Chuck Liddell in his prime VS. Jon Jones.

[Loiosh]

My money would be on Jones to win a decision from the outside but Chuck would keep it interesting.

 

[Vince 562]

It would be an interesting matchup for sure. Liddell has very good takedown defense and a good ability to get up after getting taken down. He can also walk through punches and throw big shots (in his prime) I think he'd have a good shot at beating jones, but theres no way to say definitively.

 

[Red Dragoniop]

Likely Chuck. He was an animal in his prime, can't see Jones taking one of his bombs at all.

i agree to this

 

[iroquis**]

It'd look similar to Glover vs. Jones. Chuck has longer punches than Glover, so I think Jones may have gotten tagged a few more times, but Glover has better BJJ and takedowns and sprawls, so I think once Jones got Chuck down, he would remain there for the remainder of the round. Like Glover vs Jones, the first 2 rounds will be close for Chuck vs Jones, with Jones edging out each round slightly. But once the third begins, Jones would expose Liddell for the remainder of the fight, like he did to Glover.

Best case: Chuck loses 49-46 UD

Most likely case: 50-45 UD Jones

Worst case: Jones via TKO in the 4th

 

[Pr0digy]

JJ would take that fight and probably by KO.

 

[lifelessheap]

It would be a draw and both fighters would poke each other's eyes out.

 

[whougonnacall]

jones in round 1
jones keeps chuck at distance lands some nice shots past his poor defence then steps in and tosses him to ground, chuck does his signature standup ie doesnt care about potentialy eating shots just stands asap and lands in the same gullotine jones caught machida in (jones breaks that out a few times in fights where guys try and get up) and then jones drops an unconcious chuck on the ground.

 

[TalkinNoise]

Jon would take him down and keep him there.

 

[Fantastic_Man]

Chuck finds that chin..

 

[LGVB]

In the octagon, Jones. In the ring, maybe Chuck.

 

[faustian]

Hes also got less reach and yes he was slower overall
He was also beaten to the punch by randy couture of all people , and as for nearly impossible to hold down he was ragdolled by randy and rampage so lets not make him out to be something he wasnt.
For strength id say the larger more athletic man is probably gonna be stronger in the clinch , id picture bones tossing prime chuck around failry easily.

He doesnt need to rack up that many wins in the modern era to prove hed beat a guy from an earlier less technical , less athletic era (where the best where in pride anyway) , we can clearly see from watching both men in action gus would beat him everywhere.

Just because you say Chuck was slower than Gus doesn't make it so. I'll repost the gif of Chuck dropping Vitor:

This is in close range with Vitor Belfort ffs. I've never seen Gus show handspeed like that. Nor have I ever seen Gus show the speed + killer instinct that Chuck used to finish the Ortiz and Overeem fights (can also include the Mezger KO but I'm only allowed 6 gifs):

Perhaps if Gus did have Chuck's combination of speed + power + killer instinct then Gus might've been able to finish off Jones. We were all waiting for it to happen in that fight but it never did. Jones is obviously far better than Tito or Reem, but my point is that I've never seen Gus string together power punches in bunches like Chuck did. That ability to me is practically a requirement if you want to finish a guy with a solid chin and quick recovery like Jones. Gus tried picking him apart but it didn't work, at some point you have to overwhelm him and I think prime Chuck had the ability to do that.

Chuck was ragdolled and held down by Randy in their first fight. It's been said that Chuck didn't take that fight too seriously and wasn't at all prepared. It makes sense considering that's literally the only time that anyone's ever done that to him. We all saw what happened the next two times Chuck fought Randy.

Rampage is one of the strongest LHWs ever, if not the strongest, but he did not ragdoll Chuck. Page beat him up standing and finished him with some brutal GnP to the body after Chuck was already pretty hurt. That does sound like something Jones is capable of repeating (see the Shogun fight), the hard part for Jones though would be doing the damage standing that Rampage did to get Chuck to the ground. Jones doesn't hit nearly as hard as Rampage nor is he the boxer Page was. iirc Rampage got Chuck down by dropping him, not with TDs, and throughout the fight Chuck was able to get back up until the end when he was taking heavy GnP and his corner threw in the towel. This gif is how I remember that fight, Rampage beat Chuck up but he didn't do it by ragdolling and controlling him on the ground:

I do agree that Jones would have the advantage in the clinch. The concern for Jones though would be getting in Chuck's range to get to the clinch. Glover is no Chuck, despite what some people might say. I've never seen someone consistently drop people with quick precise power punches in close quarters like Chuck routinely did:

Both Jones and Gus would have to try keep Chuck at distance and pick him apart. They're both capable of doing that if Chuck lets them, but I believe between prime Chuck's chin and skill at cutting off the cage, Chuck might be able to get inside and make these fights very interesting.

 

[Xyiencemma]

Undersized mediocre Vernon White took more then one bomb. Heck sadly(since Chuck is so great) Vernon rocked him for a second. Also many of Prime Chucks best wins were guys who were out of their prime. And he didn't even have half as deep or the most complete LHW division to compete agaisnt. But like I've said in the past with these delusional threads; the only thing that matters is if Chuck was in his prime when he was winning against not the best competition and 40 yr olds..

well if you're going to knock chucks competition, Jones beat Hamil, Bonnar, Sonnen, Glover and Bader all guys Chuck would beat. Vitor who Chuck beat, a declining version of Shogun and Rampage that beat Chuck, arguably lost to Gus which means his only win vs Chuck is Rashad. See how retarded it sounds when you knock people's competition

 

[That209]

Chuck gets eaten by leg kicks all night.

His stance is very susceptible to leg kicks, and Jones has the best leg kicks in the division due to how well he mixes them up in my opinion.

I believe Jones would land tons of leg kicks and eventually he would start going high with them once he makes Chuck constantly look to defend low kicks. He'll start working his way up to the body, and eventually to the head.

I don't know if he'd land any great head kicks or anything, but it's definitely going to keep Chuck at bay.

Chuck does good on the outside with his long punches, but he'd do much better against Jones at close quarters in exchanges. Very rarely did Chuck ever lose an exchange and I doubt Jones would be able to beat him in exchanges. Chuck was too accurate, too quick and powerful.

I think it'd be a fun fight, but I see Jones taking a decision. The leg kicks will be the defining factor.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Jones by UD in battle of the eye pokers.

 

[HOLA]

Just because you say Chuck was slower than Gus doesn't make it so. I'll repost the gif of Chuck dropping Vitor:

This is in close range with Vitor Belfort ffs. I've never seen Gus show handspeed like that. Nor have I ever seen Gus show the speed + killer instinct that Chuck used to finish the Ortiz and Overeem fights (can also include the Mezger KO but I'm only allowed 6 gifs):

[

That was such a badass exchange

 

[lelouch]

Prime or no prime. chuck is not jones level

 

[HOLA]

Undersized mediocre Vernon White took more then one bomb. Heck sadly(since Chuck is so great) Vernon rocked him for a second. Also many of Prime Chucks best wins were guys who were out of their prime. And he didn't even have half as deep or the most complete LHW division to compete agaisnt. But like I've said in the past with these delusional threads; the only thing that matters is if Chuck was in his prime when he was winning against not the best competition and 40 yr olds..

Vernon knocked over and won a round against Machida too.

He started off his career dropping a ton of fights because he fought in Pancrase, but he was a solid fighter.

 

[aRtFuL]

I said Chuck in his prime. Not Chuck on his way out the door. Once Chuck lost his chin he wasn't the same fighter.

Striking was less dynamic in MMA during the time when Chuck was at his prime.

The game changes all the time.

 

[MitMcl]

Any version of Jones destroys any version of Chuck.

 

[Idioso]

Chuck had a habit of standing outside and waiting to counter. Jones would played him like Rampage. Stand way out and ruin his lead leg with oblique kick/stomps. Then control him to a sub/tko.