Who has the Skillset to beat Jon Jones?

[markus0815]

 

[Freddy Mercury]

I have the skill set but have instead devoted my life to commenting about stupid threads on Sherdog. We each have our own road to travel.

 

[Helmut Zemo]

P4P using skill-sets from much lighter weight fighters, I think there are a few of them. One in particular would be a LHW equivalent of Frankie Edgar. Someone who:

- catches a lot of kicks and can counter off them
- has active movement, quick side-steps to aid in octagon control
- outside of Cruz, he is arguably the best transition fighter in MMA, and his phase-shifting would provide problems
- tricky set-ups, disguising his striking and takedowns, and a nice feinting game he can use to keep Jones on the back-foot where he fights like an amateur (showed a couple new counters in the Cormier fight though)
- understands how to counter underneath a punch and over the top of it to keep you hesitant
- goes to the body and his body shots and left hook flow perfectly into his knee tap
- has spent a lot of time developing his kicks and he won't concede the kicking game and will trade (although his impact wasn't the same, him out-landing Aldo in low kicks was an important part in how he was able to be competitive with him in the later rounds), so that he doesn't just stand there at range, plus despite Edgar's flaws in his defensive footwork Jones doesn't have the jab that Penn or Aldo did, or the powerful low kicks of Aldo, to really expose it
- is one of the best in MMA at getting back to his feet (very crafty with how he uses his shins as a block, finding the angles to push off for returns, prevents passes and posturing up opportunities by hand positioning from his thigh and getting knee to hip in order to position his other arm and open up overhooks/head control, etc.) and can defend against the clinch TDs/body-locks Jones likes well, very adept as using things like wrist lock grips to free his arms to base for instance
- can wrestle and work for takedowns/control from various positions and techniques/styles, along with shifting to his striking fluidly (punching into TDs or using his wrestling to put guys off-balance and hit them)
- has a developed top game and improved g&p if he were to get Jones down (and Edgar gets down pretty much everyone, even Aldo who has the best TDD in MMA)
- is super tough, can absorb almost everything you throw at him (and Jones isn't the most powerful guy), won't be dissuaded, and won't run out of gas
- similarly to Jones, adapts very well and can out-think guys even when he is badly hurt, just one of those fighters who gets better/more comfortable even, the more he gets hurt

There are a bunch of other things, but I think you get the point. Edgar wouldn't stomp him but he has answers for almost everything, and I would be very confident betting on him. He would have some rough moments, but I don't think Jones has the tools against someone like Edgar to keep it in-fighting or keep him at the cage (Edgar's cage generalship is a bit underrated, imo).

Jones' balance, speed, and strength are standout athletic traits he possesses relative to most other guys in MMA, but Edgar has dealt with guys who have similar advantages there (balance with Penn and Henderson, speed with Swanson, strength with Sherk or Maynard), though the combination of those three things would be a problem for certain positions. Of course, there isn't anybody like that among the heavier guys, and that overall skill-set has Edgar still as one of the 10 best p4p fighters (well he should be considered that), but Gustafsson is probably the closest to it. I still think him and Cormier have solid shots at beating Jones.

 

[Ghost in the Shell]

jones had to be seat belted to his hospital bed and hooked up to machines to stay alive after that fight

Guess who had an injury when they were supposed to fight again...

:redface:

 

[Kingief]

Sad to say, nobody @ LHW

 

[HuntersCreed]

Call me crazy, but I think whoever wins Gus/Johnson will beat Jones.

 

[Ghost in the Shell]

You're crazy

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

Cain is a chainsaw, people are forgetting how great he has looked in his career outside of the loss to JDS, which I think is clear now was a fluke and that the injury reports from Javier Mendes were accurate. To assume that Jones would beat him is hugely presumptuous, but isn't surprising on Sherdog since Jones just fought and Cain has been off for a while. Cain's size, strength, and pace would be a huge challenge for Jones, and to assume Jones vs. Cain would look like Jones vs. LHW Cormier is obtuse with a side of bananas.

 

[machomang]

Has anyone said palhares yet? A leg lock specialist might be Jones biggest hole.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Gus, Rumble and DC. DC could beat him in a rematch if he improves his cardio and can keep on him more. I would favor Gus in a rematch and Rumble's got a good skill set to beat him too but Gus is the only one I would favor over Jones.

 

[Da Killa]

I'd like to see someone with solid Muay Thai fight Jones.

 

[Cptn1NSAN0]

Nobody is beating Jones for a long long time.

 

[Cptn1NSAN0]

I'd like to see someone with solid Muay Thai fight Jones.

Remember what Jones did to (a younger, better) Rua?

 

[Bobo Boss]

I believe in the current LHW division only Gustafsson stands a chance.

 

[Da Killa]

Remember what Jones did to (a younger, better) Rua?

Hmmm maybe, Rua is just so old school though.

 

[JWtheKarateKid]

I know a lot of people believe Cain Valasquez can beat Jones and others still hold out hope for Jones/Gustafsson 2, and I agree it's certainly possible but now it seems just as possible Jones might be able to beat Valasquez and probably will beat Gus again.

What I'm curious about is who people think have the Skillset to beat Jon Jones right now if they were in the Light Heavyweight division. For example if Anthony Pettis was a 205 pounder does he have the skillset to beat Jones? Or if Mighty Mouse was a 205 pounder is his skillset what it would take to beat Jones?

Any fighter from any weight class even Heavyweights of course. Who if anyone do you believe has the skillset that it would take to beat Jon Jones?

the wasteland

 

[Captain_Dammitt]

Only the judges.

 

[nickdagger]

I think steve mazzagatti is quite strong against jones

I lol'd


Gus could do it, not sure about Rumble. DC could do it as well.

 

[jodyc81]

Alex and any top 5 heavyweight


Jones hates fighting people his own size, thats why he purposely picked DC when he had a choice, regardless of who's the more dangerous fighter. He feels safer when he looks down on his opponent.

This, gus ia similar size and had alot of success with his striking, as was shown on john's face after the fight, he swithed up his strikes and wrestling well.
Think John will be better prepared for Gus this time, saying hes going to be training between fight camps etc, Gus is obviously doing the same, bith tough and durable, i see another 5 round war.

 

[rush61]

Gus