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ALVIN CARTER, MMATORCH SPECIALIST
Was it too soon for Brock Lesnar? Or Cain Velasquez for that matter? It is a great time for Jon Jones. Not only because he can win this fight, but he is still very young if he does not. Win, lose, or draw this fight gives Jones a marquee fight and a whole other level of exposure. I am sure KSWISS/FORM Athletics are happy about their latest investment going for the title.
CHRIS PARK, MMATORCH UK SPECIALIST
If you're good enough, you're old enough, and what Jon Jones did to a man (Ryan Bader) who is also considered one of the biggest stars of the future, removed any shred of doubt that this man is ready.
I'm going go out on a limb on this one and not only say Jones is ready, but Jones will win and il even go as far to say as he will make it look relatively easy.
Shogun is one of the best; but my gut instinct here is that he is about to suffer a very heavy, albeit shocking, defeat at the hands of a man who will dominate the division for a long time to come.
MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
No, absolutely not. He has done nothing but win in impressive fashion, and is incredibly physically gifted. I feel that even if he loses to Shogun, which is very possible, he will only learn from it and be better from it; he is that kind of fighter. We may see a situation like the one GSP faced after he lost to Matt Hughes for the first time, where he learned from the loss and was better for it in the long run.
ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST
Jon Jones struck the opportunity of a lifetime when he was offered the fight against Shogun Rua at UFC 128.� Was it too soon?� Not really.� The only other contender besides the injured Rashad Evans would have been Rampage Jackson, and he was offered the fight, but due to it being too soon (4 weeks to prep), he declined.� I think that Jones is in a perfect spot, as he is coming off of a quick victory against Ryan Bader and is still in "battle-ready" mode.� I think he can fare well against Shogun.� We'll see if close fights back to back will hamper Jones, or if he is in peak conditioning to claim what many people say will end up in his hands anyways.� Though, I won't go as far as jumping on the bandwagon about declaring Jon Jones or his victory the "era" of anything.
ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR
I don't think it's too soon for Bones Jones to receive a title shot.� It's the most intriguing fight at the UFC has at 205 pounds.� I expect he'll defeat Shogun, which would be terribly impressive.
JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
It's absolutely not too early for Jones to get this title shot. At 23-years-old he appears ready to tackle any challenge ahead of him, and whether he loses this fight or captures the title, he's going to learn and grow from the experience. He's got a very good chance of beating Shogun in this fight. Shogun is coming off of yet another long layoff due to knee injury, and there's no telling which version of him will show up on March 19. For Jones, he's in fight shape, came out of the Bader fight uninjured and ready to get right back into action, and athletically, he's ready to take on this challenge. This is a highly intriguing fight, and I can't wait to see it this March.
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_8414.shtml
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