First off, let me start by saying that I think maybe the reaction by some to Jones' performance is a little excessive. Floyd Mayweather has established himself as the p4p best boxer in the world with similar performances throughout his entire career, and the combination of a long layoff, change in opponent (who is of a completely different style and body frame with a completely different, totally legit skill set), personal factors including his family life and arrest, along with the potential hindrance of adding muscle mass through powerlifting (which could've potentially negatively influenced his cardio and mobility) all can attribute to his performance not living up to expectations.
This is the real world, and there can be more than one factor influencing an outcome (similar to the "body kicks vs short camp" argument for Conor vs Mendes- yes, BOTH equally played a role in Chad gassing out, not only one or the other). The biggest thing that I took from the fight was the quality that arguably makes Jones the best MMA fighter of all time, and that is his ability to follow and rely on gameplans. His coaches are absolutely brilliant at directing Jon so that he utilizes and maximizes his obvious natural talents and abilities while exploiting his opponents' weaknesses. It seems like his camps have very specific, well directed objectives, almost similar to a student studying for a test.
In recent interviews, his coaches have mentioned that they don't believe Jon will ever take another short notice fight, mentioning that taking a short notice fight against a new opponent introduces "too many variables" that weren't prepared for.
(http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/4/2...esnt-think-jon-jones-will-ever-accept-another for reference).
Now, this is not to question whether or not Jon is "not as good" as we initially thought, or any silliness like that. If anything, his performance against OSP proves (to me at least) that he is even better than I originally thought. However, my question to you guys is this: does this last fight against OSP change your opinion regarding his refusal to take the fight against Chael all those years ago? I am asking this to both those who supported his decision at the time, and also those who disagreed with the decision.
Obviously, he destroyed Chael when they did fight. But, that was after a training camp tailor made for a fight against Chael - for UFC 151, he had been training for an entirely different opponent in Hendo.
TLDR: does jon's last fight against OSP (and what some consider a "poor performance" on his part) change your opinion regarding his refusal to take the fight against Chael all those years ago?
This is the real world, and there can be more than one factor influencing an outcome (similar to the "body kicks vs short camp" argument for Conor vs Mendes- yes, BOTH equally played a role in Chad gassing out, not only one or the other). The biggest thing that I took from the fight was the quality that arguably makes Jones the best MMA fighter of all time, and that is his ability to follow and rely on gameplans. His coaches are absolutely brilliant at directing Jon so that he utilizes and maximizes his obvious natural talents and abilities while exploiting his opponents' weaknesses. It seems like his camps have very specific, well directed objectives, almost similar to a student studying for a test.
In recent interviews, his coaches have mentioned that they don't believe Jon will ever take another short notice fight, mentioning that taking a short notice fight against a new opponent introduces "too many variables" that weren't prepared for.
(http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/4/2...esnt-think-jon-jones-will-ever-accept-another for reference).
Now, this is not to question whether or not Jon is "not as good" as we initially thought, or any silliness like that. If anything, his performance against OSP proves (to me at least) that he is even better than I originally thought. However, my question to you guys is this: does this last fight against OSP change your opinion regarding his refusal to take the fight against Chael all those years ago? I am asking this to both those who supported his decision at the time, and also those who disagreed with the decision.
Obviously, he destroyed Chael when they did fight. But, that was after a training camp tailor made for a fight against Chael - for UFC 151, he had been training for an entirely different opponent in Hendo.
TLDR: does jon's last fight against OSP (and what some consider a "poor performance" on his part) change your opinion regarding his refusal to take the fight against Chael all those years ago?