Chris Weidman: Not Leaving Till I Fight Jon Jones

[Author]

What I find disappointing is how many people were not just wanting Silva/Jones, but actually saying Silva would beat him.

Now that a guy who's destroyed Silva TWICE is confident he can beat Jones, it's the most ridiculous thing in terms of possibilities?

And to think he volunteered to face Jones on short notice even before those wins were under his belt.

 

[Redhawks100]

1. Smaller than Jones
2. Although he has good boxing, I don't see him being effective against Jones
3. Has never fought a wrestler that's the caliber of Jones
4. Still shows a mediocre gas tank

Weidman's a beast, as is Jones, but Jones wrecks him at this point. I think Weidman does surprisingly well in the 1st and maybe the 2nd, but it's all Jones from there on out. A decision or possibly even a finish.

 

[Starman]

good to see hes showing respect to the goat

Agreed. Self-respect is always good to see.

 

[Bowerman]

Inb4 Ronda should move up and fight Cyborg

We're talking MMA here. Not some sport with 30 wannabe athletes flopping around to a noob audience.

Anyway - Good on Weidman for wanting to have a crack. He would get utterly murdered due to the stylistic match-up however. The ageing fighters he's beaten have been tailor made - Bones is the exact opposite. Everything Chris does well, Bones does better. Add a huge size and reach advantage and you get a complete one sided beatdown.

Chris is already going to have his hands full with Rockhold and Jacare. Jones is just faaaaar too much. Hopefully he tests himself though and after he gets humbled he can go back to MW and continue to build his resume.

 

[Redhawks100]

What I find disappointing is how many people were not just wanting Silva/Jones, but actually saying Silva would beat him.

Now that a guy who's destroyed Silva TWICE is confident he can beat Jones, it's the most ridiculous thing in terms of possibilities?

And to think he volunteered to face Jones on short notice even before those wins were under his belt.

It was generally agreed that Jones would beat him lol but it was an amazing match-up so everyone wanted it.

Weidman finished a 38 year legend. It's much different fighting possibly the greatest young talent MMA has ever seen that's still in his prime.

 

[mmafan559]

At least people are talking about Weidman for a little bit.

 

[psychodad]

Everything Chris does well, Bones does better. Add a huge size and reach advantage and you get a complete one sided beatdown.

I agree with the size and reach advantage, but not with the rest.

Weidman has better BJJ and more effective striking. Both can wrestle and I don't know which one I would give the edge on that.

 

[Taric]

I agree with the size and reach advantage, but not with the rest.

Weidman has better BJJ and more effective striking. Both can wrestle and I don't know which one I would give the edge on that.

Jones would get the wrestling edge, but I'm uncertain it would hit the mat. Against the cage though, guaranteed Jones would get the upper-hand.

 

[cholo420k]

chris would ragdoll and embarras jones

 

[Redhawks100]

I agree with the size and reach advantage, but not with the rest.

Weidman has better BJJ and more effective striking. Both can wrestle and I don't know which one I would give the edge on that.

Weidman's most likely a better pure BJJ grappler but JBJ has shown to be way more effective with his submission grappling in the UFC. Obviously he has more fights, but I think Jones wins in that area.

 

[Bowerman]

I agree with the size and reach advantage, but not with the rest.

Weidman has better BJJ and more effective striking. Both can wrestle and I don't know which one I would give the edge on that.

The problem is Weidman in no way shape or form has better striking. Big weight but aside, Weidman's striking in the Maia fight is closer to his actual level. Why?

The takedown threat. This should be a sticky for any noob fan to MMA [Not saying your a noob]. As an example Anderson was outstruck by Sonnen yet he murdered Vitor on the feet. We both know who's the superior striker out of Sonnen and Vitor & takedown threat explains the difference in success versus Anderson.

In versing Jon Jones, not only is the takedown threat minimised, Chris becomes the hunted. His striking becomes stifled. His movement becomes stifled. He's put on the back foot. It's just a horrible horrible match-up.

If Jacare somehow manages to get to a title fight with Chris we will see this to a significant degree. I think Jacare is too old to beat him now, but that fight will highlight the weakness for Weidman.

It's hard for many people to see Chris losing the stand-up when they don't the intricacies of why he was winning the stand-up. Suffice to say I really can't see any way Weidman wins a fight against Bones. I can't see any way that fight is even competitive.

On the flip side - I predicted long before the first fight that Gustaffson would go very close to beating Jon [And predicted that he would win the immediate rematch] all for a very different set of stylistic reasons. Now - Jon may have had enough time to fix the big whole in his game that Gus exploited.

 

[Bowerman]

Big weight cut aside

Fixed.

 

[rakeleaves]

The odds are he won't get past Rockhold, Romero, and Jacare.

 

[Wrapup]

The odds are he won't get past Rockhold, Romero, and Jacare.

Everyone here said that about the lineup of Gus, Tex and DC, yet Jones rolled right through them. Weidman is certainly capable of doing the same (though he'd then get wrecked by Jones so there's that).

 

[psychodad]

In versing Jon Jones, not only is the takedown threat minimised

Why is the takedown threat minimised? I agree with your analysis on why Weidmans striking is so successful, I just don't see any reason why Jones would not have to be worried about takedowns. You think he is comfortable in rolling with Weidman? He has reach advantage and knows how to use it, standing up is his best bet against The Chris.

 

[Dart Feld]

Why is the takedown threat minimised? I agree with your analysis on why Weidmans striking is so successful, I just don't see any reason why Jones would not have to be worried about takedowns. You think he is comfortable in rolling with Weidman? He has reach advantage and knows how to use it, standing up is his best bet against The Chris.

The threat of the TD has never had a major impact on Jones' striking and he's faced and beaten wrestlers like Bader, Shad, and DC. The threat of an opponent's ground game has never affected his gameplan either even with the close call against Vitor he went back to his guard, defended 2-3 more armbar setups, and cut him open with gnp in each round leading up to the late Jones sub.

 

[tm8747a]

Not sure why Weidman is getting any praise for this. Tons of guys have said they'd move up and ended up not doing it. Let's wait until he actually does it before heaping respect upon him.

 

[Hans Gruber]

http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/8/1...for-a-fact-i-m-not-leaving-this-sport-without

"I know for a fact, I’m not leaving this sport without fighting’ Jon Jones"

Good on Chris for calling out the champ in a higher weight class.

It is refreshing to see a MW champ pursuing a fight like that instead of going after a much smaller WW champ.

Hopefully Jones fights Werdum (or whoever the HW champ is eventually)

 

[McBlaze]

Weidman would beat Jones

 

[psychodad]

The threat of the TD has never had a major impact on Jones' striking and he's faced and beaten wrestlers like Bader, Shad, and DC. The threat of an opponent's ground game has never affected his gameplan either even with the close call against Vitor he went back to his guard, defended 2-3 more armbar setups, and cut him open with gnp in each round leading up to the late Jones sub.

None of those guys have the BJJ threat that Weidman has. Jones was a favorite on the ground against those guys, he is not that against Weidman.