, had you not known of his wrestling skills previously.  Then moments later, Jones moved to side mount with the same kind of ease that the takedown came to him with.

People just don’t make Matyushenko look that poor on the ground.

But perhaps the scariest thing about Jones isn’t his wrestling, nor is it those unorthodox strikes of his.  Nope, the most frightening thing about the man they call ‘Bones’ is the way he finishes people.  The elbows he hit home with from the crucifix position last night simply left nothing to guess at anymore.

Jones dominated Stephan Bonnar, Brandon Vera, Matt Hamill (before a DQ), and now Matyushenko for a reason.  He’s a superstar waiting to happen, who’s ready to compete against anyone- anyone- in the UFC light heavyweight division.

2. Takanori Gomi may have only one trick left, but it’s a great one: Gomi looked pretty human against Kenny Florian in his UFC debut, getting beaten both on his feet and then eventually on the ground.  But against Tyson Griffin last night, we were reminded of the reason why he was so dominant for all of those years in the PRIDE organization.

Hand speed and power, folks.

With one hard right hand, Griffin learned that Gomi was not a fighter to be trifled with.  Guess is that opponents are going to start trying to take him down quickly like they used to.

After all, there was a reason why people didn’t want to stand with Gomi.  Those hands of his are still pretty special.

3. Taking down Yushin Okami is very difficult: Okami is not the most exciting fighter in the world.  But the guy is very strong and possesses outstanding takedown defense.  After all, if a two-time All American wrestler with an NCAA title to his credit has extreme difficulty taking you down, and even when he does get you the canvas can’t keep you there, that means something.  For Okami last night, it meant a close decision victory.

4. Charles Oliveira is a fighter to watch: Oliveira looked scary good from his guard against Darren Elkins last night.  When you add that to his undefeated record (13-0) and the fact that he’s stopped 12 of 13 opponents during his short MMA career, he’s got to show up on your MMA radar.

5. John Howard hits hard: Sure, he lost to Jake Ellenberger last night.  Still, every time the guy threw a punch or a kick, it was done with bad intentions.  With just a tad more takedown defense, this guy could be seriously dangerous.