How is Jon Jones gonna win the rematch against Gustaffson?

it will be a tough matchup. Jones has to be more aggressive, focus on takedowns etc... Or if gus is too good stick to plan number 2 and strike.

i think he went in wanting to prove some silly sht when he should have just gone for the TD / gnp - he got ahead of himself, which is fine, but next time, he needs to stick to the bread and butter - must be a come down that he has kind of touched ground in some ways, he cant just think hes better than everyone at everything hehe (although i guess he did win the fight so maybe he is)
 
Funnily enough, Gus takes a lot of damage while sticking and moving, as he lacks head movement among other things. He was eating a lot of overhands against Shogun and jabs against Hamill. His chin makes it work, but that can potentially shorten his career substantially. Hopefully he remedies this.

He rolls with punches most of the time.
 
My favorite thing about all of this is how when Machida was trying to get a shot - his defenders would come into the threads and cry, "He was cut early, that changed the momentum of the fight! If he wasn't cut, he wouldn't have gotten choked."

This isn't just a JBJ thing either. When Bigfoot was trying to go for his rematch with Cain, the response was "He was cut, that changed the momentum of the fight! The next fight will be different!"

Jones has never had his face bleed into his eyes while fighting. Ever. His face was a mess, and that's not something you can train for. I say, in Jones/Gusta 2, unless Gusta can bloody up the Champ again early with a well timed missed-strike - it goes much differently.
 
Both can and absolutely WILL improve their overall games, neither has completely peaked yet (though I'd say Jones is far closer to his full potential). They're both extremely young still (I'm 4 years older than both of them). That said, I completely disagree with the poster that said Jones has more raw talent. Alex imo, and in most other's that I've read, believe he has an even higher ceiling (more capacity to get better). Need proof? Jones' wrestling is about as good as it'll ever get and his kickboxing can only get so much better too. His actual boxing game has had lots of time to get noticeably better too and hasn't.

Gustafsson, on the other hand, took his TDD to another level entirely over the last couple years. He also really made his footwork a lot better and overall movement since his first few fights in the UFC. Gustafsson is still pretty raw with his knees, kicks, elbows and actual wrestling. However, his leg kicks are pretty nice and his knees certainly are coming along (he was blasting Shogun in the Thai clinch with them). He has more to improve on and utilize than Jones does in terms of his full MMA game (his entire grappling game and FULL Muay Thai striking arsenal). Jones is already taking close to full advantage of his kickboxing, he just really needs to sharpen his boxing up (a lot, yes, assuming he can). The boxing part of "KickBOXING" is the hardest part to sharpen up. Kicks, knees and elbows don't require nearly as many hours in the gym honing to get them there.

As for the rematch, I fully expect and predict that Gustafsson wins (arguably again). I scored it for him 3-2 last time and most fighters and fans had him winning too (BJPenn.com's poll was over 17K votes which had Gus leading 3 to 1 for him beating Jones, it's even higher now I'm sure). I saw a frustrated and beaten up Jones go back to his corner in the 1st round of that fight. He already started to look beaten, in shock sort of. He was already cut badly over the eye, outstruck, stuffed and taken down (for the first time ever in his entire MMA career). That's the absolute WORST way to start a fight and have to go back to your corner after. I think Alex's strength and speed really shocked him. He laughed pre-fight when both Glover and Phil Davis, even Alex himself, all said that he was the quicker of the two. He found out this was the truth (hand speed and foot speed) when they fought. When they did clinch he couldn't do anything to Alex. He shot very hard for some of his takedowns (watch round 4, about midway if I recall) and was stuffed immediately and with what seemed like no effort on Alex's part. It was like Jones was running into a brick wall when trying to take this guy down (Viking strength + great TDD apparently). He was getting outmuscled. Jones was getting his takedowns stuffed and nearly all of them pretty damn easily, nearly a dozen of them in total. Even when he had Alex hurt at the end of the 4th with that spinning elbow he followed it up with knees from the clinch that landed flush, Alex still didn't drop, and he attempted a takedown after this only to be shoved off and to the ground by 'Zombie Gus'.

Alex's strength and speed are pretty scary. He has great power too and I think in the rematch he'll sit down on his punches this time (certain punches) when he feels he's safe to avoid the TD (countering a strike for instance and using his timing to land a big counter punch). Don't be surprised to see him get the stoppage within 3 rounds. He's dangerous and a very fast starter (knocking guys down usually within the first minute). This alone can start to break some fighters right off the bat. He can take one hell of a beating and not even drop once, and he apparently eats knees, elbows, punches and kicks like "it's normal" (in my Anderson voice). Scary dude, crazy chin, and he'll be even more determined to not just beat but stop Jones in the inevitable rematch. He won't let it go to the judges this time. You can be sure of this.
 
Both can and absolutely WILL improve their overall games, neither has completely peaked yet (though I'd say Jones is far closer to his full potential). They're both extremely young still (I'm 4 years older than both of them). That said, I completely disagree with the poster that said Jones has more raw talent. Alex imo, and in most other's that I've read, believe he has an even higher ceiling (more capacity to get better). Need proof? Jones' wrestling is about as good as it'll ever get and his kickboxing can only get so much better too. His actual boxing game has had lots of time to get noticeably better too and hasn't.

Gustafsson, on the other hand, took his TDD to another level entirely over the last couple years. He also really made his footwork a lot better and overall movement since his first few fights in the UFC. Gustafsson is still pretty raw with his knees, kicks, elbows and actual wrestling. However, his leg kicks are pretty nice and his knees certainly are coming along (he was blasting Shogun in the Thai clinch with them). He has more to improve on and utilize than Jones does in terms of his full MMA game (his entire grappling game and FULL Muay Thai striking arsenal). Jones is already taking close to full advantage of his kickboxing, he just really needs to sharpen his boxing up (a lot, yes, assuming he can). The boxing part of "KickBOXING" is the hardest part to sharpen up. Kicks, knees and elbows don't require nearly as many hours in the gym honing to get them there.

As for the rematch, I fully expect and predict that Gustafsson wins (arguably again). I scored it for him 3-2 last time and most fighters and fans had him winning too (BJPenn.com's poll was over 17K votes which had Gus leading 3 to 1 for him beating Jones, it's even higher now I'm sure). I saw a frustrated and beaten up Jones go back to his corner in the 1st round of that fight. He already started to look beaten, in shock sort of. He was already cut badly over the eye, outstruck, stuffed and taken down (for the first time ever in his entire MMA career). That's the absolute WORST way to start a fight and have to go back to your corner after. I think Alex's strength and speed really shocked him. He laughed pre-fight when both Glover and Phil Davis, even Alex himself, all said that he was the quicker of the two. He found out this was the truth (hand speed and foot speed) when they fought. When they did clinch he couldn't do anything to Alex. He shot very hard for some of his takedowns (watch round 4, about midway if I recall) and was stuffed immediately and with what seemed like no effort on Alex's part. It was like Jones was running into a brick wall when trying to take this guy down (Viking strength + great TDD apparently). He was getting outmuscled. Jones was getting his takedowns stuffed and nearly all of them pretty damn easily, nearly a dozen of them in total. Even when he had Alex hurt at the end of the 4th with that spinning elbow he followed it up with knees from the clinch that landed flush, Alex still didn't drop, and he attempted a takedown after this only to be shoved off and to the ground by 'Zombie Gus'.

Alex's strength and speed are pretty scary. He has great power too and I think in the rematch he'll sit down on his punches this time (certain punches) when he feels he's safe to avoid the TD (countering a strike for instance and using his timing to land a big counter punch). Don't be surprised to see him get the stoppage within 3 rounds. He's dangerous and a very fast starter (knocking guys down usually within the first minute). This alone can start to break some fighters right off the bat. He can take one hell of a beating and not even drop once, and he apparently eats knees, elbows, punches and kicks like "it's normal" (in my Anderson voice). Scary dude, crazy chin, and he'll be even more determined to not just beat but stop Jones in the inevitable rematch. He won't let it go to the judges this time. You can be sure of this.

That's what I'm talking about.
 
Both can and absolutely WILL improve their overall games, neither has completely peaked yet (though I'd say Jones is far closer to his full potential). They're both extremely young still (I'm 4 years older than both of them). That said, I completely disagree with the poster that said Jones has more raw talent. Alex imo, and in most other's that I've read, believe he has an even higher ceiling (more capacity to get better). Need proof? Jones' wrestling is about as good as it'll ever get and his kickboxing can only get so much better too. His actual boxing game has had lots of time to get noticeably better too and hasn't.

Gustafsson, on the other hand, took his TDD to another level entirely over the last couple years. He also really made his footwork a lot better and overall movement since his first few fights in the UFC. Gustafsson is still pretty raw with his knees, kicks, elbows and actual wrestling. However, his leg kicks are pretty nice and his knees certainly are coming along (he was blasting Shogun in the Thai clinch with them). He has more to improve on and utilize than Jones does in terms of his full MMA game (his entire grappling game and FULL Muay Thai striking arsenal). Jones is already taking close to full advantage of his kickboxing, he just really needs to sharpen his boxing up (a lot, yes, assuming he can). The boxing part of "KickBOXING" is the hardest part to sharpen up. Kicks, knees and elbows don't require nearly as many hours in the gym honing to get them there.

As for the rematch, I fully expect and predict that Gustafsson wins (arguably again). I scored it for him 3-2 last time and most fighters and fans had him winning too (BJPenn.com's poll was over 17K votes which had Gus leading 3 to 1 for him beating Jones, it's even higher now I'm sure). I saw a frustrated and beaten up Jones go back to his corner in the 1st round of that fight. He already started to look beaten, in shock sort of. He was already cut badly over the eye, outstruck, stuffed and taken down (for the first time ever in his entire MMA career). That's the absolute WORST way to start a fight and have to go back to your corner after. I think Alex's strength and speed really shocked him. He laughed pre-fight when both Glover and Phil Davis, even Alex himself, all said that he was the quicker of the two. He found out this was the truth (hand speed and foot speed) when they fought. When they did clinch he couldn't do anything to Alex. He shot very hard for some of his takedowns (watch round 4, about midway if I recall) and was stuffed immediately and with what seemed like no effort on Alex's part. It was like Jones was running into a brick wall when trying to take this guy down (Viking strength + great TDD apparently). He was getting outmuscled. Jones was getting his takedowns stuffed and nearly all of them pretty damn easily, nearly a dozen of them in total. Even when he had Alex hurt at the end of the 4th with that spinning elbow he followed it up with knees from the clinch that landed flush, Alex still didn't drop, and he attempted a takedown after this only to be shoved off and to the ground by 'Zombie Gus'.

Alex's strength and speed are pretty scary. He has great power too and I think in the rematch he'll sit down on his punches this time (certain punches) when he feels he's safe to avoid the TD (countering a strike for instance and using his timing to land a big counter punch). Don't be surprised to see him get the stoppage within 3 rounds. He's dangerous and a very fast starter (knocking guys down usually within the first minute). This alone can start to break some fighters right off the bat. He can take one hell of a beating and not even drop once, and he apparently eats knees, elbows, punches and kicks like "it's normal" (in my Anderson voice). Scary dude, crazy chin, and he'll be even more determined to not just beat but stop Jones in the inevitable rematch. He won't let it go to the judges this time. You can be sure of this.

Actually, depending on how you define tdd, Alex had pretty good tdd from the beginning. He just started circling and keeping his distance more, starting with Hamill. As the raw talent goes, I'm not sure about who has more room to improve. Alex hasn't looked much improved at all since Hamill, where he ate a ton of jabs.
Jones striking and comfortability in the pocket especially, still is pretty raw yes, but that could be due to Winkeljohn who doesn't seem to be all that good at teaching head movement, jabbing and positioning. As Disciplus noted in his podcast, the only exception to this is Cub, who trains a lot at a proper boxing gym.
Also, I'm not really sure this fight did necessarily show all that much improved wrestling from Gus. It could be due to Jones having a bad gameplan/preparation for this fight.
I think also Alex new found tdd confidence could bite him in the ass in the rematch, if Jones adapts and starts actually trying to time his takedowns, as sitting down/committing to his punches could make Gus a lot easier to take down if he doesn't time it perfectly every time.
I think Jones had a little bit of a hubris problem going into this fight, and really wanted to prove a point with his stand up. If Jones works on his jab, and balances out his preparation a bit more, It's likely going to be a tough night for Gus. I'm sure you won't agree with most of this though, since you are a pretty die-hard fan of Gus. ;)
I'm not really a fan of either, even though I enjoy watching both of them.
But who knows? It's going to be interesting for sure.
 
That's what I'm talking about.

I truly believe there's a reason why Jones isn't wanting an immediate rematch. Jones doesn't believe he decisively won that fight, in fact, his post-fight speech in the Octagon with Rogan sure as hell says otherwise (and Rogan's "That's an honest assessment, champ!"). Jones also said he's seen the fight "more than 10 times" just a couple days later (yeah right) and said he even believes he won the 1st round. :icon_lol: Yes, he believes he won the 1st round ffs. :redface: The reason why he doesn't want the immediate rematch? He wants to avoid it until he's forced into it (which will eventually happen, sooner than later I'm sure). This way (by delaying it) he can try and figure out what he'll need to improve drastically on and change for the rematch. He still won't have an answer for Alex's speed, footwork, and strength though. Those are innate qualities that, for the most part, can't all fully be negated (though you can answer the speed advantage with proper timing and footwork of your own, which Jones has neither of).
 
By actually committing to takedowns. Or outstriking him again.
 
I truly believe there's a reason why Jones isn't wanting an immediate rematch. Jones doesn't believe he decisively won that fight, in fact, his post-fight speech in the Octagon with Rogan sure as hell says otherwise (and Rogan's "That's an honest assessment, champ!"). Jones also said he's seen the fight "more than 10 times" just a couple days later (yeah right) and said he even believes he won the 1st round. :icon_lol: Yes, he believes he won the 1st round ffs. :redface: The reason why he doesn't want the immediate rematch? He wants to avoid it until he's forced into it (which will eventually happen, sooner than later I'm sure). This way (by delaying it) he can try and figure out what he'll need to improve drastically on and change for the rematch. He still won't have an answer for Alex's speed, footwork, and strength though. Those are innate qualities that, for the most part, can't all fully be negated (though you can answer the speed advantage with proper timing and footwork of your own, whichJones has neither of).
Jones isn't the one that needs to improve. He is already better than Gus, which was proven objectively when they fought.
 
Actually, depending on how you define tdd, Alex had pretty good tdd from the beginning. He just started circling and keeping his distance more, starting with Hamill. As the raw talent goes, I'm not sure about who has more room to improve. Alex hasn't looked much improved at all since Hamill, where he ate a ton of jabs.
Jones striking and comfortability in the pocket especially, still is pretty raw yes, but that could be due to Winkeljohn who doesn't seem to be all that good at teaching head movement, jabbing and positioning. As Disciplus noted in his podcast, the only exception to this is Cub, who trains a lot at a proper boxing gym.
Also, I'm not really sure this fight did necessarily show all that much improved wrestling from Gus. It could be due to Jones having a bad gameplan/preparation for this fight.
I think also his new found tdd confidence could bite him in the ass in the rematch, should it happen, if Jones adapts and starts actually trying to time his takedowns, as sitting down/committing to his punches could make Gus a lot easier to take down if he doesn't time it perfectly every time.
I think Jones had a little bit of a hubris problem going into this fight, and really wanted to prove a point with his stand up. If Jones works on his jab, and balances out his preparation a bit more, It's likely going to be a tough night for Gus.
But who knows? It's going to be interesting for sure.

Alex definitely had good TDD from the beginning (as he showed against Phil Davis, just his 2nd UFC fight). His sprawl was great even back then. However, since then, he's trained with Swedish Greco Silver Medalist Jimmy Lidberg, Phil Davis since 2010, Illir Latifi (Swedish national wrestling champ), and others including Chris Weidman leading up to this fight. His TDD went from good, even very good, to great since then. As for Gus sitting down on his punches being a bad thing, yeah, by planting and committing to them he'll be opening himself up for a potential TD from Jones if they miss or if it's seen coming from the get go. However, like I said, he'll choose which punches to commit to fully and they'll very likely be counter punches (after Jones has already at least semi-committed to something). He'll momentarily plant, throw quickly, and get back on the balls of his feet. It may not take many, in fact, he's shown plenty of times that it only takes 1 counter-punch to drop his opponents. From here, if he stuns Jones with it enough, he can GnP him for the T/KO. The kind of GnP that Alex used on Hamill that is, which was brutal, not the weak stuff he used on Shogun.
 
Jones needs to not shy away from strikes. He was not liking it at all when Gus hit him in the face. He's very used to hiding behind his range and wasn't used to anyone being able to get inside.

Now that he knows this, I bet he'll work on his boxing a lot, and his standing clinch. He loves those hand-trap elbows already. Maybe he'll train more to take Gus down, its still surprising to me how was Gus defended the takedowns.
 
I truly believe there's a reason why Jones isn't wanting an immediate rematch. Jones doesn't believe he decisively won that fight, in fact, his post-fight speech in the Octagon with Rogan sure as hell says otherwise (and Rogan's "That's an honest assessment, champ!"). Jones also said he's seen the fight "more than 10 times" just a couple days later (yeah right) and said he even believes he won the 1st round. :icon_lol: Yes, he believes he won the 1st round ffs. :redface: The reason why he doesn't want the immediate rematch? He wants to avoid it until he's forced into it (which will eventually happen, sooner than later I'm sure). This way (by delaying it) he can try and figure out what he'll need to improve drastically on and change for the rematch. He still won't have an answer for Alex's speed, footwork, and strength though. Those are innate qualities that, for the most part, can't all fully be negated (though you can answer the speed advantage with proper timing and footwork of your own, which Jones has neither of).

I think Jon Jones has almost reached his potential, he's already got a decent

kickboxing game, great gnp,and great subs, but his hands are terrible, and is

scared of punches like Brock Lesnar. I think Gustafsson has the fastest reaction

time
in the UFC. With that he can possibly become an even better striker,

and improve ground game with vicious elbows/subs. Gustafsson has a way higher

potential than Jones, but that's not to discredit Jones as he is a fucking monster

when fighting people not his size/reach with not good enough takedown defense.
 
jon will win the rematch and i don't think it will be as close as the first fight.

he has shown time and time again that he simply REFUSES to lose. and is hell bent on being the most dominant and best of all time. i think he's going to train his ass off like never before to ensure he dominates gus the next go around.

as to how i think he wins the fight. i think if he comes out more aggressive. and works on cutting his opponents off to force their back against the cage. and he focuses on doing damage there while clinching vs wasting energy on the takedown. i think he can finish gus.
 
By actually committing to takedowns. Or outstriking him again.

You clearly need to go back and watch their fight, I've seen it 6 times now (the full fight too). Jones committed 'fully' on several of those takedown attempts and was stuffed right in his tracks, like I said, it was like he was hitting a brick wall when he was trying for his TD's. Watch the quick, hard, deep shot he tried on Gustafsson in the 4th (not the halfhearted, weak one at the end). That shot would've had any other LHW fighter absolutely on their ass, Gustafsson stuffed it very easily. The actual significant strike count for Jones includes many leg kicks that weren't "significant" in the slightest. Alex clearly was landing the better shots throughout the fight up until the last minute of the 4th round and through the 5th. Jones is still more well-rounded than Gus is at the moment, but, he didn't excel at anything whatsoever against Gus when they fought. Gustafsson excelled with his boxing and TDD against Jones and it was clear, even to a blind man.

Let's be honest here, he made Jones look very mediocre when they fought. If he had defended those knees, that big spinning elbow he caught in the 4th, and more of those head kicks then you wouldn't have a leg to stand on with the 'outstruck' argument. Next time, don't expect Gus to be eating nearly as many, if any of the head kicks and spinning elbows.
 
Alex definitely had good TDD from the beginning (as he showed against Phil Davis, just his 2nd UFC fight). His sprawl was great even back then. However, since then, he's trained with Swedish Greco Silver Medalist Jimmy Lidberg, Phil Davis since 2010, Illir Latifi (Swedish national wrestling champ), and others including Chris Weidman leading up to this fight. His TDD went from good, even very good, to great since then. As for Gus sitting down on his punches being a bad thing, yeah, by planting and committing to them he'll be opening himself up for a potential TD from Jones if they miss or if it's seen coming from the get go. However, like I said, he'll choose which punches to commit to fully and they'll very likely be counter punches (after Jones has already at least semi-committed to something). He'll momentarily plant, throw quickly, and get back on the balls of his feet. It may not take many, in fact, he's shown plenty of times that it only takes 1 counter-punch to drop his opponents. From here, if he stuns Jones with it enough, he can GnP him for the T/KO. The kind of GnP that Alex used on Hamill that is, which was brutal, not the weak stuff he used on Shogun.

The thing is, there are still holes in his stand up that he hasn't plugged, so what makes you think he will all of a sudden become perfect at choosing when to sit down on his punches? It's a hard thing to do, which is evident as many high-level wrestlers get taken down a LOT easier when they try and knock someone out. It's not like Jones fought a perfect fight either. He could have stopped a lot of Gus attacks with a good jab and more step-in elbows.
I'm just saying it might be a bit of wishful thinking on your part. Mind you, that is coming from someone who actually gave Gus closer to 3:1 odds in the fight.
 
Jones needs to let Gus come to him. In the last fight Gus went on the offensive when he wanted to then slipped away when Jones started to go for a TD. Jones needs to make Gus come to him and even though he'll take shots keep him away and do more damage and pick him apart.
 
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