Prime Jones went life and death with Alexander Gustaffson at the peak of Jon's steroid use. Jon got completely out struck for 85% of that fight and was sent to to hospital. The only place you would see 2005 Fedor after a fight with Gus would be at the sushi bar with a cold beer.
Gus was a good fighter but he wasn't better than Fedor. Gus had to panic wrestle a double knee surgery Shogun who landed overhand rights on Gus at will while both guys were fresh. Eventually Shogun got tired and lost to the younger Gus because he was past his best days after multiple knee reconstruction surgeries. It's hilarious how this same version of Gus beat the shit out of Jones and sent him to the hospital in his very next fight.
The fact is that 2005 Fedor was much better than Gus, he was much better than double knee surgery Shogun and he was much better than high-school football Dominic Reyes who also beat up a 32 year old Jon Jones for 4 out of 5 rounds.
It's hilarious how the low integrity Jones fanboys on this are so insecure about Jones that they have to resort to posting gifs of 2011 Strikeforce Fedor and 2016-2020 Bellator Fedor losing to illustrate how a 2005 Fedor would perform against Jones. This dishonest shilling is their only chance of making a case for Jones.
Its obvious Strikeforce Fedor would be an underdog against a prime, juiced up Jon Jones because this version of Fedor was 8 years removed from winning the HW belt in Pride and 6 years removed from the biggest title defense of his career. Nobody in their right mind would claim that this version of Fedor was better than Jones was at his best. That would be dishonest.
Whenever a debate of prime Fedor vs Jones comes up on this forum the same dishonest low integrity clowns come into the thread and post gifs of Fedor losing in Strikeforce in 2011 as if that's some kind of metric of how 2003-2005 Fedor would perform against Jones. Dishonest and pathetic.
This would be like using McGregors performances in 2023 to measure how good he was in 2015. It's pretty clear that McGregor of today isn't the same guy who knocked out Aldo in 13 seconds and he isn't the same guy who clowned and knocked out Eddie Alvarez 8 years ago but somehow Fedor is held to a different standard and was supposedly still in his prime 6-8 years past the days of becoming champion and his biggest title defense.
So let's make this clear. 2005 Fedor was better, faster, more powerful and more skilled than any version of Jon Jones, than any version of Gus, than any version of Reyes and most definitely better than double knee surgery, 1.5 rounds of cardio Shogun. No dishespect to any of these men.
2005 Fedor had the speed to outstrike Mirko who was a faster and better striker than Jones, Gus and Reyes. Fedor had the speed to check Cop's kicks which were faster than Jones kicks. 2005 Fedor was a better grappler than Gus and Reyes and was stronger in the clinch than they were which suggests Jones wouldn't be able to bully him around just like he wasn't able to bully around Gus and Reyes.
On the ground Jones would definitely be a problem for Fedor or anyone really but we also saw Jones get armlocked by Vitor who's armlocks weren't as slick as Fedor's. This is something Jones could avoid if he approached it with respect and awareness but if he jumped into Fedors guard without that kind of respect and awareness then there is a very good chance that Fedor was good enough and fast enough to finish what Vitor started.
A lot of reasonable Jones fans suggest that Jon's reach could be a problem for Fedor and to a degree this is valid. With that said Fedors frame and reach was similar to Cormier's and his reach was identical to that of Reyes and both Cormier and Reyes were able to touch Jon's chin multiple times with clean power shots. It's not insane to assume that Fedor could touch his chin too.
Another area where Jones excels is cardio and you can notice him take over later in fights but we never saw a 27 year old Fedor get tired in very high paced fights so Jones wouldn't have a glaring advantage in this area either.
It would come down to if Jones could bully 2005 Fedor in the clinch which I don't think he could based on his fights with Gus and Reyes so ultimately this fight would be decided on the feet where I think 2005 Fedor was better, faster, more powerful and durable enough to beat Jones. I'll also go as far as saying if prime Jones fought prime Fedor it would be Jones who looks to clinch/ takedown first.
Now this part of my thread is for the dishonest, low integrity clowns on this forum who will come into this thread and post gifs of Fedor losing in Strikeforce 11 years into his career and gifs of Fedor losing in Bellator 16-19 years into his career to illustrate how a 2005 Fedor would perform against Jones.
Everybody on this forum who has a brain and has any real life experience sees your dishonest bullshit from a mile away and recognizes your shilling as what it is: hatred for Fedor, desperation and insecurity about the fact that 2005 Fedor was better than Jones and would have a very good chance of beating the shit out of him.
In before the usual suspect clowns post gifs of Fedor losing in Strikeforce and Bellator 11-20 years into his career as if that was a reflection of the fighter that Fedor was from 2003-2005.
You can all suck it.
The intelligent and reasonable MMA fans of this forum all proudly SPIT on you.
