Sherdog’s Top 10: Phenoms

Jon Jones’ achievements may never be matched. | Photo: D. Mandel/Sherdog.com

1. Jon Jones

The UFC’s troubled former light heavyweight champion broke the curve for every fighter who will ever try his or her hand at the sport. He made it to the UFC less than four months after debuting as a professional and won a title less than three years after his first professional bout; and by winning the light heavyweight championship at 23, he remains the youngest fighter to ever hold UFC gold. There is a real chance that last accomplishment will never be matched. His 2011 campaign, which saw him defeat Ryan Bader, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida, is the greatest single year in the history of MMA, and that, too, might never be exceeded.

Ironically, Jones’ early success is likely what also set him up for failure. By coming into runaway success and boatloads of money -- at least by MMA standards -- so early in his career, he resembles elite professional athletes as a category far more than his fellow mixed martial artists. Cash, fame, drugs, partying and head trauma rarely mix in positive ways, and Jones is as much a poster child for the broader cultural problems of professional athletics as he is for the unique issues that befall fighters per se.

We can only hope that Jones gets himself right and returns to the sport. He is already the greatest light heavyweight in MMA history at age 27 and could well become the greatest fighter of all-time with a few more victories.

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