Can Jon “Bones” Jones be the Next Rampage Jackson?

Now that Rampage Jackson has retired, at least for the time being, the UFC is suddenly in need of new title challengers for the light heavyweight division.

There are plenty of quality fighters in the weight class, but now, the lack of serious contenders for Lyoto Machida’s belt has been exposed.

The common thought was that Jackson would most likely defeat Rashad Evans and then set up a mega-fight with Machida that would have been a huge draw. Of course, Machida has to get past Shogun first, at UFC 104 but he is a huge favorite on the BetUs.com Sportsbook to win and most people believe he’ll get the win.

The lack of a potential Rampage-Machida fight is why UFC President Dana White has publicly said that he was basically screwed by Jackson’s decision.

But if the UFC gets behind the right fighters and markets them the right way, placing them on a fast track to title contention, they can come out of this mess just fine.

One fighter they would do well to promote is Jon “Bones” Jones, one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC and a guy who has the talent to beat anyone in the division.

Jones is currently set to face Matt Hamill at The Ultimate Fighter Finale 10 on December 5, and if Jones wins that bout, he should be one or two fights away from a title shot depending on how good his next opponent is.

Jones fulfills two of the same important roles for the UFC that Jackson did: he’s an intimidating, explosive fighter with an aggressive wrestling style along with an exciting striking style, and he also appeals to the African American community that the UFC is trying to tap into with the current Kimbo Slice-centric season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The UFC is also fighting the bogus perception of some that it is a “white sport” like boxer Floyd Mayweather said in a recent interview.

A guy like Jones is especially valuable considering there isn’t much interest in an Evans-Machida rematch and that recent signee Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is a good friend of Machida’s who would quite possibly not want to fight him.

Jones wowed the UFC 94 crowd by running roughshod over the favored Stephan Bonnar, blasting him with a spinning elbow that had UFC matchmaker Joe Silva jumping out of his seat. Jones tossed in an suplex for good measure, showing off his wrestling skills en route to a unanimous decision win.

Jones is a bright guy with a good personality who also knows the value of showmanship. He’s a great athlete with his 6’4 height and incredible reach advantage over most opponents, and he’s 9-0 in his MMA career with three easy wins inside the Octagon, his last at UFC 100 over Jake O’Brien.

The Ultimate Finale fight is a good step up for him, but the real problem is that he hasn’t been showcased enough in the fights leading up to his pending one with Hamill. That’s why he needs have the UFC hype machine pick things up a notch and start promoting him like the true contender that he can be in the near future.

Jones can’t replace the charisma and name recognition of a guy like Rampage, but he could be the UFC’s best hope for a new challenger to Machida’s throne, which figures to stay pretty warm in the coming months.