Is Gane the best striker Jones has faced?

[Kb7]

You clearly have no idea what a heavyweight punch does to someone

Stop it man, we both have been a fan of MMA long enough to both know what a heavyweight punch can do, we also both know that heavyweights are the most unskilled fighters on the planet & some solely rely on said punching power, Tuivasa is one them.

 

[GUY]

Machina is probably on the same technical level as Gane, but Gane is much larger

 

[GUY]

I am going with Gane by submission. He catches Jones with a leglock after Jones takes him down. He was almost locking it against Ngannou, he finishes it this time, he seems to be good with it.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Those fighters you named are also 10x more skilled than Tuivasa who is one of the worst fighters to compete in modern MMA.

Weight classes exist for a reason. Tai might not be as skilled but he's a ranked HW with KO power. If it were that easy to beat him, guys would move up and do it.

 

[Pilo]

Also factor in ring rust and moving up to HW for Jones


DC
Gus
Shogun
Machida
Rampage Jackson
Glover
Smith
Belfort


I think so, the guys above may be faster (Gus) or have better dirty boxing (DC), but Gane has the best footwork out of anyone and he's a HW.

I think the first minute or so, Jones will try his usual stand up style mixing it up and all. But will soon realize he's having a hard time adjusting since he's not as a fast at HW, and Gane is so bouncy for HW. He'll get hit a couple times and go to a full on grappling approach similar to Francis.

After that I don't know, its 50/50 IMO. Jones submits him or Gane catches him in at some point

DC, Machida, Shogun, Rampage, Glover and Belfort are way shorter than Jones, and Jones is known to keep opponents at bay using his length and superior range. That's not just key to his game, that's become the foundation of his game.

Gus and Smith are both about as long as Jones, and they both gave Jones problems in their own right when they fought him. Smith is a former middleweight, and Gus already looked shot in his second fight with Jones. Gane will likely be Jones' tallest opponent, and by far the biggest as well.

And there's more to it than just ring rust: add the fact that Jones has bulked up significantly and will be carrying more weight than he ever has into this fight; he's never fought a true heavyweight before; the last time Jones used his wrestling effectively was in 2018, and Jones hasn't hurt someone on the feet in what feels like ages now.

If I had to predict certain things that will happen in this fight, it would be those:

-Jon Jones tries to take Gane down early, either fails to do it or manages to do it but can't keep Gane down, and wastes a shit ton of energy doing so;
-Jon Jones looks spent by the time he enters the second round, as he's completely unused to carrying so much weight and dealing with such a big man;
-Jon Jones' legs get kicked and damaged pretty badly in the first few rounds, which further impedes his movement;
-Jon Jones gets outworked and outcardio'd by Gane, who eventually scores a finish by strikes in round 4 against a gassed out Jon Jones.

 

[Post 2 Decision]

Stop it man, we both have been a fan of MMA long enough to both know what a heavyweight punch can do, we also both know that heavyweights are the most unskilled fighters on the planet & some solely rely on said punching power, Tuivasa is one them.

And guess what happens when a HW like Tuivasa lands on you?

 

[Volim mrziti86]

Gane hasn't really shown himself to be a power striker. Rampage, Shogun, Vitor, DC, and a few others are all more dangerous punchers than Gane.

He hits harder then all of them
You're an idiot

 

[chardog]

Gane got wobbled by Tuivasa.. a guy who really should be fighting at MW but is too fat. I can't remember jones ever getting dropped like this:

If jones high kick lands, Gane is going to sleep.
Jones has a GOAT level chin. Ate flush bombs from Santos and DC like they were nothing.

jones doesnt hit hard like tuivasa

 

[mattemate]

I don't think he is the best technical striker that Jones has faced but probably going to be the most athletic big guy that Jones faced. Gane can dunk a basketball and he is massive. I don't even think Francis can do that.

I watched some of his dunks and was very impressed.

 

[warriorfan808]

Interested in seeing how Jones cardio holds up with all that added muscle. Gane is naturally big and has cardio for his size. No way Jones out strikes Gane. His way of winning this is to out-wrestle him which he will do if his cardio holds up.

My only question in which round do you all think Jones will first poke Gane in the eyes?

 

[mattemate]

Interested in seeing how Jones cardio holds up with all that added muscle. Gane is naturally big and has cardio for his size. No one Jones out strikes Gane. His way of winning this is to put wrestle him which he will do if his cardio holds up.

My only question in which round do you all think Jones will first poke Gane in the eyes?

Round 1. That's what I would do.

 

[jjjjjjjjjjohnny]

looking forward to it.....

 

[jx820]

I'd say Machida had better footwork and dictated range better, Rampage had comparable or better boxing, Shogun was probably the most well rounded striker Jon's faced. I'd put Gane just a rung below that in the Gus/juiced Vitor range.

Realistically for all the Muay Thai talk Gane is largely a boxer with very good distance control for HW. I don't think Jon is going to have to worry about a flashy kicking game or knees from the plum.

 

[jx820]

Round 1. That's what I would do.

Honestly I don't understand why every fighter doesn't throw an eye poke and groin strike as early in the first as possible. Even if the ref calls them it's just a warning, and they can pay dividends for the rest of the fight.

 

[Poatan Power]

lol, this is recency bias at its best.

Gane is a better striker than Machida and Rua? Than Vitor? Vitor finished Bisping, Akiyama, Franklin, Hendo x2 and Rockhold in a couple year span during the time Jones beat him.

 

[cmw43]

If Jon gets the sub I think top position submissions are more likely.

Key lock
Kimura
Arm Triangle*
Von Flue*
* not sure Jon has the raw squeeze power needed for these

Based on Gane vs Ngannou it seems like Gane was content to stay in guard or stay on his back rather than give up his back in a scramble.

This could change if Gane changed his ground game since then, but if he is the same or similar to the Francis fight, then I see those as more likely.

Don't know about Von Flue but you don't need much squeeze power for an arm triangle it's more about leveraging your weight.

 

[Here's Johnny!]

Gane doesn't have to KO Jon with one shot.

We have never seen Jon Jones take punches from a 250 pound man before. Maybe he can, his chin has been pretty godly thus far.

But... Gane is an experienced kickboxer. His reach is close to Jon's, he even may be a little taller than Jon, and he moves REALLY well so he could potentially cover more distance than Jon has ever had to deal with before.

And Jon has gotten hit a LOT more in his recent fights, and he is coming off a 3 year layoff and fighting maybe 20- 30 pounds heavier, which could slow him down, particularly combined with his age.

Jon still has a 3.5 inch reach advantage. Cyril Gane has similar measurements to Gustaffson and is probably just as fast and technical but heavier. It's a tough matchup for Jon if Jon can't wrestle.

 

[tkotom]

Obvious striker vs wrestler fight. Unless Jones has an ego moment and gets KO'd standing, there's no way he doesn't get this to the ground and smash Gane.

 

[kalabula]

Gane got wobbled by Tuivasa.. a guy who really should be fighting at MW but is too fat. I can't remember jones ever getting dropped like this:

If jones high kick lands, Gane is going to sleep.
Jones has a GOAT level chin. Ate flush bombs from Santos and DC like they were nothing.

This is an odd take. I just checked, Tai has 13 wins via KO or TKO at HW.

 

[humdizzle]

This is an odd take. I just checked, Tai has 13 wins via KO or TKO at HW.

not saying jones will KO gane.

just pointing out that gane has poor distance management. Tai is short and reach is 7" less than Gane's. he should not have been able to reach his chin. Jones is going to have an easy time connecting and also avoiding gane's shots.