Is Jon Jones is ready for prime time? He'd better be. Because after coming off a very impressive 3 round decision over highly regard Andre Gusmao in his Octagon debut at UFC 87 back in August, Jones is now stepping up to face Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94, where he'll be featured on the main card. For some fighters, this could be an overwhelming experience. Jones is just barely 21, after all, and has only been training MMA for about a year. But Jones is not your average 21 year old, nor is he your average up and coming fighter. Since his MMA debut in April of 2008, "Jonny Bones" has been on a tear. He's faced seven opponents and stopped six of them. In his Octagon debut, he won virtually every minute of every round and dominated Gusmao from start to finish. Still, some fans are skeptical that he is talented enough and experienced enough to deal with someone like Stephan Bonnar. To those fans I say: Just wait. Because in my opinion, Jones is not only going to beat Bonnar, he's going to look amazing doing it. I've been following Jones' career since I first saw him at BCX 4, where he KO'd Carlos Eduardo in the first round. Then in BCX 5, I actually had the honor and priviledge of introducing him to the crowd before his fight. And as usual, he dominated his opponent, stopping Moyses Gabin in the second round. Indeed, his early fights were so impressive that the UFC quickly took notice, and matchmaker Joe Silva made the fight with Gusmao. A lot of people were picking Gusmao to win, but that didn't phase Jones. He believed in himself and believed that he belonged in the UFC--despite having trained in MMA for less than a year. Was he surprised he got the call to fight in the UFC? "Although it happened really fast, I felt that I've worked really hard and that I was meant to be here," Jones said. "So although I felt extremely lucky and it felt like I had nothing to lose, a part of me felt as if I wasn't an underdog and this is my destiny and my chance to kick things up a notch." And now the UFC is kicking things up a notch by putting Jones on the main card against a big name opponent. Clearly they see Jones' potential and are giving him a chance to shine. But of course that means added pressure on the young fighter. I asked him if he was feeling any different this time around, now that he's fighting a big name opponent. "This time around the stakes are a little different," Jones said. "People have seen that I'm an athletic guy and I have potential and I've actually been labeled as one of the top prospects coming up. So that definitely puts a little pressure on me, showing everyone that I didn't fight a bum and that Andre Gusmao was legit, and that I broke him down pretty good. And I also believe that I'm a Stephan Bonnar and I'm a Rashad Evans and I'm a Chuck Liddell. I actually know that I haven't put in my time and don't really deserve to have that kind of confidence, but I guess I'll never know if I'm one of those guys or not if I don't fight one of those guys. You gotta fight the best and beat the best to be the best." While Bonnar may not be the best in the UFC, he is clearly the best opponent Jones will have faced. And Bonnar's jiu-jitsu is top notch. Is Jones, who comes from a wrestling background, prepared to face such a high level BJJ player? "My overall game of mixed martial arts has come around a lot," Jones said. "I'm a wrestler and I've been on the ground ever since I was 11, 12 years old. So when I'm out there doing jiu-jitsu I don't really get tapped out too much in practice. Being on the ground, it's a lot like a wrestling match. I feel things coming and I pick up things really fast. I would consider myself a solid blue belt level." Will that be enough against a Stephan Bonnar? "I don't think Stephan has extreme flexibility or magnificent slickness on the ground," Jones said. "He's just really sound, very technically sound. So I'm really not afraid to go to the ground with him. And if the fight does go down to the ground, we'll see how well we do down there." Knowing how both Bonnar and Jones like to trade on the feet, there's a chance this fight won't go to the ground at all. And we all know how tough Bonnar is. Is Jones ready for a grueling 15 minute war? "Oh yeah," Jones says enthusiastically. "I know Stephan has gone 15 minutes with much bigger names than me and I'm definitely prepared for it to go 15 minutes. I'm expecting blood; I'm expecting lots of sweat. And when I train and practice I visualize the biggest, the strongest guy in the world. And that's what I'm going to expect from Stephan. I'm going to expect for me to be punching him and him not feeling anything and just keep coming at me. If I train with that attitude and he shows weakness in the fight, it's going to be a big confidence boost for me. I've seen his fights with Forrest Griffin and I know that Griffin is a better fighter than me right now, and if [Bonnar] can take those punches he can take mine." Sounds like Jones is prepared for battle and confident of his chances. I asked his trainer, Ryan Ciotoli, about Jones' confidence levels as it relates to Bonnar. "I think his first UFC performance gave him a good idea that he could handle someone like Stephan Bonnar," Ciotoli explained. "And I think it's just a good match up stylistically. Bonnar's pretty aggressive, Jon's pretty aggressive. Styles make fights and when Joe Silva probably put it together he saw potentially fight of the night." Tell you the truth, I'm with Silva on this one.  I think that Jones is going to once again make people sit up and take notice.  And it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Jones vs. Bonnar win Fight of the Night.  The only bad news is that I won't get to be the guy interviewing him after the fight.

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