Comparing the Stipe we saw against Jones vs prime Stipe

[FlyingDeathKick]

So I'm watching Stipe's old fights over again to see if that was the same guy and.... It wasn't, not at all. In his older fights he looked way more alert, sharp, and... like he actually wanted to win lol.

I'm not watching in any particular order but first I watched the Overeem fight and Stipe was moving forward using heavy pressure the entire time, throwing combos and even a decent amount of body kicks. Even getting dropped didn't stop his pressure.

Next up Gonzaga, again Stipe constantly going forward. Heavy pressure, high volume, breaking Gonzaga down.

Maldonado and De Fries, again Stipe going forward and finishes both of them quickly.

Arlovski fight, same thing.. Moving forward and takes Arlovski out quickly.

Shane Del Rosario hurt Stipe several times, landed a ton of hard kicks to the body as well as head kicks and leg kicks. Stipe never stopped moving forward, eventually taking Rosario down and winning by ground and pound BUT even while having such a tough time on the feet he kept moving forward.

Roy Nelson and this time he is a little more willing to move backwards but both guys want to be the one moving forward. It's also Stipe's first fight since the Struve loss. Stipe uses Nelson as a heavybag like many before but isn't able to finish him, also like many before.

Joey Beltran, Stipe's UFC debut. Stipe going forward like usual, mixes up the striking and wrestling for an easy decision win.

Mark Hunt. Stipe moves forward like usual, beats Hunt up on the feet and mixes in some wrestling, after realizing he can just keep Hunt down and beat on him, he starts to take him down at will and eventually gets the tko by ground and pound.

Struve. Stipe moving forward like usual, very competitive fight that Struve eventually gets the better of and finishes Stipe by tko.

1st Cormier fight, Stipe is the one moving forward the whole time and DC finishes him with an eye poke. 2nd fight won't play (using fightpass), 3rd fight Stipe started out uncharacteristically backing up for the first minute but as the fight progressed he became the one pressing forward most of the time.

1st Ngannou fight, Stipe goes for a takedown early then Ngannou starts swinging wildly and Stipe wisely moves backward. First fight where I'd say Stipe moved backwards more than his opponent but can you really blame him? Ngannou was trying to take his head off with every shot. 2nd Ngannou fight, again Stipe is more timid than normal and not using his typical pressure but again, it's Francis freaking Ngannou, not to mention I feel like Stipe wasn't really the same guy even at that point. Heck I think even by the first Francis fight he didn't have the same motivation and intensity anymore.

Now finally the point of this entire thread... The Jones fight. Stipe was moving backwards from the very beginning, it was like he was in there with Ngannou swinging wildly on him again. Looked scared from the second the fight started. Stiped attempted 94 strikes and was finished in rd 3. He attempted 244 strikes in the 2nd Cormier fight in which he won in rd 4.

He threw 60 strikes against Overeem which ended in rd 1. 56 in the JDS rematch that ended in just 2 minutes.

464 against Hunt but of course that counts ground strikes.

197 against Nelson and so on..

I think around the time Stipe started complaining about how much he was making is when he started to decline a bit. Then the fact he didn't even entertain the idea of fighting any contenders after losing to DC. He had the DC trilogy and then the Ngannou rematch and by that point I really don't think he was motivated to be in there anymore.

After the ko loss he didn't try to build himself up and was essentially retired, if he was motivated he would have fought contenders like almost all former champs end up doing after losing their belt.

TLDR Aside from Stipe looking slow he was way more timid and way less active. He fought guys that beat were lighting him up and hurting him much worse than Jones was but kept pushing forward and pouring on that pressure. Against Jones he mostly moved backwards.

Del Rosario was lighting up Stipe but Stipe still attempted more strikes.

 

[Thy]

i guess he got old and took 4 years off before that fight or something.

 

[mangokush]

Even Tyson looked better than Stipe

Stipe looked like he was wheeled out from the nursing home heading into this "fight"

 

[Dogshare]

Stipe had not much to win. He was already retired, already got the belt before and he will not fight anymore. Good for him he could get some good money before his definitive way out.

 

[bjjwar]

In UFC history, even taking the fattest most out of shape HW’s ive seen, i dont think ive ever seen a fighter move as slow as Stipe. I know he’s injured but still. A random Joe at the bar could slip in 20 punches to the head before Stipe wouldve tried to block it, his reaction time, punching speed, i dont even think my 86 yr old grandpa is that slow honestly.

I thought Tyson looked awful, till i saw him fight. What an embarrassment for the sport and the HW division. Friends of mine that dont watch alot of mma were dying out laughing when i said it was one of the best fighters of all time vs one of the best HW’s of all time and dude could barely move…

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

I didn't need to see Stipes old fights to know that he looked like an ancient statue that was stuck in molasses. His feet were slow and his reaction time was slow. He couldn't make any reads or close distance. A lot of great HWs from the past and present would have hurt him really badly on Saturday night.

 

[Fact Checker]

Let’s be honest, Jones thrashes Stipe at any point in his career.

 

[Ibm]

Jones is a hard puzzle. Stipe could not find a balance between risk and reward.

 

[Mind Mine]

So I'm watching Stipe's old fights over again to see if that was the same guy and.... It wasn't, not at all. In his older fights he looked way more alert, sharp, and... like he actually wanted to win lol.

I'm not watching in any particular order but first I watched the Overeem fight and Stipe was moving forward using heavy pressure the entire time, throwing combos and even a decent amount of body kicks. Even getting dropped didn't stop his pressure.

Next up Gonzaga, again Stipe constantly going forward. Heavy pressure, high volume, breaking Gonzaga down.

Maldonado and De Fries, again Stipe going forward and finishes both of them quickly.

Arlovski fight, same thing.. Moving forward and takes Arlovski out quickly.

Shane Del Rosario hurt Stipe several times, landed a ton of hard kicks to the body as well as head kicks and leg kicks. Stipe never stopped moving forward, eventually taking Rosario down and winning by ground and pound BUT even while having such a tough time on the feet he kept moving forward.

Roy Nelson and this time he is a little more willing to move backwards but both guys want to be the one moving forward. It's also Stipe's first fight since the Struve loss. Stipe uses Nelson as a heavybag like many before but isn't able to finish him, also like many before.

Joey Beltran, Stipe's UFC debut. Stipe going forward like usual, mixes up the striking and wrestling for an easy decision win.

Mark Hunt. Stipe moves forward like usual, beats Hunt up on the feet and mixes in some wrestling, after realizing he can just keep Hunt down and beat on him, he starts to take him down at will and eventually gets the tko by ground and pound.

Struve. Stipe moving forward like usual, very competitive fight that Struve eventually gets the better of and finishes Stipe by tko.

1st Cormier fight, Stipe is the one moving forward the whole time and DC finishes him with an eye poke. 2nd fight won't play (using fightpass), 3rd fight Stipe started out uncharacteristically backing up for the first minute but as the fight progressed he became the one pressing forward most of the time.

1st Ngannou fight, Stipe goes for a takedown early then Ngannou starts swinging wildly and Stipe wisely moves backward. First fight where I'd say Stipe moved backwards more than his opponent but can you really blame him? Ngannou was trying to take his head off with every shot. 2nd Ngannou fight, again Stipe is more timid than normal and not using his typical pressure but again, it's Francis freaking Ngannou, not to mention I feel like Stipe wasn't really the same guy even at that point. Heck I think even by the first Francis fight he didn't have the same motivation and intensity anymore.

Now finally the point of this entire thread... The Jones fight. Stipe was moving backwards from the very beginning, it was like he was in there with Ngannou swinging wildly on him again. Looked scared from the second the fight started. Stiped attempted 94 strikes and was finished in rd 3. He attempted 244 strikes in the 2nd Cormier fight in which he won in rd 4.

He threw 60 strikes against Overeem which ended in rd 1. 56 in the JDS rematch that ended in just 2 minutes.

464 against Hunt but of course that counts ground strikes.

197 against Nelson and so on..

I think around the time Stipe started complaining about how much he was making is when he started to decline a bit. Then the fact he didn't even entertain the idea of fighting any contenders after losing to DC. He had the DC trilogy and then the Ngannou rematch and by that point I really don't think he was motivated to be in there anymore.

After the ko loss he didn't try to build himself up and was essentially retired, if he was motivated he would have fought contenders like almost all former champs end up doing after losing their belt.

TLDR Aside from Stipe looking slow he was way more timid and way less active. He fought guys that beat were lighting him up and hurting him much worse than Jones was but kept pushing forward and pouring on that pressure. Against Jones he mostly moved backwards.

Del Rosario was lighting up Stipe but Stipe still attempted more strikes.

Could be age or ring rust. Might even be holy shit Im fighting Jones and within 20 seconds before you get your shit together he’s beating your fucking ass

 

[TerrorTimmy]

Let’s be honest, Jones thrashes Stipe at any point in his career.

Which is why he waited until Stipe was 42 and had been out for almost 4 years. Because he believes that.

 

[J'Ghasta]

His willingness to move backward from the very beginning was the first thing I noticed and the first thing that made me think something was off. I do think this was a degraded version of Stipe for a plethora of reasons but Jones also has a way of making good fighters look not so good.

 

[moreorless87]

So I'm watching Stipe's old fights over again to see if that was the same guy and.... It wasn't, not at all. In his older fights he looked way more alert, sharp, and... like he actually wanted to win lol.

I'm not watching in any particular order but first I watched the Overeem fight and Stipe was moving forward using heavy pressure the entire time, throwing combos and even a decent amount of body kicks. Even getting dropped didn't stop his pressure.

Next up Gonzaga, again Stipe constantly going forward. Heavy pressure, high volume, breaking Gonzaga down.

Maldonado and De Fries, again Stipe going forward and finishes both of them quickly.

Arlovski fight, same thing.. Moving forward and takes Arlovski out quickly.

Shane Del Rosario hurt Stipe several times, landed a ton of hard kicks to the body as well as head kicks and leg kicks. Stipe never stopped moving forward, eventually taking Rosario down and winning by ground and pound BUT even while having such a tough time on the feet he kept moving forward.

Roy Nelson and this time he is a little more willing to move backwards but both guys want to be the one moving forward. It's also Stipe's first fight since the Struve loss. Stipe uses Nelson as a heavybag like many before but isn't able to finish him, also like many before.

Joey Beltran, Stipe's UFC debut. Stipe going forward like usual, mixes up the striking and wrestling for an easy decision win.

Mark Hunt. Stipe moves forward like usual, beats Hunt up on the feet and mixes in some wrestling, after realizing he can just keep Hunt down and beat on him, he starts to take him down at will and eventually gets the tko by ground and pound.

Struve. Stipe moving forward like usual, very competitive fight that Struve eventually gets the better of and finishes Stipe by tko.

1st Cormier fight, Stipe is the one moving forward the whole time and DC finishes him with an eye poke. 2nd fight won't play (using fightpass), 3rd fight Stipe started out uncharacteristically backing up for the first minute but as the fight progressed he became the one pressing forward most of the time.

1st Ngannou fight, Stipe goes for a takedown early then Ngannou starts swinging wildly and Stipe wisely moves backward. First fight where I'd say Stipe moved backwards more than his opponent but can you really blame him? Ngannou was trying to take his head off with every shot. 2nd Ngannou fight, again Stipe is more timid than normal and not using his typical pressure but again, it's Francis freaking Ngannou, not to mention I feel like Stipe wasn't really the same guy even at that point. Heck I think even by the first Francis fight he didn't have the same motivation and intensity anymore.

Now finally the point of this entire thread... The Jones fight. Stipe was moving backwards from the very beginning, it was like he was in there with Ngannou swinging wildly on him again. Looked scared from the second the fight started. Stiped attempted 94 strikes and was finished in rd 3. He attempted 244 strikes in the 2nd Cormier fight in which he won in rd 4.

He threw 60 strikes against Overeem which ended in rd 1. 56 in the JDS rematch that ended in just 2 minutes.

464 against Hunt but of course that counts ground strikes.

197 against Nelson and so on..

I think around the time Stipe started complaining about how much he was making is when he started to decline a bit. Then the fact he didn't even entertain the idea of fighting any contenders after losing to DC. He had the DC trilogy and then the Ngannou rematch and by that point I really don't think he was motivated to be in there anymore.

After the ko loss he didn't try to build himself up and was essentially retired, if he was motivated he would have fought contenders like almost all former champs end up doing after losing their belt.

TLDR Aside from Stipe looking slow he was way more timid and way less active. He fought guys that beat were lighting him up and hurting him much worse than Jones was but kept pushing forward and pouring on that pressure. Against Jones he mostly moved backwards.

Del Rosario was lighting up Stipe but Stipe still attempted more strikes.

I do suspect after the first DC loss Stipe started to look to cash out, didnt want anything but title fights due to the risk of potentially losing to someone lower down. If you look stats wise its a bit crazy that the guy who just fought for the UFC title does not have a win over a fighter who's since won another match in almost 7 years(Francis in early 2018).

I do think Stipe always depended quite a bit on the physcial side, early Stipe looked like he was trying to be more of a technical boxer didnt really didnt stand out that much and actually got beaten down by Struve of all people. I tend to think Stipe's sucess came more when he started to target weaknesses, they could be wrestling as vs Hunt/Francis or just sloppy opponents like Werdum but his biggest route to sucess tended to be chasing down people with questionable boxing defence when backed up, Arlovski, Fabio, both JDS fights(lost the first one but hand plenty of sucess) and Reem with obviously benefits a lot from decent foot speed. Stipe was never really someone were he;s have a slow technical fight with an opponent and then pick out a well timed blockbuster KO, it was much more often down to pressure.

Jones could potentially have been someone like that but Stipe was much too slow here to really threaten, Jones was able to back off or run away from his attempted forward rushes as they were so slow.