Let's put this in perspective...
Jon Jones striking was exposed as mediocre. He is still far superior to everyone else in explosiveness, athleticism, strength and wrestling. But his striking...
Here is a man with an 84" reach who couldn't do anything against a much smaller man with a much shorter reach. He couldn't tag Machida at all in the first round, and Machida clipped him several times, including a time that almost rocked Jones. Sure, Jones managed to clip Machida once in the second round, then use his wrestling to take him down and ground-and-pound him with his elbows which essentially ended the fight. But Machida's striking was overall superior.
This is not surprising since Machida and Anderson Silva are the two best technical strikers in MMA. Not necessarily in terms of power, but in terms of technique. By this, I mean that their foot work, head movement and striking timing are outstanding and far superior to everyone else's. They both have over 90% striking accuracy and almost never get hit.
Jon Jones was the best overall fighter and won the fight. But his striking is not at the ultra-elite level of Machida and Anderson.
Jones is a physical specimen and can only be defeated by the best heavyweights. His height, reach, takedowns and devastating ground-and-pound are too much for anyone at 205 lbs to beat him. I don't think there is anyone at the light-heavyweight division who can beat him. Phil Davis and Rashad will get crushed. Hendo could lend the H-bomb and win, but he will probably never get witin reach of Jones to do that.
Despite the loss, I believe Machida remains the only guy at the 205 lbs division who could beat Jones. Machida's superb technical striking carried him through to the second round, and IMO this was the only time Jones lost a round in his career. Jones still won because he is that superior at everything else, but for the first time ever we saw him get outmatched at something and struggle.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
