Who did better? Jon Jones/Lyoto Machida Vs. Stephan Bonnar.

UFC 140 is this Saturday, and the headlining fight is a much anticipated clash between Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones and former champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. I will post a proper preview and prediction later in the week, but for now I want to take a look at some of their past opponents. Jones and Machida are both unpredictable fighters, but since they have faced several of the same opponents in the past, this will give us a chance to see how both used their unique skills in the same scenario. I will do one of these each for the next three days, covering Stephan Bonnar, Mauricio Rua and Rampage Jackson, all of whom both Jones and Machida have faced at least once.

Both fighters faced UFC veteran Stephan Bonnar at early stages in their career, and both were victorious.

Lyoto Machida faced Bonnar in 2003 in what was only his second professional bout, which he won by TKO through cuts in the first round. This is the only time in Bonnar's career when an opponent using legal strikes has finished him, he has never been KO'd or submitted, and his only other TKO loss came in 2010, after an inadvertant headbutt by Krzysztof Soszynski. During the 4 minutes and 21 seconds of the bout Machida controlled most of the action with strikes, throwing a number of head kicks and opening up cuts on both Bonnar's cheeks, as well as bloodying up his nose. The cut that ultimately stopped the fight came as Bonnar began to press the reaction, and Lyoto counter punched, splitting Bonnar's cheek right open for a justified stoppage. An impresssive outing against a tough competitor, especially considering this was only Machida's second professional fight.

Much of Machida's success has been attributed to his Karate style, one which is very unusual in MMA and therefore difficult for his opponents to prepare for. Most of his wins have come by decision, and this is usually due to his opponents being cautious and hanging back to try and get used to his technique. The thing about Stephan Bonnar however, is that he is well known as someone who loves to brawl, and therefore he fought Machida the same way he would any other opponent, not letting the different fighting style unsettle him. The fight ending cut occurred just as Bonnar was starting to lay into Machida with a flurry of punches and knees, so it is hard to say how the fight would have gone had it continued. While Machida gets full credit for stopping Bonnar when noone else really has, it seems as if the cuts may have come at a fortunate time, and through Bonnar's misfortune rather than powerful striking on Machida's part.

Jon Jones faced Bonnar in 2009, in what was his second fight in the UFC and eighth professional fight overall. While he controlled most of the fight, Jones was unable to finish Bonnar, only the second opponent in his career that he has been unable to finish. Bonnar was beaten down by Jones' unpredictable offense for most of the first two rounds, with a spinning back elbow and a German Suplex being the highlight. The only time when Jones seemed in trouble was when Bonnar clinched or fought in close, eliminating his huge reach. The formidable upper cuts of Bonnar landed hard several times, but Jones was able to take them and get out from Bonnar's range.

The ability to get back into his comfort zone and control the fight is something that Jones has shown in all of his fights so far. While he did not finish Bonnar like Machida did, Jones managed to control him for the most part of three rounds, while Machida has seemed to be giving ground as Bonnar figured out his style late in their first round.

Two unpredictable fighters got the chance to fight someone in Bonnar who approached both fights with the same brawling attitude. Bearing in mind however, that Jones managed to beat Bonnar six years and a huge amount of experience later, this makes his victory all the more impressive. Controlling a fighter like Bonnar who likes to press the action is not an easy thing to do, and Jones did it for almost the entire fight. A fight being stopped due to cuts is a nasty business, all the more so because it is so often disuputed. Bonnar was also clearly willing to continue when the referee called the stoppage, where Jones took all that he had to give and dished out even worse. When you add to this the fact that the Jones beat the veteran Bonnar at only 21 years of age, he has to get the nod for more impressive win, but it is very close.

Jon Jones