Who would win in a Jon vs Alex fight?

[djacobox372]

Alex is like a smaller, older, less creative version of Gane.

 

[AstralPanda]

Periera by showing up. Jones just wants to fight washed up Stipe. He ain't fighting someone like Poatan or Aspinall.

I believe he called out / hyped up a fight with Poatan earlier this year.

He wouldn't fight Aspinall just because it's a huge pay cut to fight someone with no marketability. You aren't taking a fight like that in your last fight ever.

Nor would the UFC opt for their biggest star outside of Conor to do it. They're going to want to make as much money, and as big of an event as possible.

Given that, Poatan is gonna be the only option.

A champ vs champ bout against Jones is the biggest fight that can be made in the sport, Jones has a much bigger piece of the pie now, so I wouldn't be surprised if it happens.

 

[jeff7b9]

He wouldn't fight Aspinall

nope

A champ vs champ bout against Jones is the biggest fight that can be made in the sport

If only there was a heavyweight champ who could bring a belt to that party....

Hmm.... but who though?

 

[SuperAlly]

Jones would do what he did to Gane

Worse maybe

 

[JBJ was here]

It would look alot like the Gane fight

My thought exactly. What does Poatan have to stop Jones from doing exactly what he did to Gane? Jones saw the left cross coming, ducked under and to Gane's left for the takedown, safely away from the punch and the knee (it really was a beautiful takedown, a textbook example of how it should be done), then dominated into a submission on the ground. Jones isn't going to give Poatan the opportunity for a KO on the takedown attempt; he's too good for that.

Sure, Poatan could catch Jon standing, but no one else has even significantly rocked Jones, i.e., no one has landed a punch on Jones that if landed by Poatan would have had a good chance of knocking Jones out, or even down. Jones' defensive body and head movement are just too good combined with his distance/position control as enacted through reach, jabs, and teeps.

Poatan's best bet against Jon would probably be to maximize cardio, point fight at volume, and do everything he can to keep the takedown out of play, looking for the decision. Be his best version of Max Holloway for a night. That's really where Jon has struggled, relatively speaking, in the past. Next best chance is to risk himself in the clinch, where Jon still has the upper hand but Poatan will have significantly better opportunity to negate Jon's defense.

 

[rjmbrd]

At LHW I am easily picking Alex at this point.

Look at Jones' last few performances there and the caliber guys he was seriously struggling with. Poatan is not a free tap and is a competent counter grappler now. Jon will eye poke and wrestle but he's going to sleep if he fights Alex.

At heavyweight? Maybe a pick-em for me. Jon has already gone through a camp and fight carrying the extra weight, makes a big difference.

 

[Nobru]

Jones is a shadow of who he was.
If this fight is usada approved, Alex most likely beats him imho

 

[Chomsky Honk]

I think Jon football tackles him and chokes him out in 1 round but I would be insanely excited to see them fight. Jon won't do it though.

 

[icemun]

The whole world watched him lose to Reyes

 

[JBJ was here]

The whole world watched him lose to Reyes

The whole world saw Reyes throw mostly high volume / low percentage for three rounds, land a bunch of glancing shit that did no damage, take some hard shots, then gas in the championship rounds. The very fact that he gassed badly (gassing is progress towards your opponent finishing the fight and is damage every bit as much as bruises, welts, cuts, etc.) and Jones neither gassed nor was hurt is all the proof you need to know that Jones did more actual damage in those first three rounds.

 

[filthybliss]

I look at Jon Jones tendencies and habits and feel like this is more than an "adjustment" and really along the lines of scrap the whole thing down to the foundation and re-write the code from scratch.

Which is quite the trick to pull of for an old dog.

Jon LOVES his stiff arm frame. That stands out to me as his "bread and butter" defense and I can see Alex punishing that BADLY.

(I will give credit that Jon is fairly disciplined about keeping his rear hand up on his face during exchanges.
That is something and not insignificant.)

Jon's primary tool for controlling distance is his leg kicks, specifically his oblique kick, his lead leg low sidekick.
Those are very slow weapons compared to Alex's low kicks.

Do you see Jon winning the low kick battle?

Do you see Jon out jabbing Alex?

How does Jon control range?

____

I'm thinking in terms of specifically what tools each man brings, and I don't see Jon doing well on the feet AT ALL.

Valid points, but you also have to consider how Alex is on the ground. If Izzy can challenge him in that position, I don't think he would fare well against Jones.

Jones' striking has shown to be more effective than Alex's grappling.

 

[Cobra 03]

The whole world watched him lose to Reyes

What does the record book say? That's all that will matter 20 years from now.

 

[CombatCyborg]

Jon is heavily favoured. Alex may be very strong and hard to hold down, and Jon couldn't hold down Gus in their first fight or Reyes, but Alex hasn't fought anyone as good at wrestling as Jon. And Jon's not the type of fighter to screw around, he will make a gameplan to fight on the ground and then execute it. And actually he will have to, because he'd get hurt really bad on the feet.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Jon fucks him up if he takes him down quick & early

 

[theleerygoose]

Jon’s bad stylistically. Jon by wrestlefuck.

 

[fortheo]

I'd love to pick Alex, but it's hard to have any confidence in him stopping jon's takedowns. there's a big difference in takedowns from legit takedown artists, as opposed to stopping takedows by guys like Jiri and Jan.

 

[Domitian]

Jon should win in theory, but how well can he wrestle now after that major injury he just suffered that set him back?

It's 100% a fight I would love to see.

 

[Captain Herb]

Before or after Tom knocks him into next Tuesday?

 

[Captain Herb]

Jones for sure, like Alex could catch him since he's great at setting traps but I feel like it would play out very similar to the Jones/Gane fight....
There's just a path of least resistance there for Jones by wrestling Pereira and I think he'll be able to lock that part of his game in quickly if this bout happened

Let's be clear. The only way Jon ever wins a HW flight is through grappling. We've been saying this for 3 years. He absolutely needs to fight people who cannot grapple. Alex is potentially that person

 

[GriffinLHWChamp]

Jones for sure, like Alex could catch him since he's great at setting traps but I feel like it would play out very similar to the Jones/Gane fight....
There's just a path of least resistance there for Jones by wrestling Pereira and I think he'll be able to lock that part of his game in quickly if this bout happened

Jones in his prime probably but the Jones ive seen of late is somewhat vulnerable.