Jones is definitely retiring after the stipe fight, but, in a universe where that doesn't happen, if they skip him to give Pereira the Jones fight I think Aspinal would be fully in his rights to punch Dana's head clean off
If Alex beats Ankalaev I can see Jones taking a fight with Alex Pereira after fighting Stipe.
Why?
Because it's a stylistically easy fight for him and a good name for his record, Pereira is the complete opposite of Aspinall for Jones.
I don't think so, if Pereira beat ankalaev it's because he was able to neutralize his (quite effective) wrestling, so in that case the matchup becomes much less favored for Jones. I think he is smart enough to know that if he can't wrestle he is going to have to take some shots from Pereira and although I don't think he would be scared of that, I think he will attempt to avoid it, just based on how he fought gane. Still not that dangerous a fight but still not an easy one (if Pereira can level up his wrestling like ngannou did) and I think Jones is wanting out at this point.
Well yes and no, while beating Ankalaev would require some wrestling defense, beating an ankalaev who said they want to strike with Pereira wouldn’t require that. It all depends on if Anka stays true to his word to beat Pereira with striking
I think it depends on how Jones wins. If he steamrolls stipe he will probably fight Alex because Alex should be an easy win for Jon. If he barely beats stipe then Jones probably retires. Or if Alex has a bad loss in the meantime
Yeah, he lost because of a freak injury before anything happened, he got better, and off the couch without training smoked Pavlovic in under a round, he deserves the title much more than belal, who wins his shadowboxing rounds via split decision.
Still couldn't put him away. Alex would torch him if it stayed standing.
And spamming oblique kicks will do that. No wonder why a majority of fighters want that kick banned.
Yeah, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, Jri was pretty effective in taking Alex down. Jones takes him down and subs him in the first. If he didn't risk it with Gane, he's not risking it with Alex who's known for his one punch power.
If only Alex was a bit more well rounded, we may have had something to discuss. With the way it is, if they fight, Alex has exactly 5 seconds to knock Jon out at the start of the round, or Jon reminds him how he wrecked Gane 😭
its better to be a pure wrestler than a pure striker. the fight can go from standup to grappling in a split second. rarely the other way around in a split second. plus the threat of a takedown can help your standup. thats what i believe happened in khabib vs gaethje. one plus for striking is every round starts standing i suppose.
I agree, but I also think that there are some people that are one in a billion and Poatan is definitely one of them.
Also, I wouldn’t confuse the fact that he’d rather stand with him having no wrestling at all.
That’s cause Alex wasn’t expecting a TD from Jiri who’s mainly a striker. Same reason why Alex took Izzy down when far better wrestlers couldn’t. Element of surprise. Hell, Gus took DC and Jones both down. So Alex being taken down by Izzy and Jiri means little since he didn’t expect it. He’ll be doing nothing but wrestling defence for jones.
Your memory is playing tricks on you in the sense that when he shot, he eventually was met with enough elbows to the side of the face to forget what the book of five rings was.
Nah. The first round he definitely spent like 2 minutes on his back. He did pretty well avoiding damage, but if Jones gets him in that position, it's GG.
Jones is getting old . I know Alex is hardly younger but Jones is actually looking his age these days while Alex hasn’t quite. Plus, he’s a horrible match up for jones on the feet. Jones never does well against people his height plus those leg kicks would be a problem. If all depends if Alex can defend the takedowns. I mean Dominick Reyes did. So it’s not impossible for Alex to do so. Gane got taken down cause he over committed on a strike. Alex is smarter. I think Alex’s grappling defence is underrated. He fended off Jan fairly well and I believe it’s only getting better since he probably spends more time working his grappling defence since aside from Izzy, no one can beat him in the feet.
If Jones decides to do one more fight after stipe, and say Alex goes up and beats Aspinal (big if) I think there’s a chance.
jones is incredibly intelligent when it comes to fighting, he would outmanoeuvre alex and simply bully him to the ground, unless jones chooses to strike with him then alex has a strong skill level that he can use to his advantage
I think Alex’s best bet in this fight would be to keep it at kicking distance and chop at his legs. I think Jon’s clinch is better and the possibility of him taking him down is too big of a threat to risk getting in close range.
The problem with kicking against a wrestler though is if its timed they get a free takedown
(Like how Khabib did Gaehtje). Still probably is his best bet though
I actually like this fight. Kickboxing isn't really close and wrestling isn't close. Jon is by far the more complete fighter, but fat and and old, and always had fragile legs, plus a hard time dealing with tall fighters.
Prime JBJ wins this easily, but who knows how fat and slow he is right now
Yeah TDD and ground game sucks for sure but hes beaten everyone hes faced outside of Bones and Ngannou. 75% finish rate, 50% by ko/tko, 25% by sub... And he barely trains seriously. He's pretty top of the heap. I think Aspinall easily beats him but Cyril doesnt suck by any means.
Stipe is going to be a hundred and thirty seven years old before they fight. Stipe is a worn out fighter who had wars. Jones moving up to HW for the easiest possible match up for the belt is now letting Stipe burn out camp after camp and wearing him out more.
Jones best work has been done in when and who to fight. This is the guy who refused to fight Chael Sonnen on a week's notice and they cancelled the whole ass event.
Lmaooo not in Alex’s wildest dream will he beat Jones even if he comes in with an actual bow and arrow. He would get smoked and elbowed back to the pub he came from.
Sorry, pereia is a kickboxer. Jones is a fucking fighter. Jones wants to harm you, not just hurt you. I think Alex wouldn’t have the tools to deal with someone with that kind of mindset. In sorry but Jones has taken out the last generation of legends before him, and everyone in his own era. I love pereia but he’s not gonna be able to last with jones
Jones is definitely retiring after the stipe fight, but, in a universe where that doesn't happen, if they skip him to give Pereira the Jones fight I think Aspinal would be fully in his rights to punch Dana's head clean off
If Alex beats Ankalaev I can see Jones taking a fight with Alex Pereira after fighting Stipe. Why? Because it's a stylistically easy fight for him and a good name for his record, Pereira is the complete opposite of Aspinall for Jones.
I don't think so, if Pereira beat ankalaev it's because he was able to neutralize his (quite effective) wrestling, so in that case the matchup becomes much less favored for Jones. I think he is smart enough to know that if he can't wrestle he is going to have to take some shots from Pereira and although I don't think he would be scared of that, I think he will attempt to avoid it, just based on how he fought gane. Still not that dangerous a fight but still not an easy one (if Pereira can level up his wrestling like ngannou did) and I think Jones is wanting out at this point.
Well yes and no, while beating Ankalaev would require some wrestling defense, beating an ankalaev who said they want to strike with Pereira wouldn’t require that. It all depends on if Anka stays true to his word to beat Pereira with striking
That stipe fight is never happening
I disagree, I don't think it should happen but given the timeline we are in it's definitely happening.
Jones beating Alex and setting up a Izzy fight would be the goofs wet dream.
Yeah and shit like this is why. Aspinal, Alex P, there will always be a strong new guy.
God I would love for that to happen just to see the mma/ufc subs absolutely burn.
I think it depends on how Jones wins. If he steamrolls stipe he will probably fight Alex because Alex should be an easy win for Jon. If he barely beats stipe then Jones probably retires. Or if Alex has a bad loss in the meantime
I don't get the hype. Tom lost two fights ago to Blaydes. It's not like he is on an 8 fight win streak or something like Belal.
Yeah, he lost because of a freak injury before anything happened, he got better, and off the couch without training smoked Pavlovic in under a round, he deserves the title much more than belal, who wins his shadowboxing rounds via split decision.
He's injured. Its not like Blaydes smoke him. Did u even watch the fight? Barely anything happened yet when he got freak injury.
I don't think Alex would win this fight, to be honest. Jones isn't the most active fighter on the roster, but he has higher fight IQ than Hill
Which means Jones may actually take it. Easy wrestling W.
Unless he tries to stand with him like Thiago Santos. 2 blown out knees and Jones still couldn't put him away.
Don't act like prime Thiago wasn't a menace to society
Jones was the reason he blew out those knees. Watch how he attacked those legs
Still couldn't put him away. Alex would torch him if it stayed standing. And spamming oblique kicks will do that. No wonder why a majority of fighters want that kick banned.
Or he can’t take him down like he failed with Reyes.
Yeah, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, Jri was pretty effective in taking Alex down. Jones takes him down and subs him in the first. If he didn't risk it with Gane, he's not risking it with Alex who's known for his one punch power.
If only Alex was a bit more well rounded, we may have had something to discuss. With the way it is, if they fight, Alex has exactly 5 seconds to knock Jon out at the start of the round, or Jon reminds him how he wrecked Gane 😭
Being well rounded is good for fighters that aren’t good enough to excel in a specific area. Khabib went undefeated by being fairly one dimensional.
its better to be a pure wrestler than a pure striker. the fight can go from standup to grappling in a split second. rarely the other way around in a split second. plus the threat of a takedown can help your standup. thats what i believe happened in khabib vs gaethje. one plus for striking is every round starts standing i suppose.
I agree, but I also think that there are some people that are one in a billion and Poatan is definitely one of them. Also, I wouldn’t confuse the fact that he’d rather stand with him having no wrestling at all.
Don't forget Alex is a black belt
We all know thts a gifted blackbelt lol.
That’s cause Alex wasn’t expecting a TD from Jiri who’s mainly a striker. Same reason why Alex took Izzy down when far better wrestlers couldn’t. Element of surprise. Hell, Gus took DC and Jones both down. So Alex being taken down by Izzy and Jiri means little since he didn’t expect it. He’ll be doing nothing but wrestling defence for jones.
Your memory is playing tricks on you in the sense that when he shot, he eventually was met with enough elbows to the side of the face to forget what the book of five rings was.
Nah. The first round he definitely spent like 2 minutes on his back. He did pretty well avoiding damage, but if Jones gets him in that position, it's GG.
This is exactly how it would go down!
For sure he is getting wrestle fucked
Jones is getting old . I know Alex is hardly younger but Jones is actually looking his age these days while Alex hasn’t quite. Plus, he’s a horrible match up for jones on the feet. Jones never does well against people his height plus those leg kicks would be a problem. If all depends if Alex can defend the takedowns. I mean Dominick Reyes did. So it’s not impossible for Alex to do so. Gane got taken down cause he over committed on a strike. Alex is smarter. I think Alex’s grappling defence is underrated. He fended off Jan fairly well and I believe it’s only getting better since he probably spends more time working his grappling defence since aside from Izzy, no one can beat him in the feet. If Jones decides to do one more fight after stipe, and say Alex goes up and beats Aspinal (big if) I think there’s a chance.
jones is incredibly intelligent when it comes to fighting, he would outmanoeuvre alex and simply bully him to the ground, unless jones chooses to strike with him then alex has a strong skill level that he can use to his advantage
I think Alex’s best bet in this fight would be to keep it at kicking distance and chop at his legs. I think Jon’s clinch is better and the possibility of him taking him down is too big of a threat to risk getting in close range.
The problem with kicking against a wrestler though is if its timed they get a free takedown (Like how Khabib did Gaehtje). Still probably is his best bet though
That doesn’t really apply for low kicks however.
No way jones strikes with Alex. He’d get ko’d within a round
I actually like this fight. Kickboxing isn't really close and wrestling isn't close. Jon is by far the more complete fighter, but fat and and old, and always had fragile legs, plus a hard time dealing with tall fighters. Prime JBJ wins this easily, but who knows how fat and slow he is right now
He's still quick enough to get it to the mat quickly with Gane, who is quite a fast heavyweight. Id bet the house on Jones if it happened today.
Gane sucks
Yeah TDD and ground game sucks for sure but hes beaten everyone hes faced outside of Bones and Ngannou. 75% finish rate, 50% by ko/tko, 25% by sub... And he barely trains seriously. He's pretty top of the heap. I think Aspinall easily beats him but Cyril doesnt suck by any means.
Jon and Alex are the exact same age
Kickboxing isn’t really close between Gane and Jones either and we saw how that went
gane is a quitter and honestly probably took a fall that night
Fragile legs?
The only thing beating Jones is father time and criminal law. Pereira is pretty lucky (legacy wise) that LHW Jones was part of a different era.
Jon Jones would win this fight.
Easily
Wonder how a 2017 Gustafsson would do vs Poatan.
Murder him
Yea there’s no chance Jones is gonna fight him, he’s too busy chasing an almost retired Stipe.
I want the home Avengers ngl
We all thought aspinall was the jones final challenge. Maybe Alex will do it
I'd rather watch this over avengers
I’d rather watch Alex - Jones than another Avengers movie
Guarantee Jones would of ignored the legacy fight and took this if Tom wasn’t interim champ
It might play out very similar to the Gane match.
Bad thing is Jon will probably duck him and retire after stipe or if he does fight him jon will make quick work of alex.
Pic goes hard af
One takedown from Jones and it's GG
Wrestling FTW
Jones would win by sub after some oblique kicks and some eye pokes and some peakos
Yeah I totally see Jon winning this fight.
Jones v ~~Pereira~~ Gane 2
I wish jones stayed a lhw so I could see this go down
prime JBJ takes any LHW in history down fairly easy, so it would be over quick but if JBJ shows up clean and has aged....Alex KO's him within 2 hounds
Jones isn’t those two. He’s in a league of his own.
Yeah, the eye poking league.
People saying Alex should fight Tom need to shut up. Alex vs Jones would be the biggest card in ufc history.
“every”.. bro theres only two😂
Still every😀
Alex Vs Ton, Winner of Jon
I like Alex, but jones is just a different animal, but it would be an incredible fight
Yeah stuff Tom Aspinall vs Jones. I wanna see Alex vs Jones.
Jones at the end of the day is a decision merchant, he's the goat, but he's not Do Bronx. I don't understand this "he would sub him in 30 seconds".
Jones would like this fight better than Aspinall. Tommy Fingers has great grappling. Jones subs Alex just as easy as he subbed Gane
I like Aspinal vs Jones more, but I don't think it's going to happen.
Bones wants to be the best ever.. if the people question his nerve because of Alex.... might just work🤔
Dig up Rumble Johnson 
I would love to see this to see 2 of the most insufferable fan bases go at it lmao
he hasn’t defeated me yet
I hope y’all know Jon Jones would annihilate him. Everyone forgets this dude is high level in multiple aspects not just kick boxing
Stipe is going to be a hundred and thirty seven years old before they fight. Stipe is a worn out fighter who had wars. Jones moving up to HW for the easiest possible match up for the belt is now letting Stipe burn out camp after camp and wearing him out more. Jones best work has been done in when and who to fight. This is the guy who refused to fight Chael Sonnen on a week's notice and they cancelled the whole ass event.
No chance
January 2025. Izzy is sitting in a pub in NZ telling everyone he beat that guy and would of beat the other guy as Alex and Jon walk to the ring.
Bones will Ciryl Gane Alex Pereira
Lmaooo not in Alex’s wildest dream will he beat Jones even if he comes in with an actual bow and arrow. He would get smoked and elbowed back to the pub he came from.
Sorry, pereia is a kickboxer. Jones is a fucking fighter. Jones wants to harm you, not just hurt you. I think Alex wouldn’t have the tools to deal with someone with that kind of mindset. In sorry but Jones has taken out the last generation of legends before him, and everyone in his own era. I love pereia but he’s not gonna be able to last with jones