MMA Thread

I used to be a huuuuge boxing fan. Like I was heavily invested, watched all the premier fights, payed attention to all the champions etc. And I payed zero attention to MMA, although I did enjoy DREAM and K-1 etc.

But as I grew older and continued to watch the progression of the sport, MMA has overtaken boxing for me now. There is just so many different aspects of the sport, each important. Its crazy to see how the low calf kick has started to have an effect on the sport. Like someone before said, BJJ used to dominate there for a bit, but then guys adapted and started training. it will be interesting to see how fighters counter the low kick going forward. I saw a guy get knocked out with a charging overhand right as soon as he went to throw another low kick. So it is possible to counter it directly, Rogan was talking about fighters basically having to dodge it all together, as even checking it is not really enough unless you angle your shin perfectly.

Wrestling is still dominant, but wrestler grapplers like Khabib are the most effective. Usman is a fantastic wrestler, but again with the evolution of the sport always happening, he has turned himself into more of a striking control type fighter instead of relying on his wrestling. I give him a lot of credit for that as many of his previous efforts were boring as fuck. He heard the chatter and made an adjustment like a true champion.

I think Stipe vs Jones would be a very interesting fight. Stipe is strong like bull and was throwing around Ngannou, so it will be interesting to see if he can man handle Jon Jones that way.

Jones is a clever striker though. And I think he doesnt get enough credit for his chin. He has never really been in trouble from strikes. He has gotten tagged a few times in a couple different fights, but nothing ever too serious where he was in danger of being stopped.

He will most likely dictate a faster pace coming from light heavy and will most likely outwork his opponents overall as well. I think he will do jut fine at HW. I dont see him suddenly being mediocre or ineffective just because he moved up. He is undefeated and deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Jozu said:

Honestly I think Jon Jones is going to be a BEAST at HW. Yeah he will be at a overall size disadvantage against most real heavies, but his 84.5 reach nullifies a lot of that. He is also pretty tall, so he will only be giving up a weight discrepancy. WIth him putting on muscle and bulking up he might lose a bit of speed, but the fast twitch explosiveness with the elbows and leg strikes will still be there. He is also much more nimble than 90% of heavies.

Imagine the dynamic Jones against a guy like, I dunno Rozenstruik. Look how immoble the guy was, he would get absolutely picked apart by Jones. But we really only need to look at how he would match up against Stipe and Ngannou. And both of those matches would be a tall task for him, but he has a chance against both imo. I cant wait to see what he can do at HW.

Click to expand...

Jones proved in the Reyes fight and the Thiago fight that he can move backwards very well under heavy fire.

He's not GSP that facetanks every fucking jab.

He's not opposed to running if he has to. Running in the HW division is going to be something he's very good at, due to his natural weight class and athleticism.

A few times Thiago Santos could have ended him, and a few times Reyes could have ended him-- but they didn't. That's a credit to Jones octagon awareness, and movement.

The problem I see is Reyes and Thiago were under 4 to 6 inches of reach compared to the HW average.

Jones against the cage won't be able to roll off as easy. Stipe or Ngannou are going to have that extra few inches on those bombs, the same bombs that Reyes/Thiago nearly ended Jones with.

Thiago Santos is 76" for fucks sake.

HW ain't LHW period.

I mean for fucks sake-- Thiago Santos put on a Muay Thai clinic with a 76" reach lol. Against Jones. That's scary. I have to question whether Jones can hang at all at HW based on those 2 fights. He may have cashed his last check.

If they do feed him to whoever wins next between stipe/francis(stipe) you absolutely will get your wish

I think it's disrespectful to the division to let Jones immediately challenge for the title, he should at least have to win a match for #1 contender. It would be different if Jon was on a 'i just cleaned out my division' tear like fighters normally are when they're allowed to fight for the title in another weight class, and it's not like the heavyweight division is stale needing to be stirred up. After this upcoming rematch against Ngannou, Miocic will have fought for the belt 9 times against 5 people. There are plenty of fighters who could be getting title shots over Jones, or who Jones should have to beat to challenge for a title.

I think it depends. If Stipe loses and they give Jones a title fight against Francis I would agree 100%. But if Stipe wins then fuck it. Stipe should get to fight p much whoever he really wants and Jones would be the money fight and likely an easier fight for him imo

Yeah, I agree that Jones should have to prove himself in the division first before getting a title shot. I've felt that with other double champs too. They should have made Jones vs Overeem at the very least. If he couldn't get past Overeem he shouldn't be sniffing a title shot. If he did then he should be in a title contender eliminator match.

I'd be fine if he at least had to beat Lewis or Volkov before getting a shot at the title.

Araxen said:

Yeah, I agree that Jones should have to prove himself in the division first before getting a title shot. I've felt that with other double champs too. They should have made Jones vs Overeem at the very least. If he couldn't get past Overeem he shouldn't be sniffing a title shot. If he did then he should be in a title contender eliminator match.

Click to expand...

I understand why you or others think this way. But imo jon jones is prob this biggest money fight compared to anyone in the UFC aside from Connor. So while it may be "unfair" to the division that an untested person gets a title fight over someone that has been fighting their way up the rankings to get that same fight, imo its also "unfair" that someone else gets that big money fight over the champion. Even more so when its someone like Stipe who has basically cleared out his division. I feel like the only thing that would be unfair is if Stipe ended up losing to Francis and they gave Francis Jon Jones. That would be fucked just because Stipe would deserve a rematch asap considering what hes done at heavyweight

Jones vs champ is the money fight, vs anyone else is just a risk for ufc.

i am sure UFC would be most happy for Francis to beat Stipe and Jones.

Lanx said:

Jon Jones is the god of LHW...

quick... who is the current LHW champ...

yea, exactly

Click to expand...

Jan Blachowicz.

Ironically I only remember the name because they're letting Adesanya move up and fight for the title. It's not quite as bad as them doing the same with Jones though because Adesanya doesn't have all the asterisks by his name that Jones does, and Adesanya is at the height of his undefeated streak and winning convincingly rather than looking past his prime like Jones looks.

Jones is arguably the best MMA fighter of all time. He doesn’t have to prove shit. UFC wants him in HW, they know how much money that will bring in in PPV’s.

best*

or maybe best***

if aliens came down and challenged us to a deathmatch our champion vs theirs, i'd want jon jones representing humanity