After Jon “Bones” Jones dismantled Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Saturday to become the youngest UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in history, people have been writing stories about how this is the dawn of the Jones Era and how Bones will go down as an all time great. Of course there was one piece which pointed out that while Jones put on an impressive show, he did break some rules on his way to victory. But while people can rave about the amazing wrestling and striking abilities of Bones Jones or acknowledge that he cheaply resorted to elbowing Shogun in the throat and gouging at his face and head butting him, the one thing nobody seems to really be touching on is ring rust. Long layoffs have a huge effect on a fighter’s performance and have had an effect on at least three main event fights that come to mind immediately.
Shogun was in danger the moment Rashad Evans had to drop out of the title fight and was replaced with the much larger Jon Jones. Bones had a huge size advantage in the fight, so much so that even Joe Rogan commented that it seemed like Shogun wasn’t even in the same weight class. But regardless of his opponent, going into the fight Shogun had a massive challenge in front of him since he hadn’t fought since May 8, 2010.
Ten months off in the world of mixed martial arts is almost like a life time. The concerns of Shogun being too rusty weren’t that high initially since he was going to be fighting Rashad Evans, who hasn’t fought since May 29, 2010. It would be two guys not quite at their peak but still seemingly even matched, aside from the fact Shogun doesn’t do well against wrestlers and was coming back from knee surgery. But once Rashad got hurt and Bones Jones stepped in, there should have been red flags everywhere. Not only was Shogun going to be going against an opponent who looked like a giant next to him and had strengths that played into his weaknesses, but he’d be fighting a fresh and young fighter who could expose just how slow and sluggish almost a year off really makes you.
Shogun being slow following a knee surgery isn’t surprising since that’s how almost his entire UFC run has been aside from his five round war with Lyoto Machida and his lightning fast knockout of Machida in the rematch. But against Jones it didn’t appear Shogun was all that comfortable the moment the fight started. He was also completely gassed within the first few minutes. This could’ve been because Jones was smothering him with a brutal ground game, but the time off really does a lot to throw off your timing and cardio. Shogun’s gas tank was completely empty by the end of the first round, and for a guy who went five rounds with the most elusive striker in the division it seems likely that being on the sidelines for so long took a lot out of him. Rashad is already on death watch since he’s the next challenger to the title and Bones will demolish him, but having been off since May of last year is going to make his struggles even tougher.
Look at Rashad’s last fight for a classic example of what ring rust does to a fighter. Rashad faced off against Rampage Jackson in what was to be the biggest grudge match in UFC history. Rampage hadn’t fought since March of 2009. People didn’t focus on the ring rust factor since they were so pumped for the fight to finally happen, but when the fight stared it was very clear that Rampage had not been in the octagon in over a year. He spent nearly the entire fight gassed and unable to do anything other than get held against the cage. In the third round he finally rocked Rashad and it looked like he was about to finish the fight, only he got tired.
A few months later when Rampage fought Lyoto Machida he looked like a completely different fighter. His striking looked crisper, his movement was much better, and grappling didn’t leave him completely tired out like it did against Evans. If Rampage had fought like that against Rashad, that would’ve completely changed the title picture in the 205 division. Rampage would’ve been the number one contender, and when Shogun went down he probably would’ve had an interim title fight with Machida. But that year layoff led to a severe case of ring rust which changed the entire championship scene.
A few months before Rashad and Rampage fought, Tito Ortiz made his return to the UFC and had a rematch with Forrest Griffin. This was in November of 2009. Tito’s last fight before that had been in May of 2008. Tito looked fine as the fight against Forrest started, but by the end he had nothing going for him. His takedowns had no explosiveness on them, his striking was becoming lethargic, and he just looked largely unimpressive. Well over a year off will do that to you.
One fight that should’ve raised a lot of concern for the potential dangers of ring rust was Anderson Silva’s title defense against Vitor Befort last month. Belfort had last fought when he had returned to the UFC in September of 2009 and beat Rich Franklin. Again, his fight with Silva was last month, meaning February of 2011. Of course the greater concern was the sheer fact Belfort was fighting the greatest of all time and the deadliest striker in the history of the sport in a fight where Silva was coming in to send a message that he is unstoppable. Had Silva not destroyed Belfort with the greatest kick in history, Belfort’s performance later in the fight could have been subject to a great deal of ring rust since he hadn’t fought in about 17 months. People who wanted to see Silva lose so badly were ignoring the fact that it had been over 500 days since Belfort’s last fight. Though it seems doubtful you can make a case that ring rust cost Belfort since regardless of when his last fight was it is highly unlikely he could’ve defended that kick.
Again this isn’t to say that Jon Jones could not have beaten Shogun Rua if it wasn’t for that ten month layoff. Jones had such a size advantage and so much speed, Shogun was in serious danger no matter the condition of his knee or when his last fight had been. Shogun’s struggles with wrestling also would’ve been there regardless of how many months he had been off. But if he hadn’t been off for 10 months, it is hard to believe Shogun looking so drained and sluggish still. The outcome of the fight likely would’ve been the same, but it would’ve been much more competitive. There isn’t really anything the UFC can do to stop ring rust, but it is something more people need to take notice of when analyzing a fight.
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