I don’t think Jiri can beat Jan at this point for a very valid reason...

[tuckermaclain]

A mental edge is great until your bell gets rung repeatedly from a better striker. Reyes is a fine fighter and has a solid fighting mentality. It didn’t help him enough. That said, Izzy is a great striker and presented nothing. Jiri ain’t gonna be timid though.

 

[Phisher]

Of course Jan is skilled. But he definitely isnt one of the most skilled champions. Unless OP edited his post, thats basically what he said. He clearly has some striking flaws and his grappling is nothing to write home about. He shouldve at least attempted to finish Izzy on the ground. The guy is a stud but make no mistake that theres a good chance hes the underdog against Jiri.

I don't know why you're posting that gif as a knock on Jan after we saw how handled Adesanya.

He didn't fall into any of Izzy's traps to come forward and won the fight at range with the guy who's supposed to be the most skilled striker in the UFC.

Also, he was more concerned with controlling Izzy on the ground. Go watch Izzy's scramble on the floor with Kelvin in the fifth round of their fight after the guillotine attempt. The guy actually does have a decent ground game. Jan wanted to keep him down.

 

[snaportap21]

As we all know, the fight at this high level is more of a mental edge than a physical one because it’s no secret these 2 warriors arrived to where they are now because they’ve already mastered the art of MMA . The difference, however, between a champ and a drive by fighter is the mental edge and if he or she had reached peak level of knowing how to react when the tough gets going and overcome obstacles.
Jan is not the most skilled champ we’ve had, but from his latest fights, it’s obvious this warrior is extremely confident and comfortable with one’s self and it showed against Reyes and Izzy. He didn’t crumble to the hype(Reyes arguably beat Jon and Izzy looked unbeatable), quiet the opposite, he enforced his fight game and defeated both prospects convincingly.

In conclusion, Jiri although looking amazing like a character from a video game, I don’t think he has the mental edge that Jan has, not just yet. So bottom line, Jan will be resilient and extremely durable and eventually either KO Jiri or decision him. Do agree to disagree or what?

After the Kelvin, Vettori, and Romero fights Izzy looked unbeatable? Jan had many reasons to be confident for the Izzy fight. It’s a tough fight to call Jan or Jiri. We don’t know enough about Jiri tbh. Both can finish each other on the feet, and both are hittable. Ima go with Jan, because he’s proven in later rounds seems stronger and has a perceived grappling edge. The last two points, however could be wrong but my sample size is poor for that data. Either this is why mma is so cool, there is a stable of dark horses.

 

[GangGangGang]

I don't know why you're posting that gif as a knock on Jan after we saw how handled Adesanya.

He didn't fall into any of Izzy's traps to come forward and won the fight at range with the guy who's supposed to be the most skilled striker in the UFC.

Also, he was more concerned with controlling Izzy on the ground. Go watch Izzy's scramble on the floor with Kelvin in the fifth round of their fight after the guillotine attempt. The guy actually does have a decent ground game. Jan wanted to keep him down.

But then you realize that Izzy is absolutely not a 205er. The guy barely cuts weight to make 185. Yes it was a great performance by Jan but lets try to focus on the actual division. I hold Jans win over Corey and Reyes above Izzy solely cause they are legit 205ers. I think someone like Jiri could have a great chance at KOing Izzy. Jiri has sloppy defence but he is ultra aggressive and hits hard. I cant see Izzy putting away many 205ers.

 

[lafkabij]

I wrote not the most skilled which is completely different than not skilled or do u want me to explain that to u literally?

Sure, I understood you. And I said he’s pretty skilled, which is different than merely not unskilled. I don’t think he’s at a significant skill deficit, or that Jiri has shown any reason to think that he’d break mentally. I think they have different physical tools, and can execute a given game plan better or worse on any given night, and that it could go either way given those factors. Just like I said.

 

[theTKDguy]

Someone's getting knocked out

 

[GlennButerol]

How's Jiris ground game? I was impressed by that one explosive escape he had on Reyes but that was just one moment.

I could see Jan having a plan B to switch the fight up and take it to the ground especially after the success he had on Adesanya (though obviously with a notable size advantage).

 

[FIghtxIQ]

Can you name some successful boxers who fought at cruiser or heavyweight who were known for their "hands at waist" fighting style?

Roy Jones Jr.

Watch more boxing, fighters don't always keep their hands up. They only put it up when they need to. Everyone thinks you need to keep your hands up at all times. You don't. If you understand range and know how to read punches you don't need to keep your hands up all the times because you know when you are not in range to get hit. People that just keep it up at all times is because they don't understand range or how to read punches. They just keep it up because they don't know when and where the punches are coming from - so they just keep both hands up and block at all times.

 

[Katsushyro]

The mental edge lol, way too much is made of fighter's mentality

It's about skills mate

We very skilled fighters lose all the time because of lack of mental strenght, and resilient fighters with a hearth win over a more techinical oponent.

 

[Sure Dawg]

Lmao this response is so cringe, there's a mental aspect to it obviously, but the dudes with the best skills win

The GOAT fighters were destroying everyone in the gym too, they weren't great because they had a mental edge or whatever lol

If you cant understand the relationship between mind, will and action. not only is this conversation not worth having, but quite honestly your life isnt worth living. It may sound like im insulting you, or being suggestive, but truthfully im not, that isnt my intention. Peace

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

If you cant understand the relationship between mind, will and action. not only is this conversation not worth having, but quite honestly your life isnt worth living. It may sound like im insulting you, or being suggestive, but truthfully im not, that isnt my intention. Peace

True I guess I'll kill myself now lol

 

[chardog]

Jan is going to sleep, young tiger takes out old lion

 

[Sure Dawg]

True I guess I'll kill myself now lol

 

[Terrestrial Extra]

Let's be real...

It's IMPOSSIBLE to know how Jan is going to react and handle the kind of pressure Jiri can and will put on him. Maybe he handles it okay, maybe he doesn't... Shit maybe he doesn't handle but still gets a surprise KO while getting his ass kicked. This isn't a straight forward type of match up where you can just judge by his skills. What I do know is... As a Jiri fan, Jan's striking defense makes him the most dangerous match up in the UFC for him on paper.

If anyone is going to overwhelm Jan's composure and defense tho(at least the surprisingly excellent defense we saw in the Izzy fight), it's Jiri.