~Was he kidnapped?
~Was that his brother Ninja in the cage fighting Bones?
~Did Greg Jackson secretly drug the real Shogun to ensure that Rashad would finally get out of his non-existent hair and leave his team?
I'm not really sure where Shogun was last night, but I know damn well that he wasn't in the cage fighting Bones Jones. I doubt he was even in the tri-state area. Dude was probably chillin' back in Brazil, relaxing with a nice cold beer.
While we definitely witnessed a very impressive performance from Jonny "Bones" Jones, the new UFC light heavyweight champion, the real story to me was how un-Shogun like that guy in the cage looked last night. As bad as Shogun looked against Forrest Griffen, also a fight after another one of his major knee surgeries and long layoffs, this was 10x's worse. He looked and fought like a robot that was horribly mis-programmed. It was like whoever put the "brains" in this robot, never finished the job. Or maybe he/she was drunk and spilt beer all over the processors. Whatever it was, wasn't good in any way!
It was a very strange fight and actually disturbing to watch. To see a fighter like Shogun do NOTHING he normally would, and EVERYTHING he normally wouldn't, was, for lack of a better word(s), fucked up! He was an absolutely immobile target out there; no footwork, no head movement, no speed, no normally aggressive attacking and no displays of his normally present tigerblood and Adonis DNA. Bones repeatedly landed some Anderson Silva-ish low side kicks to the front of his thighs. Shogun didn't once defend them or make any sort of adjustment to deal with them. This is a guy who has been fighting for a very long time and has made many a mid-fight adjustment on the fly. Again, it was very disturbing to have to watch.
I've also never seen Shogun just slowly walk forward into whatever strikes his opponent was throwing at him. And I do mean slowly. He looked like a zombie out there. It was like watching a horror flick. I'm sure Bones was shocked at how easy it was to hit him. He had to be! Anybody could have hit Shogun the way he was moving last night. It wasn't even a close facsimile of his normal movement or style of fighting. Once Bones started landing shots, it was a complete downward spiral. He looked like shit in the first minute of the fight, by the third minute, the fight was over in my eyes. He went on to survive well beyond that, but the fight was obviously over then. There was no way he was going to turn the tides of that fight with the way he was fighting.
Shogun is a notoriously vicious kicker. You'd never know that if you saw him fight for the first time last night. He barely threw any kicks at all, which in and of itself, was also very strange. His whole career has been built on speed and explosiveness, neither of which was at all present in this fight. In fact, he was the exact opposite; slow, plodding, predictable, non-threatening and uninspired. These words would NEVER be used to describe the REAL Shogun, yet they're the only words you can use to describe his performance last night.
For those that don't know, Shogun has had repeated major knee surgeries, coupled with long rehabs and layoffs. None of that is good for any professional athlete, especially a mixed martial artist. And more specifically, one that has to compete at the highest levels. In other sports, an athlete can slowly work their way back to competing at the top level. At the top of the MMA game, that's almost impossible and it's absolutely impossible when you are the champ, which was the case here. I initially thought Eduardo Alonso, Shogun's manager, was doing the right thing by keeping him away from fighting for as long as possible so he could fully rehab his knee and get his fitness back. It was really his only option. That turned out to backfire in a big way. The longer Shogun stayed out of the cage, the rustier he got. Sparring in the gym is all well and good, but there is no replacement for actually fighting. Bones Jones fought 6 weeks before last night, 4 times in the last year and 7 times in a little over 2 years. Before last night, Shogun hadn't fought in 10 months and only 4 times in the last 2 years. Throw the surgeries and layoffs into that mix and you aren't getting the genuine article, not even close.
As a fan of Shogun's, it was hard to see him show up and perform like that. Injuries and how you come back from them are a big part of all sports. Each situation is different, some handle that well, some don't. Some injuries are worse than others. Unfortunately, some athletes are snake bitten. It seems like Shogun has a lot of venom running through his system. That's bad news for his fans and for all fans of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Shogun is relatively unknown to the newer, American "ultimate fighting" fans. They never really witnessed Shogun in his prime and at his absolute best. That Shogun was a rarity in this game, a true warrior with an amazing array of skills. The Shogun we all saw last night wasn't that dude. In fact he wasn't even half of that dude!
While the story of the fight is what I just laid out, that doesn't take away from the fact that Bones Jones is the real deal, there's no doubt about that. He's got serious skills and ridiculous size and length for the weight class. His performance last night was very impressive, he definitely deserves his props and deserves to be the champion. He's a baby to this game and has already climbed to the top of the mountain, albeit, a much easier climb than most, if not all prior champions have had to make. All that said, his championship is undoubtedly the product of perfect timing and, to beat a dead horse, injuries. He only got the title shot because his teammate, Rashad Evans, got injured, and the guy he beat last night has been overwhelmed with multiple injuries over the last few years. While those factors are very real and played a huge role in his ascent, Bones seized the golden opportunity afforded to him and did so in spectacular fashion. That can't be taken away from him. He looks to be an absolute beast and a tough out for anyone in the world. The overwhelming praise he's getting right now is all well and good, but a bit premature. He's only been the champion for less than 24 hours! He hasn't ever defended the strap that has historically been like a hot potato for years now. His first title defense is against his now former friend and teammate, the aforementioned Rashad Evans. There is definitely some seriously bad blood between them now. Actually, more like rancid blood. Rashad has been forced to leave their trainer Greg Jackson's camp, a place where he had been training long before Bones ever showed up. This rift has very quickly became wide and nasty. That alone makes this fight compelling. Couple that with the fact that they've trained together extensively and know each other's styles and tendencies very well and we have a huge fight in the making.
Let's see how Bones handles being the strap holder and all that comes with that. Its going to add a million different distractions to his life. It's no longer just eating, training and fighting. The simplicity of that regimen is long gone. He's seems like a smart, disciplined kid, who should be OK, but until you do it, you never did it. And what he's also never done yet is defend his title. That's hurdle #1. If he gets past that, we can all start making bigger predictions about his future in the sport. Until then, the bullseye is now officially on Bones' back and that dramatically changes everything.
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