Greg Jackson: Chael Sonnen will be one of the toughest fights of Jon Jones career

[Kanster]

More like easiest fight. Sonnen doesn't have KO power and his wrestling is not good enough to get Jones down.

 

[Trollinator]

Refer to the sig....

That is all.

I think part 2 is correct, but I can see Sonnen getting a takedown. I doubt at any point JJ TKO's Sonnen though. The only way Sonnen ends up unconscious is if he doesn't tap.

 

[spamslots]

More like easiest fight. Sonnen doesn't have KO power and his wrestling is not good enough to get Jones down.

Sonnen can probably get Jones down. The thing is that he's not too great a threat once he has someone down, so he has to keep Jones down for 5 straight rounds, whereas Jones only need to get Sonnen down once to break him with those elbows.

Plus, after almost losing by armbar, I bet Jones is concentrating A LOT on his jits, to make sure it doesn't happen again, and also to capitalize on Sonnen's weaknesses.

 

[Det Kimble]

Chael's not a walk in the park for anyone. Doesn't matter that he just came from MW. I think JBJ beats him, but it won't be easy without good training and a game plan. Whether JBJ makes it look easy or not is a different matter

Demian Maia made it look easy.

 

[mangokush]

If Sonnen was win

Sherdog would explode

 

[spamslots]

If Sonnen was win

Sherdog would explode

If Sonnen wins, that's just one of those 'anything can happen in MMA' things =P Seeing Sonnen dominate Jones and make him look bad would make people's heads explode.

 

[Natman2939]

well look at the possibility: Rashad says he used to put Jones on his back and Jones couldn't get back up

but in there fight there was virtually no wrestling (Rashad really didn't even try to take him down but just a couple of times and Jones successfully used his reach to keep him back)

So what if Chael Sonnen is the man to expose that Jones actually has bad takedown defense?

Just a theory

 

[ermac88]

Initially I thought this would be a cakewalk for Jones, and it still probably will be.
But Sonnen is the guy that legitimately came close to beating Anderson. (Ignoring his "suppliments"

Sonnen is a very big guy, strong wrestler and I would guess at this point in their careers he beats Shogun and Machida and possibly gives Rampage a run for his money if hes driven enough.

Not sure he will present a huge threat to Jones, but hes probably one of the tougher guys Jones has faced of late.

 

[tec5210]

Sonnen definitely isn't a better wrestler than Rashad -- But he is a different wrestler. Rashad doesn't push the pace like Sonnen, and IMO Sonnen will do as good if not better than Rashad did.

Jones 49-46 or via 4th Rd Sub.

Check their wrestling pedigree. Rashad was a better than average college wrestler, Sonnen was an All American.

Evans: Michigan State with a record of 48 wins and 34 losses
Sonnen: Two time All American

 

[Judge and Jury]

I wonder if Greg Jackson is trying to get back into danas good books by trying to hype the fight.

 

[azfaz]

Althought I don't see Chael winning, Jones is still very young. I can see Chael intimidating him and I'm sure he'll be able to put him on his back at least once.

 

[lefthighkick01]

Really? I doubt it. Sonnen would get handled by most of the fighters Jones has beaten in title fights. This fight will be a cakewalk. I know Greg Jackson can't say that, but I don't understand why he always feels the need to say this for every single fight. It's so disingenuous and annoying.

link - Greg Jackson: Chael Sonnen will be one of the toughest fights of Jon Jones' career

Honestly i think people are really underestimating Chael. I mean look at it this way.. Nobody thought Vitor had a chance, and he almost submitted him.
Chael is in the top3 best wrestlers in the UFC and at 205 he will be less drained which means he'll be stronger and possibly have better cardio. Plus Chael can put Jones in a place where he hasnt been before which is on the bottom. i think he has a bigger chance to win this then most people think

 

[eddymotto]

I would be very surprised if Jackson wasn't saying these sorts of things.

I have never heard Jackson talk down about an opponent. Both because of class and because he (likely) doesn't want his fighters to get over confident.

then throw in the fact that the UFC and media are going to be focused on stories that sell the fight (interest = $ for both of them)

 

[azfaz]

I would be very surprised if Jackson wasn't saying these sorts of things.

I have never heard Jackson talk down about an opponent. Both because of class and because he (likely) doesn't want his fighters to get over confident.

then throw in the fact that the UFC and media are going to be focused on stories that sell the fight (interest = $ for both of them)

There is no doubt that it will always be in Jackson's best interest to talk up his fighter's opponent.

 

[Jackonflame]

HaHa lol`

 

[psychodad]

Really just depends on how good his TDD is. Jones is so much bigger and stronger I don't really see him struggling.

In what reality do you live in?

Jones is longer, yes. Bigger? No, Chael will be heavier and way more stronger than Jones. Do I think Chael will win? No. I just want people to be realistic in the way they appraise these things in advance. Claiming that Jones is STRONGER than Sonnen is like saying Chael is darker skinned than Jones. Chael has a hell of a lot more muscle mass in his body than Jones does, just look at the size difference of their legs and arms.

Jones has no KO power either, and Sonnen can take shots from the best. I see this coming down to a stoppage because of excessive bleeding, Chael can get cut and Jones is so bony he cuts anyone. If it goes to decision, which I don't think it will, Chael will take it. He does not have to cut that much weight for this fight, he will be in much better physical condition come fight day. Lately he's been looking like skeletor, like he can barely stand in weigh ins because of his dehydration.

 

[psychodad]

Jon Jones has proven how good his takedown defense is by dominating Ryan Bader and Rashad Evans.

Sonnen is not a better wrestler than Evans, and Jones has been several times in championship rounds, and has look just fine. Sonnen is in big trouble.

Sonnen is a better wrestler than those guys. And neither one of them tried hard enough to take the guy down, like Sonnen will most certainly do. I expected Rashad to do it, but for some reason he did not even try. He must have been too scared to be caught on the way in, Sonnen won't be. He knows it's gotta go to the ground and will shoot for it regardless of the risk.

 

[spamslots]

Check their wrestling pedigree. Rashad was a better than average college wrestler, Sonnen was an All American.

Evans: Michigan State with a record of 48 wins and 34 losses
Sonnen: Two time All American

Wrestling pedigree doesn't always translate to MMA. The best wrestler below MW didn't wrestle competitively (GSP), and a lot of wrestlers with great credentials have serious problems in MMA. I mean, Mark Munoz was a div 1 champion and he couldn't take down Yushin Okami despite having no wrestling background.

As a matter of fact, Mark Munoz beat Chael Sonnen with ease in collegiate wrestling, even with Chael Sonnen cheating and using an illegal move to pop Munoz's ankle. But I'd definitely say that in MMA, Sonnen's got better wrestling than Munoz.

Also, I remember an article on the people Jones wrestled with at this competition. If he'd gone on to university, he'd have done extremely well, based on his being competitive with some monsters that went on to become excellent collegiate wrestlers.

Anyway, I'd suspect that in MMA, Rashad Evans can take down Chael Sonnen more than the other way around, just because of the speed of his shoot and his striking (allowing more mix-ups) compared to Sonnen's more strength-based tds.

That Rashad didn't really try to take down Jones suggests to me that despite the story of him holding down Jones, he didn't think he could do it anymore based on later sparring--I mean, really, if he was as confident of his wrestling edge as he was pretending to be, can you imagine Rashad not trying to embarrass Jones by holding him down and helpless again, just like he did before?

 

[Miiiiiiighty]

So speaks the trainer of the champ who himself said he wouldn't fight Chael because he is undeserving ...

By the way " one of his hardest fights " probably means it's gonna be a walk in the parl cosidering how he dominated most of his opponents

 

[Miiiiiiighty]

That said Chael has a chin and he is a warrior.
He will bring the fight to Jones in opposition to most of JBJ's opponents who are just playing his game by being tentative and staying at his comfort range getting picked apart in awe