What happens when you have no more enemies to conquer?
You find new ones.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones is likely one win away from moving up to the heavyweight division, something he started teasing as early as 2012. That's because there isn't a fighter capable of defeating him at 205 pounds.
Daniel Cormier, widely -- regarded as the one man who could get the job done -- fought valiantly for 25 minutes in the UFC 182 main event, but was shut down in the championship rounds last Saturday night (Jan. 3, 2015) and lost a fairly convincing unanimous decision (recap).
The old college try, and all that jazz.
With his "Sin City" mountain thoroughly conquered after the "Bad Blood" feud inside the MGM Grand, "Bones" will now wait to see if he fights Alexander Gustafsson, a rematch from their UFC 165 thriller in late 2013, or resurgent 205-pound striker Anthony Johnson.
"The Mauler" and "Rumble" fight for the right to party in just a few weeks (more on that here).
If Jones can eliminate the winner of that fight, what is left for him at light heavyweight? Running through the mental Rolodex, the only fighters he hasn't faced (outside of Johnson) who are still ranked in the top 10 are Phil Davis, Dan Henderson, Ovince St. Preux, and Jimi Manuwa.
Try announcing those fights without a laugh track.
The only challenges left for Jones at this stage of his still-young career are north of 205, and it would be interesting to see him contend with a boxer who hits as hard as Junior dos Santos, or a grappler with the ground skills of Fabricio Werdum. But it doesn't even have to be a fight that dangerous.
He can pull an Anderson Silva, and puff up to fight a respectable name just to keep busy while the light heavyweight division sorts itself out.
Jones still has one final hurdle to clear, but if he does, it's going to be difficult to sell a pay-per-view (PPV) with him as top billing, simply because fans are unlikely to shell out $60 for a fight that feels like a foregone conclusion. If you can look at the UFC rankings (right here) and come up with a better idea, I'm all ears.
For more UFC 182 results and fallout, check out our "Jones vs. Cormier" live story stream right here.