Has Jon Jones ever faced a boxer as good as Tom Aspinall?

[Vehap1]

The real question is “has Aspinall ever fought a fighter of Jones’s caliber before?”

You mean an overhyped fighter like Rousey, Conor, Lesnar? Well No he hasnt
He fought a 265 wrestler before and beat him
Fought a 6"9 russian striker, a 265lb striker with faster hands than Jon

Sorry to tell you, but size matters santa clause isnt real baby

 

[AstralPanda]

I guess we'll have to wait and find out sport! But Jon hasn't smashed anyone on the ground in like 6 years, so I wouldn't be that confident

But I don't think it will get that far. I see Tom getting the KO before.

And that's even if Jon mans up and takes the fight.

Technically he smashed Stipe on the ground pretty horrifically in his last fight

After a ridiculous takedown

Before that he brutalized Gus, choked out Gane in 2 minutes.

The times he has been on the ground, it's been tough to deal with him.

If he's actually trying to hurt you, his gnp is pretty scary.

Even just a few minutes of that sort of pressure Is going to massively change how you box on the feet, not to mention threat of the takedown is now in the back of your mind.

It's very easy to box when you don't have so many different tools to worry about.

Not a great style matchup for a boxing dominant style, no matter who It is.

 

[clackers]

Jon has no distinct style. When you think of all the great fighters, you can picture how they walk, their signature moves etc. Jon has nothing because his career is built on cheating. Eye pokes and oblique kicks are literally all that comes to mind, the rest was gimmicky shit

This is a rubbish post. Jones jas a unique style and high fight IQ. He can make adjustments and change the fight at any given time. This is why he is undefeated and two division Champion.

He’s the GOAT.

Your a hater, your post is embarrassing.

 

[Marko Polo]

This is a rubbish post. Jones jas a unique style and high fight IQ. He can make adjustments and change the fight at any given time. This is why he is undefeated and two division Champion.

He’s the GOAT.

Your a hater, your post is embarrassing.

Jon has high fight I.Q and you have low life I.Q

 

[Juice]

You do realize that Aspinall is black belt BJJ for over 10 years,
Tom would absolutly ragdoll Gus/Reyes/Santos in a wrestling match... And we all saw how useless Jons wrestling against those 3 lol
1 takedown in 28 rounds to be exact

And Tom still got subbed by a can Rugby player LMAO.

Also every since Jones nearly broke his toe off with the bone exposed it has effected his ability to take his opponents down at will and defend the take down.

Before Jones broke his toe he took every single one of his opponents down at will. If you notice Jones now wears tape around his broken toe in every fight since.

I think it is even more impressive that Jones has literally been fighting handicapped and still winning.

Also Jones took down Reyes ( twice ) Gus ( twice ) and Santos.

 

[NoSmilez]

I don't think boxing is going to matter unless Tom has the footwork to cut Jones off. Majority of Tom's opponents met him in the middle and within boxing range. We seen enough of Jon's fight to know that he doesn't engage people unless it's on his terms. He is constantly moving away to reset. Tom's hand speed doesn't matter as much if he can't get into range. He does have a very fast low kick for a HW. Maybe he can take away Jon's movement.

 

[Captain Herb]

The good ol' "well rounded fighter X hasn't fought someone particularly skilled in one discipline" that leads to whenever fighter X fights someone particularly skilled in one discipline and beats him: "opponent was only particularly skilled in one discipline", fighter X hasn't proved himself.

Who's Fighter X?

 

[icemun]

Aspinall is too big, too fast, too strong, too powerful for Jones. It's as simple as that.

This will be very obvious in the first minute or so of the fight.

Thats what was supposed to happen with Gane!!!!


what the hell happened?

When Bon Gamin is on point Jones stands no chance

All Jones needs is 1 TD in a 25 min fight.

forums.sherdog.com

Jon Jones Likely Has Nothing For Ciryl Gane

Jones is an inferior striker to Gane, lacks traditional knockout power, and doesn't have the conditioning to grapple as he did when he was a younger man. Jon arguably lost his last two fights at LHW and definitely would have lost his last fight if not for incompetent judging. Gane in his last...

forums.sherdog.com

Jones has no chance against Gane

Zero

forums.sherdog.com

Prediction: Jones is unable to take down Gane, and Jones gets KO'd

If Jon cant get Gane down, he will be absolutely fucked. Ganes striking and athleticism is on another level.

forums.sherdog.com

Jones unlikely to take Gane down and hold him there. Jones doesn't have Ngannou strength.

All these predictions that Jones will take Gane down, hold him down, and either TKO or submit Gane there are moronic. No way Jones takes Gane down for more than a split second (if at all), and when they are standing Gane is gonna light Jones up. Jones has no where near Ngannou strength to hold...

forums.sherdog.com

Cyril Gane = everything Jon Jones is NOT

Cyril Gane is authentically nice, authentically confident. Jon Jones is an life-time-proven jerk, pretending to be nice. Jon Jones seems strangely fat, strangely introverted, and strangely shook. Cyril Gane is legit huge, and legit calm going into this. In summary, Jones is a fat, old, skinny...

forums.sherdog.com

Jones has NOTHING for Gane. How can he wiN??

According to DC a man who fought at HW and LHW -- "Jones don't hit hard, he kicks hard." (1) OK he kicks hard. But he's fighting against GANE. A man who is 6'4. Jones will have to do head kicks to do ANY damage. Thing is ... is Jones flexible? Can he even reach Gane's head??? This isn't...

forums.sherdog.com

Gane will put a masterclass against Jones

It's still time to change your wagon folks, Jones is done, Gane is the future

forums.sherdog.com

 

[NextGen]

I can only speak for myself (not what other people wrote) but Gane is a sitting duck against anyone with the ability to take him down. That was obvious to anyone who even watched the Ngannou fight.

Aspinall has shown no such weaknesses. Also, he clearly possesses weapons that Gane does not - namely, real knockout power with lightning fast hands.

In a way, Gane was the perfect matchup for Jones at HW - no way to defend the takedown, a sitting duck on the ground, and a lack of power.

 

[icemun]

Aspiral has 10 knockouts.




Rampage 20 knockout
Stipe 15
Thiago 15
Gus 11
Glover 18
DC 10


But our hopes are in Aspinal this time around.

He's going to send Jones to the "shadow realm"

 

[icemun]

I can only speak for myself (not what other people wrote) but Gane is a sitting duck against anyone with the ability to take him down. That was obvious to anyone who even watched the Ngannou fight.

Aspinall also clearly possesses weapons that Gane does not - namely, real knockout power with lightning fast hands.

In a way, Gane was the perfect matchup for Jones at HW - no way to defend the takedown, a sitting duck on the ground, and a lack of power.

Gane has 6 submissions
Tom has 3

But maybe Tom can pull it off?

 

[icemun]

I guess we'll have to wait and find out sport! But Jon hasn't smashed anyone on the ground in like 6 years, so I wouldn't be that confident

But I don't think it will get that far. I see Tom getting the KO before.

And that's even if Jon mans up and takes the fight.

Sherbro

This was last week--

 

[BowserJr]

Jon doesn't have any glaring weaknesses in his game apart from his boxing, which is why he struggles with good boxers esp those around his size; Gus, Reyes, Santos etc.

Gus and Reyes were light on their feet and had crisp punches but neither hit anywhere near as hard as Tom, nor is their footwork as good.

Which makes me wonder if Jon has much of a shot in this fight, given that he'll most likely have no success wrestling the more athletic Aspinall.

He's never gaved anyone with the striking and grappling skill of Tom who is as tall or big as Tom

 

[BowserJr]

Gane has 6 submissions
Tom has 3

But maybe Tom can pull it off?

Lies. They both have 3

Tom subbed AA and Volkov

Who did Gane tap?

 

[El Diego]

And your hero Stipe got his head knocked off by DC in their first fight.

Your hero Stipe cheated and poked DC in the eye in their 3rd fight and still couldn't finish a visually impaired DC.

And of course Jones completely destroyed Stipe a couple of weeks ago.

Your hero Tom's best win is a early stoppage against Blaydes who is 1 - 1 against.

Maybe your hero Tom should focus on avenging his two losses against cans that don't even have a Wikipedia page.

stick to the farrakhan lectures champ

 

[Dbreiden83080]

DC was 40 when he fought Stipe. Very far removed from the version who fought Jones.

Even Aspinall is on record saying DC is a nightmare matchup for him.

If DC is a nightmare matchup for Tom how in the hell is he going to beat Jones?

 

[Iroh]

Yeah, I agree. I think his breakdowns have been good and he does seem to have a good head on his shoulders. Very reasonable takes, humble but confident to his own abilities.

However, because there's also so many questions, we have to err on the side of skepticism in the full context of mma. We haven't seen him wrestle, or his ability to fight past the first round, jiu jitsu off his back, ability to fight a more tactical, measured chess match on the feet as opposed to what a lot of his fights have been, HW style rumbles but with good technique.

His lack of confidence in DC as a matchup provides a subtle tell that his wrestling probably isn't where it needs to be against that caliber of fighter.

Saying someone is a hard stylistic match up doesn't necessarily mean he lacks confidence.

Jones is even trickier in many ways. Not only does he have the wrestling, but he's also the best defensive fighter of all time. His ability to control the distance on multiple levels, first with his leg, body, obliques, then he uses his arm length to frame control at mid range, where you then have to worry about spinning back kicks, elbows, level changes into takedowns or trips. If you get past all of that, he's rolling and moving with each shot about as well as anyone.

That's why when Reyes fought him, he said unless he could challenge Jon's kicks like Santos did, he stood no chance. Even when you go back and study the reyes fight, watch each strike in slow motion, Reyes struggled to actually hit him.

People really underestimate his defense, diversity and range as a striker, even if you manage to keep him on the feet, it's still not an easy fight, for anyone.

The benefit for Tom is that even though Jon did slip most of Stipes shots, you could tell his reactions were a bit slower. Tom is a fast hitter, so as he said, there's definitely openings he could take advantage of.

In regards to your point about footage, even for me, there's more than you'd think to study of Tom on the feet.

It's mainly his wrestling we know nothing about. I just don't think Tom is going to stop that takedown. Wrestling isn't something you can train for a few years and compete against the best in.

Not fighting Chael was actually Greg Jackson. I remember Dana making a video frothing at the mouth going after him for ruining the event, lol.

It's still Jon's choice at the end of the day. I think they have similar mindsets and that's why they are such a great couple. So I think Jon shared Greg's opinion on it.

Overall, I think not fighting Tom has more to do with the fact that Alex would be a much bigger event and payday. When it's your last fight ever, you're thinking about money, it's not like his legacy would change by beating Tom, so it comes down to what makes the most business sense.

It would legitimize his stint as HW champ. Stop buying his excuses. Unless you think the HW champ status isn't important at all for his legacy...

Tom would be a harder fight with a smaller payday. I think there's a good chance it happens though just because it's gained so much traction in the past 2 months. Tom literally doubled his followers on insta. Before this I would've said never, but now it seems very possible.

So hopefully it goes down and we can answer all the questions.

I hope so too, bud.

 

[JKS]

Sherbro

This was last week--

View attachment 1074826

Did he finish Stipe?? No. Did he get the fight down again? No. He landed some nice GNP and controlled.

 

[Iroh]

I think that would need to be quantified a bit.

All fighters are afraid, it's that fear which makes fighters like GSP and Jon Jones who they are.

And makes it so they give the least amount of openings possible.

It's what produces the butterflies and adrenaline which supercharges the nervous system and allows them to fight better.

As an athlete or fighter, fear is good.

I think even chael made a point on this once about Jones being so good, he doesn't need to be so cautious. But that's also why he's the fighter he is, it's also why he's the best defensive fighter all time. It's why he has the fight IQ and analytical abilities he does, the man turns over every stone to figure out his opponents just to not give a single inch or opening.

GSP is also very vocal about the fact that he was scared and couldn't sleep before every one of his fights. He was also one of the safest, highest fight iq fighters in the game.

But in regards to controversial moves being used, I'm completely on the fence and have no opinion. I believe in a fair sport, professionalism and safety for the fighters. At the same time, I think he has a point that it's 2 warriors going into battle, in a simulated fight to the death, trying to kill each other.

It's the primal vs the professional, both sides have a point here I feel.

Bruh, if you can't see how saying you have to do it because of the scary things that are being thrown at your head is a sign of fear, even cowardice, then you fail to see what's right in front of you.

I reemphasized his fear, because like I said before, you made a case before that he wasn't afraid, but failed to argue the point. You make a good case now for how fighters are afraid in many ways, because they are just people after all, which at the least doesn't help your case that he isn't afraid.

I'm just bringing some consistency by not deviating too much.

Also, I don't really care about the oblique kicks, because it's not against the rules. Though I wouldn't be opposed to them being made illegal.

So the cowardice part is if you extend his justification for oblique kicks to his use of eye pokes and nut shots.

 

[DoctorTaco]

Rashad comes to mind