Gane didn't nullify Francis' boxing. Francis' bum knee did that.
all this other stuff you're talking about it doesn't mean anything. ALL of that was done in LHW. you keep using MMAth to provide answers but we all know that does not work. Joe Frazier was an extremely hard fight for Ali, but he couldn't do shit to George Foreman, then Ali beat Foreman. i'm sure nobody "could see" Ali beating Foreman much less knocking him out but it happened. the fact that you can't even visualize a fight where Ngannou lands a bomb and Jon folds is mind boggling. especially when the arguments you make don't even make sense. what DC did in his career IS FOR DC. it doesn't mean because DC did it automatically Jon can do it because he beat him.
as far as Francis being tentative, why would he? he wasn't tentative vs Stipe in the 2nd fight and he KNEW Stipe could take him down because Stipe had done it before. Jon can control the kicking distance AT LHW because he's got a massive length advantage. historically speaking Jon has NEVER fought a guy who has an 83in. reach before either. he couldn't control the kicking distance vs Gustafsson, and SURPRISE Gustafsson is one of the largest fighters Jon's ever faced. funny how that works huh? it's almost like being big MATTERS vs Jon.
Jon's hardest match ups are in the lower weight classes??? you mean vs SMALLER dudes he can exploit even MORE with his length and strength advantages? yeah i don't think so.
Historically speaking, both in kickboxing and MMA, when an opponent attacks with a diverse array of tools.
Punches, kicks, elbows. They control and dictate the kicking range in a way that makes it very difficult for someone with a boxing dominant attack to find success.
This is something we've seen throughout Jones career. He controls the kicking range In such a masterful way that his opponents simply can't hit him. When they do hit him, it's grazing.
His arm length is only part of it. It's his control of the kicking range. His boxing has never been strong, it's not as if he used that length offensively very well to begin with.
But what he does do exceptionally well is use his arms to frame control and create space in a way that makes it very hard to hit him. Controls wrists, manipulates the arms and shoulders of his opponent.
A bad knee will effect grappling, but you can still box. Ngannou had issues for the reasons I listed above, not his knee.
Jones is similar in that he utilizes a creative array of weapons both offensively and defensively on the feet. Even more so than Gane. Which again, makes it very difficult for a one dimensional boxer who throws predictable combinations to bypass the kicking range and land cleanly.
It's not MMA math. Jones is the best defensive fighter in the sports history. It doesn't matter who he fights, this will always be the core foundation to his style.
Ngannou could certainly catch Jon. I don't think anyone disputes he had a punchers chance. But so did rampage, so did Gus, so did DC, so did Belfort, so did Anthony Johnson. So did Rashad. Hard to knock someone out when you can't actually hit them and when you do, it grazes or they roll with the shit.
A punchers chance isn't something I'm going to bet on against arguably the greatest defensive fighter in the sports history who is a master at controlling distance.
And that isn't even mentioning the wrestling. All it takes is a single timed shot off an overextension and he's on the ground.
That was a hard fight everywhere it goes for Ngannou.
Again, I think DC was the hardest opponent for Jon at either LHW or HW.
When Jon fought Gus the first time, he hadn't yet encapsulated that aspect of his style. His kicks were good, but he wasn't using them in the same way to control the range in the way he did as his career developed.
Reyes actually said in an interview before he fought Jones that he needed to have as much success as Santos did with the kicks otherwise he had no chance.
Which speaks volumes to just how crucial a factor Jones dominating the kicking range is in his fights.
Even then, Reyes maybe hit him cleanly half a dozen times throughout all 5 rounds if that.
At LHW, fighters are much more well rounded. They're faster, younger, more diverse striking arsenal, better wrestling, better takedown defence, better scrambling ability, younger, faster reflexes.
At this stage of his career, 15 years in, I think Jones is at a point where some of those elements will begin to present problems.
Heavyweights are older, slower, more one dimensional. Less wrestling and scrambling ability. Not as technical. They're just more limited fighters as a whole. They have power but with far more holes.
Someone like Jones can dictate where the fight takes place at HW and expose the many holes that exist there.
It seems like an oxymoron. I think a lot of people still have the idea that Jones Had some issues at LHW, imagine what heavyweights would do to him. Which is no better than MMA math and simply isn't how things work. Heavyweights are nowhere near as good as people seem to think.