Which means there could be up to four light heavyweights who are about to have a very bad year.
UFC 205-pound champion Jon Jones, who is fresh off another dominant win inside the Octagon, this time over former division kingpin Lyoto Machida back at UFC 140 on Dec. 10 in Toronto, capped off what could be one of the most dominant years in the promotion's history with four straight wins (and four straight finishes).
That was 2011.
In 2012, he hopes to do it all over again, despite his initial plans to take some time off, because the busy schedule can help him become a "better athlete," if that's even possible.
"Bones" breaks it all down for ESPN:
"My goal is to finish every fight in 2012. If I do that, a lot of other things will fall into place naturally. I want to finish every opponent. I've been thinking recently about trying to compete four times in the year again. I grew so much as a person that by doing that again in 2012 will just make me a better athlete. Originally I said I wanted to take off four or five months, but I may reconsider and come back sooner and have three or four fights this year."
Jones kicked off his 2011 fight campaign by defeating Ryan Bader to earn a 205-pound title shot against Mauricio Rua. Just six weeks later, he made the most of his opportunity by dominating "Shogun" at UFC 128 in a way not seen before.
His first title defense came against Quinton Jackson and Jones once again dominated, becoming just the second man in the history of MMA to submit "Rampage." Less than three months later, the Greg Jackson-trained phenom became the first man to submit Machida, putting him out cold with a standing guillotine choke.
That's 4-0, two title defenses, all finishes, against the best competition available, namely three of the four opponents being former champions. All in one year, folks.
Is this going to be a championship run not seen since the likes of Anderson Silva? Or will "Suga" Rashad Evans have something to say about his success in 2012?
Thoughts?
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