Before I begin, I want to lay down a few disclaimers so you all know where I'm coming from.... 1. I was rooting for Jones to beat DC and I expected Jones to beat DC. But I thought he was going to have an easier time of it. 2. I scored the fight (live) as follows: R1: 10-9 Jones R2: 10-9 Cormier R3: 10-10 Draw R4: 10-9 Jones R5: 10-10 Draw Final: 49-48 Jones 3. I scored the Gustaffson fight 48-47 on behalf of Jones. All that being said, Jones really needs to work on his jab. DC was getting inside largely due to Jones's inability to keep him at bay with punches. I was expecting Jones to employ a gameplan similar to what GSP did against Koscheck. But Jones's jab is almost nonexistent! I don't think I've ever seen anyone (including Gus) control Jones for an entire round like Cormier did in the second. He was able to do it primarily because of his wrestling pedigree, but also because he was able to get inside. If Jones doesn't fix this, I could see both Gus and Johnson using this flaw to get inside and land big punches. Although Jones has a monster chin, Gus has already shown he can take Jones through a 5-round war on the feet. And Johnson simply has more power than Cormier. If he were able to get inside the way Cormier did, he might be able to land a bomb that actually phases Jones. What do you all think? I welcome any and all discussion. I am not a boxing expert, so I look forward to your responses.
I'm a big fan of Bones and consider him to be the best fighter I've seen but I'm also puzzled that he doesn't use the jab more.
He doesn't use the jab more because he isn't comfortable using it. Jones really is blessed to have such reach/length as it allows him to still get by superior strikers standing. Fundamentally he's not even average
True. Imagine how good he would be if he didn't have those long arms, keeping him from utilizing the jab. Good point!
