Jon Jones Likely Has Nothing For Ciryl Gane

[UFCIsNOTRigged]

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 fight became the first fighter to KO Tai Tuivasa who had only been TKOd previously. Gane appears to be sitting down more on his punches since the loss to Ngannou. It is questionable whether Jones can handle that type of knockout power.

What exactly does a path to victory for Jones look like because it is difficult to see a clear one?

 

[pamirec]

Jon’s chances against Gane are bigger than against Francis imo. Everything depends on which Bones will show up. Hw Jones is a mystery.

 

[supnmunm]

I wouldn't be surprised if Jones took it easily. There's a timeline out there where he becomes the HW GOAT, maybe it's our timeline.

 

[Joshuaace]

So the guy who has never really lost is a sure thing to lose. Got it.

 

[Paulsp]

The cope from Jones haters is wild

first it’s he’ll never go to heavyweight

then it’s if he does go to heavyweight, he’ll pick an easy fight

Jon comes back to take on the #1 ranked, in their prime heavyweight and now the next narratives are 1. He’s not going to show up 2. He’s going to lose badly

the haters will be proven wrong once again

jones bless

 

[Lee_]

Gane isn't a great grappler.

Jones is most certainly a better wrestler than Francis, and by the looks of the last HW title fight, may be able to control Gane on the ground.

That is a terrible proposition, and I would hate to see such a fight happen; but really, Jon matches up well against anyone without a lot of grappling.

HW division just sucks and is dependent on Aspinall to stop breaking his own legs to have a well-rounded champ; I don't see any indication that there is another exception to the sucky HW rules.

 

[Alpha_T83]

Gane isn't a great grappler.

He's had a year to work his TDD. He should be better now.

 

[Mr. Shickadance]

No way jones doesn’t wrestlefuck him, if he stands trades the whole fight he loses

 

[sonhow]

Jones might grapple fuck him. He doesn't do it as much as he used to but his wrestling is probably the aspect he is most skilled in.
Maybe he cannot wrestle anymore I dunno. Jones is a weirdo but the guy knows how to win mma fights.

 

[Stan]

Only 1 year ago Ciryl Gane fought and lost against a man that came into the cage partially crippled with 2 blown out knees and still Gane couldn't stop being taken down and held down. Even though I hate Jon Jones he's a going to easily take Gane down and smash him. You can't have 0 wrestling and TDD and think you are going to be great at TDD in 1 years time it just doesn't happen.

 

[Lee_]

He's had a year to work his TDD. He should be better now.

I most certainly hope you are right, because it was a joke during his last fight.

 

[Paulsp]

He's had a year to work his TDD. He should be better now.

Also realistically he didn’t train TDD whatsoever during the Ngannou camp and was completely caught off guard

who the hell thought Francis would come in with a wrestle heavy gp lol

he’ll be much better prepared and ready here for the wrestling

still think Jon wins though

 

[whocares]

Jones looked very average against 3 inferior fighters 3-4 years ago, then took 3 years off and is moving up to the most dangerous weight class. Gane otoh looks like he's just entering his prime as a UFC fighter, and if you consider that HW's are the top of the hierarchy he's currently the toughest fight on the entire roster. So big ass balls of steel for Jon to step right into this challenge. This one looks better on paper and will be easy to promote with Jon's legacy and GOAT status but looking at each fighters recent histories it doesn't seem like Jon is going to be favored. It is very hard to imagine Jones has somehow gotten better with age and inactivity but the man is a fighting genius so who the f knows what he's added mentally or physically in his time off. Super intriguing fight. This is so needed at a time where it's been looking like the UFC has been having a harder and harder time putting good fights together.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

I think Jones' only chance is if he wrestles. Gane is bigger, stronger and faster. He's also a natural heavyweight. The only hole is his game is he fights a little safe and doesn't seem to have much on the ground.

The fact that Jones skated by an old, slow and injured Thiago Santos and arguably lost the Reyes fight, I don't see how he beats Gane. Especially after a 3 year layoff and a new weight class.

 

[Kyojiro Kagenuma]

Only 1 year ago Ciryl Gane fought and lost against a man that came into the cage partially crippled with 2 blown out knees and still Gane couldn't stop being taken down and held down. Even though I hate Jon Jones he's a going to easily take Gane down and smash him. You can't have 0 wrestling and TDD and think you are going to be great at TDD in 1 years time it just doesn't happen.

I mean Francis only managed to do that because of his immense strength. Jon doesn't have that.

 

[forRealHuh]

JBJ easily.

 

[AndrewGolota48]

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 fight became the first fighter to KO Tai Tuivasa who had only been TKOd previously. Gane appears to be sitting down more on his punches since the loss to Ngannou. It is questionable whether Jones can handle that type of knockout power.

What exactly does a path to victory for Jones because it is difficult to see a clear one?

I totally agree. Those who disagree seem to be in some alternate universe where they think Jones is still in his prime, when he is many years past it by now. He will look like Shogun did when Jones fought Shogun.....

 

[Deleted member 585708]

Not to be boring but is it just me who thinks this is a coin flip?

Yeah you can talk about the size and speed of Gane, his striking, Jon looking like shit in his final LHW fights, AND a three year absence.

But Jones is still the best LHW of all time.

This might be like Izzy assuming he can overcome Jan's size and power advantage but actually not being able to deal with it, or Jones could roll back the years and leave jaws on the floor once again.

It's a great fight.

 

[markg171]

I have no idea why anybody thinks that because Jones "struggled" with MWs/LHWs because he's lost a step he also will against HWs.

HWs aren't faster than MWs/LHWs. They're slower. And generally far less technical as they can just rely on power.

If Jones has lost a step then moving to HW is far more likely to correct this than make it worse. There's a reason why HWs can still be so successful later in life compared to other weight classes and it's certainly not because they need to rely on physical attributes.

 

[Phill]

So the guy who has never really lost is a sure thing to lose. Got it.

As much as I disagree with the OP, this isn't very strong rationale. The young Jones that ripped through LHW and the Jones we've seen in his last 2 fights aren't the same. To base his future performance on his past performance (at this point) doesn't make sense. In other words, just because you've never lost, doesn't mean you never will lose.