Pick one of these two light heavyweight eras

[Kos Fan]

That said, considering Gus' record and who he beat to get to the title shot (Rua is a legend, but was definitely past his prime,) I personally wonder how much JBJ's lack of a training camp and his partying have led to potentially overrating Gus.

If Jones had come into the first fight the way that he did the second, would anyone really care about him? He's 3-4 @ LHW since then.

Take out the JBJ and the DC fight (which was impressive AsF,) and he'd be 3-2; not bad since he's fighting other top contenders, but not great either.

Those wins against Glover and Jan are super impressive; but both fighters have improved drastically (which is crazy considering that they're senior citizens of the division.)

A lot can happen in 5 years. In 2013 Gus could have been in his absolute physical and mental prime. Also Gus was the first guy Jones fought with a similar height and length so Jones wasn’t able to pick him apart like he did Evan’s, Rampage, Shogun.

Gus pushed both Jones and DC to the limit but fell short twice and got flatlined by Rumble. This had to effect him mentally because in his 2nd fight with Jones he seemed hesitant. And Gus retired after he fought Smith which was a sign that he wasn’t all there mentally anymore. It would have been ideal if Jones and Gus had an immediate rematch.

 

[jitzmonkey]

A lot can happen in 5 years. In 2013 Gus could have been in his absolute physical and mental prime. Also Gus was the first guy Jones fought with a similar height and length so Jones wasn’t able to pick him apart like he did Evan’s, Rampage, Shogun.

Gus pushed both Jones and DC to the limit but fell short twice and got flatlined by Rumble. This had to effect him mentally because in his 2nd fight with Jones he seemed hesitant. And Gus retired after he fought Smith which was a sign that he wasn’t all there mentally anymore. It would have been ideal if Jones and Gus had an immediate rematch.

That's also a distinct possibility.
There was a lot conjecture in my previous statement.

Your scenario is just as (if not more) likely.