Many people thought that DC's wrestling would be enough to put Jones on his back. After a hard won fight it was Jones who was putting DC on his back and he did it more than once. I said that DC would lose to Jones but could still beat Cain, and I still believe that. However, this is Jones we are talking about. I thought his Fight IQ, reach, athleticism, skill, and other abilities and having Greg Jackson as his coach would make the difference. Jone's great Fight IQ and having Jackson as a coach can't be underestimated. Jackson made a great gameplan for Jones against Glover and we saw how that worked. It helps that Jones can actually carry out Jackson's gameplan also, just like GSP could.
People say that Cain's pace, cardio, wrestling, and stamina will easily carry him to victory over Jones. They said similar things about DC minus the cardio and stamina.
However, Cain is a lot like DC and many other fighters. Looks great when he's dominating, but we don't know how he'll look when he isn't. The one time Cain wasn't dominating he was lying facedown on the mat, so you can't tell how he'd handle not having his way. Obviously we saw DC looked when he wasn't dominating. He appeared to slow down, gas, and appeared to break in the 3rd round. Cain has looked tired before, when he was fighting JDS, so it is possible to tire Cain out, just like anyone else.
So, Cain looks great when he's dominating and having his way with his opponents, it helps his cardio when he's imposing his will. Your cardio can take a hit when you're the one who's on the losing end.
But what happens when Jones stops Cain's TDs and even puts Cain on his back? Cain's never been on his back long enough for someone to work him over. Lesnar put Cain down but Cain popped right back up again. Cain's cardio might look different if he has Jones hitting him with body shots, knees, kicks, and elbows wearing him down like he work DC down.
Everyone who talks about Cain beating Jones explains the fight going with the narrative of Cain steamrolling Jones and not facing any adversity. It could be a ver different fight if Cain's on his back or Cain can't get the TD and impose his will. We might then see Cain's vaunted cardio start to wear down.
Cain is said to have great Fight IQ but I'm not sure if that's been proven. He does the same thing every fight. Strikes to TD, wear down with GnP, rinse and repeat to victory. He's never had to really do anything different than that.
Also, I think DC has a better chin then Cain. I think Cain has a good chin with great recovery, I just don't think he has a granite chin like Big Nog or Hendo and that Jones could hurt him bad or stun him with a strike, especially with a close elbow in the clinch. And Jon Jones has great killer instinct, if he see Cain hurt he'll go for the submission finish quickly and end it rather then the exact wrong reaction like Kongo when he was dropping Cain. Cain's chin could be what is his downfall after repeated strikes from Jones accumulate. Being rocked once can change the outcome of a fight, look at Couture vs. Sylvia. If Jones hurts Cain in the fight it could change the course of the fight or set the tempo for rest of the fight. Cain's reach is 77", Jones is 84.5", that's a 7.5" reach advantage for Jones and if used correctly could keep Cain at bay.
I don't think they would fight at HW since Jones doesn't seem to want to do that but a catchweight fight could happen.
So what happens in a Jones vs. Cain fight when Cain can't get the TD?
