So it's official, Jones is the champ. I don't like the guy, but credit due where it's needed. (Btw anyone think that Jones mirrored what Shogun WOULD have done without injuries?)

So with this win, the 3rd generation of MMA seems to be here. Young, incredibly fast athletes that excel not just in a single discipline and are good in others, but that are kicking ass in all aspects of the game.

     The first generation obviously being the pionners the Shamrocks, Severns and Gracies of the world. These men were masters of a single discipline and used it and only it to force fights into their area of strength. They eventually faded to the Liddels, Ortizs, Rampages Silvas and Shoguns. Who built MMA into what it is, they were the TUF stage, the Pride v UFC stage. MMA in pop culure began here. Important to note that Zuffas purchase of the UFC had a huge involvement. The 2nd generation ruled for a long time and watched the sport grow. With the introduction of cross-training these men all excelled in one main area, whether it be striking, wrestling grappling etc. But showed ability in others, not being completely lost out of their comfort zones.

      The Third generation began with GSP imo. Followed by Aldos, Cains, Edgars, Cruzs and Davis' of the world. They excel at a very young age, and seem to win despite a serious lack of experience. But all these fighters have several things in common. Speed, creativity and well roundness among other things. They excell in most if not all disciplines and against the old guard have shown little weakness.

     The single remaining hold over seems to be Anderson Silva, who despite age has continued to put on amazing performance after performance and has truly shown to be seemingly impossible to beat. But he may go down as the greatest ever, so his hold over is not surprising.

      I am left with one glaring question at this point. And it is rather simple to ask, but almost impossible to answer (though hopefully you try). That question is, where does the sport go from here? Not in the sense of pop culture, where it is easy to think MMA could be on TV regularly and become a major sport the world over. My question is where does the sport go in the cage? What will the fourth generation look like? The young up and comers that will take down the Jones' Cains and Aldos that seem some impossible to compete with now? I assure you it will happen, there was once a time when Chuck was thought to be unbeatable. And yes age caught up to him, but does anyone truly believe that Chuck could stand in a cage with any of these gentlemen and last more than a round, even in his prime? I don't.

      So I pose that to you, where do we go from here? (forgive the cliche, maybe think about the slow walking away music from the incredible hulk here).