Jones vs Matyushenko: a fight for nothing?

On August 1, we will have the opportunity to watch the young talent Jon Jones headline a free UFC card against Vladimir Matyushenko. And less than a week before the event, we are still scratching our heads wondering why the old wrestler was chosen to face off against the sensational new Greg Jackson recruit.

The fight between Jones and Matyushenko doesn’t make sense for many reasons. First, it doesn’t bring Jones any closer to the top of the light heavyweight division. Based upon the last few fights of each fighter, Jones has faced stiffer and more highly ranked competition than his opponent.

The 22-year-old beat Stephan Bonnar, a dangerous veteran with legitimate stand-up skills, got a de facto win against Matt Hamill and finally destroyed a contender in Brandon Vera. Matyushenko’s last three opponents consisted of Jason Lambert, Igor Prokrajac and Eliot Marshall. Lambert was on a three-fight losing streak against Luis Cane, Wilson Gouveia and Jason MacDonald. Prokrajac had three wins against fighters never seen before… and after! (Kalvis Gebauers, Roderick Jambor and Mihajlo Fincur). Only Lambert had a decent winning streak when he faced Matyushenko with wins over Vinny Magalhaes, Jason Brilz and Jules Bruchez and Matyushenko won this fight by split decision, nothing like the sheer dominance displayed by Jones over his competition.

Stylistically, Jones has already faced two strong wrestlers in Vera and Hamill. Another fight with a wrestler will not put his game to the test. It even looks as if the fight was tailored for the New Yorker to put a beating on his opponent.

Athletically, Jones is a young stud whereas Matyushenko is 39 and at the end of his career.

Finally, in the event of a loss unplanned by the UFC and unexpected by Jones fans, the UFC will lose the marketing build-up it developed to prepare a pay-per-view show headlined by Jones.

The UFC as a company always follows the money, and there are reasons why this fight makes sense on different levels for the Las Vegas-based corporation. Is the fight “Jones vs Matyushenko” a marketing test? It is a valid idea that the UFC wants to see how many viewers the new prospect can generate by himself. This time, he does not even benefit from a renowned opponent like Vera, an established star in his own right. This is a true test of Jones’ selling power.

This fight is also going to increase a broader fan base and get the young phenom known among all the casual fans. Another destruction in a fantastic fashion reminiscent of the Vera fight will help put Jones on everybody’s map.  It is also going to increase the hunger among the well-established fan base to see Jones fight top-10 fighters in the light heavyweight division, which means greater sales when he shows up on a PPV card. The objective of the UFC could be to build another Brock Lesnar-type phenomenon.

In addition to that, if Jones gets well groomed and arrives at the top of his category in a year or two, the UFC will have a cash cow on their hands for possibly the next 10 years with the prospective excitement of a move to the heavyweight division at some point given Jones’ frame and continued growth, hitting 231 lbs during this training camp.

Still, for many fans, this is not how it was supposed to be. Vitor Belfort did not benefit from this grooming when he won the UFC 12 heavyweight tournament at age 20. Coming off impressive and dominating performances over established threats in the light heavyweight division, one would think the young stud has earned a shot at a legitimate contender. There are lots of match-ups that would have made us that much more excited, we think about Thiago Silva, Luis Cane or even Little Nog, just to name a few.

We want Jon Jones, this is not debatable and we hope Jones vs. Matyushenko proves that. He has the talent to compete at the highest level, among the MMA elite. With a decisive victory over Matyushenko, Jones now must face real competition. He is young but he is a genius and that’s what geniuses do.