Saturday night at UFC 128, the new guard took over with the ascension of Jon "Bones" Jones to UFC light heavyweight champion.
Earlier on the morning of UFC 128, Jones was looking for a place to meditate within a short drive of his hotel. In a "too good to be true" story, Jones and his entourage happened across a robbery instead.
Whether that's commonplace in the area he was hanging out or not isn't the point. Jones reacted without thinking, confident enough that if he went after this man on foot, he'd catch him and subdue him. While coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn fell back, Jones pressed on and knocked the robber to the ground using his MMA techniques and training.
On the morning of the biggest fight of his career against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Jones thought not of himself, but of others.
Later on that evening, Jones was subduing his opponent, as well. This time, however, it wasn't a robbery; instead it was Jones staking his claim as the most well-rounded and dangerous mixed martial artist at 205 pounds in the world.
After two dominant performances in one day, if there were any questions about whether or not Jones was ready to be a champion he dispelled any remaining critics.
With three rounds of unique striking and dominant wrestling, Jones was able to illustrate the difference between the legends of MMA and this dangerous "new breed" of athlete who hit the mats at every MMA gym or training center around the world.
Jon Jones is one of those athletes. So is Georges St. Pierre and Cain Velasquez.
Saturday night, Jones' record reach of 84 1/2 inches helped to keep Rua at bay on the mat. Rua was controlled and mauled by the bear-like length of Jones' arms; held to the mat and prevented not only from recovering his bearings, but also from mounting any kind of assault off of his back. Rua didn't look as rusty as his nearly year-long layoff would suggest, but he was clearly overmatched.
Jones is now the newest UFC star and will probably be among the first UFC light heavyweight champions to successfully defend his title in quite some time.H is first title defense is scheduled to be current training partner Rashad Evans.
Maybe Jones' subduing that robber was his way of making up for taking this title shot from an injured Evans, his friend and teammate, or for how brutally and decisively he executed his gameplan to take the strap.
It's fitting that this would all happen on the same day. He's a new type of champion. Kind of like Superman, but instead of being able to fly, he can't be beat by anyone but himself.
Jon Jones wouldn't want to be called a hero. He is, though. He's also a freak and will gladly become the face of this new generation of MMA elite.
