UK UFC President, Marshall Zelaznik has heaped further praise on exciting light heavyweight star, Jon “Bones” Jones, explaining the New Yorker could be just two or three fights away from a shot at the title should he get past Vladimir Matyushenko on the UFC on Versus 2 card this Sunday night.
“Jon just burst onto the scene but has looked so exciting in all his fights. I’m not privy to the thinking of Dana [White] on the matter, but Jon Jones is certainly one of those guys with a lot of expectation who Dana and Joe [Silva] will have to nurture in the correct way.”
“A victory over Vladimir Matyushenko would already put Jones at the top and closing in on a title shot. He would probably be two or three fights away, and if he keeps winning it will be very hard to keep him from walking through that Octagon door to a title shot.”
“Jon’s got a great temperament, nobody is really pissed off by him, and he has plenty of people wanting to work out the mystery of how to beat him.”
The "Iceman" may want a third crack at him, and rumors of a Forrest Griffin trilogy have also made the rounds, but Tito Ortiz will have a fresh matchup when he next steps inside the octagon.
A source with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting that "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" will face Matt Hamill at UFC 121, and UFC President Dana White subsequently confirmed the matchup in a text message.
Ortiz (15-7-1) recently starred in season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter, and was paired off with Chuck Liddell as rival coaches. The season was to end in a third fight between the two until Ortiz pulled out of the bout with a neck injury that required surgery.
Jon "Bones" Jones vs. Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko: For those that follow matchmaking within the UFC, it's often fairly easy to see who the UFC thinks has star potential, and who they think are taking up space on their roster. Ever since Jon Jones rolled into the UFC, scoring an upset over IFL veteran Andre Gusmao and soundly beating Stephan Bonnar, the UFC has groomed him for stardom with several high-profile fights against beatable opponents. Having dispatched three of the better wrestlers in the division, Jones will take on yet another wrestler in Vladimir Matyushenko as the main event of UFC on Versus, and with predictable results. While Matyushenko is a sturdy veteran, he's not any different than Jake O'Brien, Matt Hamill, or any other wrestler with decent boxing, and brings nothing to the table that Jones can't handle. As long as Jones can keep Matyusenko at range or hurl him onto the mat when he closes position, he should have this one in the bag and take yet another high-profile win.
All 15 fighters who underwent drug testing at this month's UFC 116 event tested clean for performance-enhancing drugs and recreational/drugs of abuse.
Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer today e-mailed the drug-testing results to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
UFC 116 took place July 3 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar topped interim title-holder Shane Carwin in the main event.
The NSAC tested both of them, as well as Chris Leben, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Chris Lytle, Matt Brown, Krzysztof Soszynski, Stephan Bonnar, Brendan Schaub, Kendall Grove, Gerald Harris, Ricardo Romero, Jon Madsen, George Sotiropoulos and Daniel Roberts. All test results were negative.