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Great minds think alike. Looked like DC was a little gassed/hurt by 4:5 and took a lot of breaks.
Jones elbows and knees to the body did a lot of damage that built up.
After pause for the eyepoke, it looked like jones was limping a little from DC leg kick. Wonder if that's something he might have an angle on.
I think you have to also give a lot of credit to Jackson and Winklejohn, who out coached Crazy Bob Cook and Mendez from the time the fight was announced until the final bell. I think DC is capable of performing much better than he did in the first fight, and I'm not one of those people who thinks Jones will be even greater coming off of a layoff, pumping iron, and not snorting rails in between camps. I think Jones was already good enough and strong enough to continue his dominant reign at 205, and the only advantage I can see as far as adding bulk goes would come into play when he finally decides to move up to heavyweight.
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What worries me was DC's movement. I say this because JJ was throwing a lot of singular strikes, DC backed off/avoided but then just went directly back to the same spot. I would HOPE DC shows much more lateral movement and Tyson-like inside slips and feints to get within range.
Armchair quarterbacking at its best over here, could some pro-fighters weigh in on this please?
Armchair quarterbacking at its best over here, could some pro-fighters weigh in on this please?
Here's my two cents.
If this fight is anything like the last it will be won or lost by either men in Clinch work and closing the distance with a few caveats on either side for each guy which I'll get into later.
What really made the difference last fight to me was Jones' head position in the clinch, and his dominance in the over under, and traditional tie up position. Jones was able to land elbows and good shots because he had DC exposed with his dominant head position. This coupled with his length lead to a dominating performance for most of the rounds. Now DC shined in the clinch on a few occasions, primarily in the second round when he was able to land uppercuts for the tie up consistently while avoiding the elbows of Jones. He really lit Jones up hard a few times, and made him back up and clinch. Outside of the second round DC would land good uppercuts to the head and body on occasion but not as consistently as Jones would land his elbows, shoulders, and body shots.
Now when it came to forcing the clinch, it was primarily Jones that was initiating the clinch, and it happened almost the same way every time. DC would start to put on a flurry, forcing Jones to clinch to re-control the action, or Jones would bait DC in by backing up almost to the fence then planting his feet and connecting with a cross, a combo, or an elbow. So going into the next fight I think Jones needs to explore more setups for the clinch, as well as develop his jab. DC needs to work on his head movement as he comes in which will allow him to slip the strikes of Jones and force the clinch himself rather than allow Jones to initiate.
So in my book here are the key points for Jones:
Work the jab.
More setups for clinching.
Work his BJJ off his back.
In the fight he needs to replicate what he did last time with the takedowns and strikes from the clinch, but he also needs to remember he's the taller and longer fighter. He doesn't need to play the clinch game, he can keep the distance and strike DC without getting caught.
DC needs to work the following in camp:
His Greco.
Relentless cardio like Cain.
Head movement.
BJJ on top and off his back.
DC can win this fight if he turns it into a brawl and pushes the pace. You could see glimpses of it in the first fight but Jones did not like being backed up and hit by DC. DC also needs to realize it's an MMA fight if he focuses on making it a wrestling match he'll lose because Jones is too good at mixing up his attacks with all the disciplines. If he gets on top of Jones I think his best way of ending the fight is with a submission, we know Jones doesn't train those as much as he does everything else.
I'm going to rewatch the DC/Rumble and DC/Gus fights before I make any picks on the fight though.
Again just what I saw, but what do I know those guys are phenomenal.
If this fight is anything like the last it will be won or lost by either men in Clinch work and closing the distance with a few caveats on either side for each guy which I'll get into later.
What really made the difference last fight to me was Jones' head position in the clinch, and his dominance in the over under, and traditional tie up position. Jones was able to land elbows and good shots because he had DC exposed with his dominant head position. This coupled with his length lead to a dominating performance for most of the rounds. Now DC shined in the clinch on a few occasions, primarily in the second round when he was able to land uppercuts for the tie up consistently while avoiding the elbows of Jones. He really lit Jones up hard a few times, and made him back up and clinch. Outside of the second round DC would land good uppercuts to the head and body on occasion but not as consistently as Jones would land his elbows, shoulders, and body shots.
Now when it came to forcing the clinch, it was primarily Jones that was initiating the clinch, and it happened almost the same way every time. DC would start to put on a flurry, forcing Jones to clinch to re-control the action, or Jones would bait DC in by backing up almost to the fence then planting his feet and connecting with a cross, a combo, or an elbow. So going into the next fight I think Jones needs to explore more setups for the clinch, as well as develop his jab. DC needs to work on his head movement as he comes in which will allow him to slip the strikes of Jones and force the clinch himself rather than allow Jones to initiate.
So in my book here are the key points for Jones:
Work the jab.
More setups for clinching.
Work his BJJ off his back.
In the fight he needs to replicate what he did last time with the takedowns and strikes from the clinch, but he also needs to remember he's the taller and longer fighter. He doesn't need to play the clinch game, he can keep the distance and strike DC without getting caught.
DC needs to work the following in camp:
His Greco.
Relentless cardio like Cain.
Head movement.
BJJ on top and off his back.
DC can win this fight if he turns it into a brawl and pushes the pace. You could see glimpses of it in the first fight but Jones did not like being backed up and hit by DC. DC also needs to realize it's an MMA fight if he focuses on making it a wrestling match he'll lose because Jones is too good at mixing up his attacks with all the disciplines. If he gets on top of Jones I think his best way of ending the fight is with a submission, we know Jones doesn't train those as much as he does everything else.
I'm going to rewatch the DC/Rumble and DC/Gus fights before I make any picks on the fight though.
Again just what I saw, but what do I know those guys are phenomenal.
So after re-watching DC vs Gus I have some more points to make for both guys.
Jones should definitely watch this fight and look at how Gus was able to keep the distance effectively for portions of this fight. I'm not a fan of the back peddling but the biggest difference between how Gus moved away and Jon moved away was Jones moved straight back and Gus moved back and to a side, along with good side to side movement. So if Jones can add that to his game plan this fight I think it will make a huge differences as Jon has more tools in his striking arsenal as compared to Gus.
Along with the movement if Jon is more persistent on the takedown I believe he'll have great success, this could be added into the back peddle and plant he did in the first DC fight, instead of throwing a cross he can shoot a takedown.
Now DC was a lot more dominant in this fight with Gus than I remembered, aside from Gus getting two takedowns and the knee that dropped him I thought DC easily won three rounds. His pressure was something that really worked for him and I think he can replicate that in the second Jones fight, as I mentioned above he needs to make it a brawl.
DC did a lot well in the Gus fight, but I'd like to see him continue to use leg kicks. They were effective in the first round, and then he seemed to abandon them, similar to the Jones fight. His striking looked pretty solid but something I noticed was DC continues to slip to the power side of Gus rather than away from it. This could be troublesome when he fights someone with power like we saw with Rumble. Honestly Jones doesn't have that kind of power so it's not critical but it would help him take less damage. Another big thing that DC should do is channel his inner Black Fedor and throw some more of those wild hooks. They worked for him at heavyweight, and they worked for him in some fights at LHW. This will help him close the distance, and if he can couple that with good head movement he will do great. Finally DC should go to the body more, he's already at about body height on both Jones and Gus, and we saw him work the body a little in the Gus fight with good effects. This will help drain Jones and tire him out.
My pick for this fight is probably DC if he trains the correct way. I don't think the time off will help Jones as much as people think, and I think the added muscle mass and weight will slow him down. DC was already faster than Jones in the first bout so if Jones loses any more speed it could be devastating.
Jones should definitely watch this fight and look at how Gus was able to keep the distance effectively for portions of this fight. I'm not a fan of the back peddling but the biggest difference between how Gus moved away and Jon moved away was Jones moved straight back and Gus moved back and to a side, along with good side to side movement. So if Jones can add that to his game plan this fight I think it will make a huge differences as Jon has more tools in his striking arsenal as compared to Gus.
Along with the movement if Jon is more persistent on the takedown I believe he'll have great success, this could be added into the back peddle and plant he did in the first DC fight, instead of throwing a cross he can shoot a takedown.
Now DC was a lot more dominant in this fight with Gus than I remembered, aside from Gus getting two takedowns and the knee that dropped him I thought DC easily won three rounds. His pressure was something that really worked for him and I think he can replicate that in the second Jones fight, as I mentioned above he needs to make it a brawl.
DC did a lot well in the Gus fight, but I'd like to see him continue to use leg kicks. They were effective in the first round, and then he seemed to abandon them, similar to the Jones fight. His striking looked pretty solid but something I noticed was DC continues to slip to the power side of Gus rather than away from it. This could be troublesome when he fights someone with power like we saw with Rumble. Honestly Jones doesn't have that kind of power so it's not critical but it would help him take less damage. Another big thing that DC should do is channel his inner Black Fedor and throw some more of those wild hooks. They worked for him at heavyweight, and they worked for him in some fights at LHW. This will help him close the distance, and if he can couple that with good head movement he will do great. Finally DC should go to the body more, he's already at about body height on both Jones and Gus, and we saw him work the body a little in the Gus fight with good effects. This will help drain Jones and tire him out.
My pick for this fight is probably DC if he trains the correct way. I don't think the time off will help Jones as much as people think, and I think the added muscle mass and weight will slow him down. DC was already faster than Jones in the first bout so if Jones loses any more speed it could be devastating.
DC is a great fighter and gave a good account of himself, but it was evident in the fight that he just wasn't in the same class as JJ, who is a true fight virtuoso. DC had a good 2nd round, but JJ was the one who was stronger in the championship rounds.
People say DC has changed and gotten better since then... I don't really see that. He's 37 years old, to me he's the same fighter he was in the first fight. If anything, he might even be worse due to another year of wear and tear at his age and an absolute war with Gustavson.
IMO the only way he wins this is if Jones has deteriorated since the first fight. That's his only hope, and it's a legitimate concern. Jon is coming off the biggest layoff of his career and all the legal stress that came with his stupid actions outside of the cage. Coming back straight into a fight with DC could be a mistake on Jon's part. Ideally, I think he should have had a tune-up first.
People say DC has changed and gotten better since then... I don't really see that. He's 37 years old, to me he's the same fighter he was in the first fight. If anything, he might even be worse due to another year of wear and tear at his age and an absolute war with Gustavson.
IMO the only way he wins this is if Jones has deteriorated since the first fight. That's his only hope, and it's a legitimate concern. Jon is coming off the biggest layoff of his career and all the legal stress that came with his stupid actions outside of the cage. Coming back straight into a fight with DC could be a mistake on Jon's part. Ideally, I think he should have had a tune-up first.
Great break downs
@Star-Lord
One of your points for DC I fully support is the use of the wild hooks to create some openings. If Jon does continue to move straight back again those flurries could be the best way to keep pressure up and look for openings to set up the clinch to uppercuts again or possible take downs. DC will have to have the best fight of his career to pull this off, so much depends on how Jon looks after his time away.
@Star-Lord One of your points for DC I fully support is the use of the wild hooks to create some openings. If Jon does continue to move straight back again those flurries could be the best way to keep pressure up and look for openings to set up the clinch to uppercuts again or possible take downs. DC will have to have the best fight of his career to pull this off, so much depends on how Jon looks after his time away.
Great break downs
One of your points for DC I fully support is the use of the wild hooks to create some openings. If Jon does continue to move straight back again those flurries could be the best way to keep pressure up and look for openings to set up the clinch to uppercuts again or possible take downs. DC will have to have the best fight of his career to pull this off, so much depends on how Jon looks after his time away.
The only reason I'm picking DC is because of the time off and muscle gain. I think Jones will be slower and the added muscle will wreck his cardio
I agree with the whole thing.
ideally Jones would take a tune up fight. but on the other hand his layoff is no longer than a lot of fighters take without having an epic hit and run felony charge.
I can see Jones striking from distance for a while, putting DC against the cage and taking him down. I bet he tries to stay away from the clinch when it isn't against the cage, because that's where DC did most of his damage the first fight. I wouldn't be shocked to see DC win but I definitely don't expect it.
I never got the whole "Jones took DC's soul" rhetoric that people were throwing around after that fight. I picked DC to win the first fight and I thought he was on his way to doing just that, but Jones dug deep and found a way to close it. After seeing DC struggle with Gus though after he destroyed AJ, the reach and size difference is clearly a factor in this fight. If you took that away, I'm not sure DC would even need to have a gameplan, he'd just win.
Jon Jones took more backward steps than an NFL cornerback in that first round. Rewatching it now...
Wow, 2nd round was even worse. At least you could make an argument Jones took round 1, can't do that with 2.
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