-- Luke Stadel
Jordan Breen, radio host and columnist: I won't turn this into an exhaustive discussion on the athletic and technical particulars on Jon Jones, and will keep firm to ranking matters. First, let me say that of the five honorable mentions in our 205-pound rankings, our panel sees Jones as the figurative 15th man in that list. Secondly, it isn't of importance how long a fighter has fought, nominally how many wins he's achieved, or really even whether he's finished his opponents (dominance is a fairer standard than finishes, but that's an e-mail for another day). All that's important is the quality of his resume, pitted against the rest of his contemporaries.
So, we've established that all other 14 fighters whose names are mentioned on that page would be hypothetically ranked ahead of Jones. However, while Jones' résumé is sparse, it isn't bad. Consider guys you think may be Top 20 or Top 30 light heavyweights, and think about their portfolios. In light of that, commanding decision wins over Andre Gusmao and Stephan Bonnar aren’t too shabby.
Ultimately, who would be better suited to take his place? While perhaps there is something to be said about a fighter like Sokoudjou, who despite his recent losses, does have two relatively recent victories over then-top 10 opposition. Beyond that, you have quality prospects who have strung together wins, deserve the chance to fight better opposition, but whose resumes still are no better than having dominant wins over Bonnar and Gusmao (Muhammed Lawal, Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante, Emanuel Newton); fighters who have fought top-tier opponents, failed, and their actual wins are over equal or lesser competition to Jones (Matt Hamill, Brandon Vera, Jason Brilz), or elite-level fighters who fight so little that they have virtually no meaningful wins in eons (Tito Ortiz).
Independent from discussion about him as a prospect, Jon Jones as an honorable top-10 mention is based on nothing more than the fact that he has two recent, dominant victories over quality opposition, and you look at guys below that Top 15 threshold, you'll see a lot of very similar, comparable résumés. So while I think there could be arguments here or there for Fighter X or Fighter Y, there is certainly no gross overvaluing of Jones' fight ledger when you look at the achievements of his contemporaries within the division.
What can Brown do for you?
Who do you pick in a Faber-Brown rematch? I think Urijah Faber just got careless in the first bout, giving Mike Thomas Brown an unlikely fluke win. Who do you have your money on?
-- Eric
Greg Savage, radio host: I have to say I have been extremely impressed with Brown and actually picked him to upset Faber last year. I felt his wrestling ability, though not quite as good as Faber’s, would be adequate when teamed with his size and strength advantage to sabotage the star featherweight’s unbeaten run, and I was right. There was nothing fluky about that fight.
Nothing has changed, for me anyway, over the past four months to lead one to believe Faber is in any better shape going into the rematch. Both men looked impressive in their follow-up bouts -- Brown smashed and submitted Leonard Garcia and Faber stopped Jens Pulver once again -- but unless Faber has an answer for Brown’s physical style he is going to have his hands full.
Now don’t get me wrong, Faber is super talented and can certainly give Brown a run for his money but if you are asking me to pick a winner I will go with Brown.