Jones is taking a calculated risk fighting Stipe. It's Stipe, one of the best HWs ever, but it's 41 year old Stipe who was knocked out badly last time out and hasn't fought for over 2 years and 7 months and hasn't won for 3 years and 2 months. Jones took 10 years to move to HW. He admitted he would never fight DC at HW. He ducked Big Frank and is studiously avoiding Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall. He's talking about retiring after this fight.
But this is still Stipe we are talking about. Over the hill, inactive, but still an outstanding wrestler and boxer with heavyweight size and power, 6'4" with an 80" reach and used to knocking out high level heavyweights. This could go wrong for Jones. What if Stipe EMBARRASSES him and stops him in the first round? Jones has never really been defeated, avenged DQ notwithstanding. He is talented but he has also doped, cheated and cherry picked his way to where he is now. He also has a history of criminality including drug abuse and domestic violence.
What do you think he will do if he loses to Stipe? His cherry picked fight gone wrong, 36 and clearly past his best, both belts gone and he will have to get through Stipe/Aspinall/Pavlovich to get the HW strap back. His technical 0 gone. Would he take the loss gracefully, take the money and ride off into the sunset with tarnished legacy? Would he stick around as a 2nd tier HW? Would he go purple pillow like Ronda? Or have some kind of breakdown involving drugs and law enforcement? Maybe we will find out.
