- Joined
- Apr 20, 2012
- Messages
- 466
- Reaction score
- 0
Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson is my favorite MMA fight to date, considering the stakes. I was very heavily pulling for Gustafsson to pull it out, and would again if they faught today.
In watching the replay, it's clear to me that Jones made it a point to turn the fight into a kickboxing match - likely to challenge himself - just as he did when he made it a point to out wrestle Chael Sonnen.
Gustaffson was considered one of the better kickboxers in MMA at the time. He had an amatuer boxing resume that included a win over the Swedish HWC. And Gusto's boxing prowess was on disply in the Jones fight. He was clearly the more technically sound boxer of the two, and he got the better of a lot of exchanges because of it. He showed some very technical, very presise MMA boxing in the fight, and did some damage as well.
Considering that Jones' stand up was thought to be a major hole at the time, how significant was the win? Jones fought a world class MMA kickboxer who was nearly as long as him - at a time when that was the trendy knock on Jones - and beat him in a kickboxing match. Not only did Jones not shoot often, he rarely threatened it, even. Not even middle of the 4th when Gusto was up 2-1 and on his way to winning what would have been the decisive round. Jones won with striking.
When I compare Jones to other greats in the sport, this goes a long way in cementing him as the most dominant fighter I've seen. Imagine Anderson Silva making it a point to out-wrestle Dan Henderson or GSP to out-box Nate Diaz. And then doing it. It really is a special feat, IMO.
Am I overrating the feat? What are your thoughts?
In watching the replay, it's clear to me that Jones made it a point to turn the fight into a kickboxing match - likely to challenge himself - just as he did when he made it a point to out wrestle Chael Sonnen.
Gustaffson was considered one of the better kickboxers in MMA at the time. He had an amatuer boxing resume that included a win over the Swedish HWC. And Gusto's boxing prowess was on disply in the Jones fight. He was clearly the more technically sound boxer of the two, and he got the better of a lot of exchanges because of it. He showed some very technical, very presise MMA boxing in the fight, and did some damage as well.
Considering that Jones' stand up was thought to be a major hole at the time, how significant was the win? Jones fought a world class MMA kickboxer who was nearly as long as him - at a time when that was the trendy knock on Jones - and beat him in a kickboxing match. Not only did Jones not shoot often, he rarely threatened it, even. Not even middle of the 4th when Gusto was up 2-1 and on his way to winning what would have been the decisive round. Jones won with striking.
When I compare Jones to other greats in the sport, this goes a long way in cementing him as the most dominant fighter I've seen. Imagine Anderson Silva making it a point to out-wrestle Dan Henderson or GSP to out-box Nate Diaz. And then doing it. It really is a special feat, IMO.
Am I overrating the feat? What are your thoughts?
