People that said Stipe had a “great chance” of beating Jones….

[TheCryingElite]

Stips looked like himself…if anything Jones looked older but still was levels above Miocic.

I’m fairly certain if you told a casual to pick between Jones and Stipe, which one hadn’t fought in nearly 4 years, most would have picked Jones from appearance alone.

 

[Alpha_T83]

This is the problem with fights. It's hard to predict how they will turn out. But Stipe looked downright terrible. I guarantee a lot of the people picking him for the upset didn't think he'd look so old and slow.

 

[g*r*b]

Running/backpedaling may not be a pretty look, but properly done it's a really good way to take all the power out of a blitz. It's also a good technique to catch an opponent reaching and off balance. You're turning the blitzer from someone initiating the action to someone chasing the action, and when you change movement, e.g., slip to the side or angle in at the end, your opponent has to react quickly or be caught out of position. The technique is a cousin to rope-a-dope.

A controlled brisk retreat is very different from a panicked out-of-control evasion, and it's a technique Jon has used effectively for a while.

I wasn't criticizing the technique. I was referring to it as evidence that Jon recognized Stipe still could pose a danger.

 

[Final Say]

Randy Couture
Anthony Smith
Rampage
Francis
Bisping
DC

All said Stipe was going to be a problem for Jones.

Fast-Forward to after Jones absolutely STARCHES Miocic…Stipe looked old and slow.

When in his entire career did Stipe EVER look fast like Prime Fedor??

Any version of Stipe would get starched by Jones with ease.

Its simple…Jones: questionable person but GOAT as a fighter.

No. No way of knowing how jones versus stipe would have gone when stipe was mid 30s because jones didn’t want the fight then.

End of story.

 

[Ayreon]

This was until we saw how washed and past it he was when he stepped in there. Nobody had any idea how he would be before the fight.

Jones instead looked like a fresh teenager with barely a beard, with flash movements and jacked muscles

Cope harder

 

[SamuraiBro]

Jones instead looked like a fresh teenager with barely a beard, with flash movements and jacked muscles

Cope harder

Not coping.
Just stating what I saw, calm down Jones fanboy. He’s not going to be your friend for defending his honour.

 

[Harlekin]

Stipe looked exactly like in his sparring videos. The worst weak and slow arm punches of his career. He always had that tendancy.
I hoped that was early footage, but considering Jones got injured and Stipe had an endless long training camp I doubted it.
And then it happened.

Prime Stipe gives Jones a solid fight. Still loses though probably.
Jones reached out a lot for eyepokes though.

 

[moreorless87]

Honestly though I think the main issue is people had wishful thinking about Stipes form because we hadnt seen him in the cage for so long but in the end he looked like a 42 year old coming off a 3 year layoff after a bad loss.

 

[anachronist]

I mean, the UFC heavyweight division has never been flooded with guys that have high-level skill. Cain Velasquez in his prime was obviously very skilled and great. So was junior. But for the most part, you have a lot of really big dudes that don’t have a lot of skill. Stipe could come along at a time when the division was pretty weak and with those heavy hands and good wrestling dominate for a time.

True...btw, while I am venting, Cain was def the best UFC HW (second is Francis), def not the statistically but i hate the statistical arguments with resume padding "greats" - just watch Cain fight...just watch the stuff he could do...he was an unstoppable force of nature, too bad he got injured and all.

 

[DiazSlap]

True...btw, while I am venting, Cain was def the best UFC HW (second is Francis), def not the statistically but i hate the statistical arguments with resume padding "greats" - just watch Cain fight...just watch the stuff he could do...he was an unstoppable force of nature, too bad he got injured and all.

Cain should be labeled the UFC HW GOAT not joke Miocic