UFC 145 - Jones v Evans

Whaaaaat???

No one is interested in this card??

What are your picks, ladies and gents?

Jon ‘‘Bones’’ Jones to win, though I’m not discounting the fact that he and Evans used to train together and, Rashad may have an idea of Jones’ weaknesses.

Anyway, I’m expecting Evans to be KOed by a flying knee strike… ehehehe… :slight_smile:

Other picks:

Rory Macdonald is DEMOLITION MAN. I really don’t see Mills winning that one.

Rothwell v Schaub is another fight I’m looking forward to. Both are powerful strikers but I’ve got a feeling that Schaub will take this one and only if Rothwell doesn’t manage to take him down quick and starts gassing out… I predict a great slugfest.

Torres and Alessio to win.

All Aboard the Shad War Wagon - Combat - Forums - T Nation :wink:

[quote]Khaine wrote:
All Aboard the Shad War Wagon - Combat - Forums - T Nation ;)[/quote]

Roger that! :slight_smile:

This has several elements that ought to make this an interesting fight. The former friends angle, and the teacher-student angle give it added intrigue. I think Jones is just too freaky an athlete. He is creative, and explosive and with such a reach advantage he will be able to chip away at Rashad. I’m hoping that the styles these two utilize make for a volatile mix. Rashad’s boxing and heavy hands, and Jones’ quickness and wildly unpredictable striking angles should equal one of them getting knocked out. I see Jones as the victor, but regardless it will certainly be interesting.

if you saw his fight against machina, jones was worried at the end of first round…i think as soon as machida was busted open and coudlnt see breathe the fight was lost. im not saying jones would not have won but i think it shows that hes not comfortable yet in situations where hes not in total control and dominating.

rashad is seriously fast and knows to get inside early, having trained with him he shouldnt be put off by the matrix movements. this could be really interesting but deep down i think jones will win.

betting on rashad with those odds though.

Jones has a big weakness…, cardio. Jones quickness and skinny legs mean that he won’t have anything for rashad if the fight goes to round three. So jones had better plan on ending the fight early or not at all.

Tales from the armchair, volume MCXXL…

I’m not a fan of either Evans nor Jones; I wasn’t rooting for either one. (This I do mean in a non-american, neutral way, ‘not a fan’ means simply: I have no strong feelings about those two)

Still a high calibre title fight between two great fighers, I was intrigued by the matchup, of course.

What always pains me, however, is to see an obvious failure of bringing an adequate gameplan to fruition.

And against Jones, you do NEED a decent one - he does, after all, pose a unique threat with his very unique, but deconstructable fighting approach.

Most recent opponents think they should out-counter him, and also within his own rythm.
There is enough octagon tape of him to throw that strategical notion out into the trashcan.
It’s getting laughable.

Jones is not unbeatable, other champions have shown less chinks in their armour.
He makes great use of the following things:

His reach, duh - but his boxing is not stellar. He can look good if he initiates or times a counter but if it gets dirty he always sticks to withdrawing.

His single direct attacks (JKD vernacular), his standing meat and bone, it settles his rythm and his confidence - opponents cannot let him establish that while waiting for counters.

His creativity - he throws some wild shit, some of which is garbage but as long as it throws people off it is brilliant. If you face Jones, hire a capoeira guy or pay the gym’s acrobat 20 bucks every time he connects with something weird. Opponents should immediately push forward after that stuff - when Jones throws weird shit he usually backs off and it’s more an ego and rythm booster.
Apart from the ellbows, of course…

The ellbows - learn to avoid or counter those. It was just stupid to ignore what Jones has already shown in past bouts when he was doing his HIA (again, Lee’s terms) -wristgrabbing followed by delivering the ellbow.
He has to set these things up, and his other go to ellbow move has already been deconstructed, so why didn’t Rashad do his homework?

Challengers should apply pressure the whole time, throwing combinations, finishing with low kicks occasionally and threatening with a takedown.

They can and should try to steal his confidence but not on his terms.
If Dan Henderson has a good gameplan and comes in shape (read, with maximum allowable testosterone in his veins;) he has a good chance.
But Jones’ coach will probably be smart as always and make his pupil establish takedowns early in the fight, making Hendo wary.

p.s.
in Rashad’s defense, he did well considering styles and the fact he survived being rattled numerous times.
p.p.s.
was Jones being a dick after the last bell, again? I’m starting to dislike him.

[quote]lumbernac wrote:
Jones has a big weakness…, cardio. Jones quickness and skinny legs mean that he won’t have anything for rashad if the fight goes to round three. So jones had better plan on ending the fight early or not at all.[/quote]

I wonder where you got the idea that Jones had questionable cardio? I never saw that in any of his fights.

I thought it was nice of Jones to give Evans a striking lesson last night.

[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:

If Dan Henderson has a good gameplan and comes in shape (read, with maximum allowable testosterone in his veins;) he has a good chance. [/quote]

I had to read the above twice because I thought you were kidding. I love Hendo he’s one of favorite fighters, but Jones is light years ahead of him in virtually every area except punching power. Sadly, Henderson will get destroyed.

I give him much credit for taking the shots that he did and continuing on. Jones hit him with some devastating elbows, among other things.

I must have missed that what did he do? I know he jumped around a lot and was really happy. I didn’t see much else. But then again I was stuffing my face with popcorn after the final bell.

If Hendo has a plan, he’ll do fine.

The constant pressure of getting your face bashed in is a curious thing, if applied stalwartly.
Henderson trusts his fistacular power like no other asset of his.
If he can converge effectively, he’ll have Jones run from him.

“give Evans a striking lesson” - without the range his striking is not spectacular by any means.
Like so many before him, Rashad looked like he was from another weight class which doesn’t impress me.

Let me recheck before commenting on that one.

Jones went to the same highschool I did - he was in 11th or 12th grade when I was in 9th. I met him a few times in the highschool weight room. It’s been cool to see him go so far but dang - I’ve been a long time fan of Rashad. It’s too bad Rashad didn’t pull it off. I don’t think I see him ever holding the title again.

I’ll be pulling for Hendo as well. I grew up watching him in PRIDE FC. I hope he shows up ready to throw that hammer of a fist. I’m not sure if Hendo stands a chance on the ground… Jones was a phenomenal wrestler.

I do go against the rest of town though - everybody here roots for Jones (as expected, really)- but I can’t abandon my loyalty to other fighters/heroes just cause Jones is from the same town as I!

[quote]ZEB wrote:

[quote]lumbernac wrote:
Jones has a big weakness…, cardio. Jones quickness and skinny legs mean that he won’t have anything for rashad if the fight goes to round three. So jones had better plan on ending the fight early or not at all.[/quote]

I wonder where you got the idea that Jones had questionable cardio? I never saw that in any of his fights.

I thought it was nice of Jones to give Evans a striking lesson last night.[/quote]

Mike Goldberg I am pretty sure commented that Jones trains at I think he said 9,000 feet, whereas Evans does cardio at sea level, and even he has no issues with endurance.

Edit: But man, I wanted to see a spectacular fucking knockout.

Edit again: shit, what is the latest news on Meisha Tate’s left elbow?

It’s fine. Just dislocated. Pop it back in, check it for bone spurs, and ice the fuck out of it.

Good fight. Jones really impressed me standing and exchanging in the pocket. Rashad had nothing for him after the 2nd. Shame…

I’m going to be rooting for Hendo-san because I desperately want to see Jones encounter significant adversity. Don’t think it’ll be much of a fight, objectively at least.

How do you guys think Chael Sonnen would do against Jones? Say we give him an extra inch of height and 10 more lbs? Does anyone here think his style, tight near-worldclass wrestling, constant pressure, sick top control, would match up well with Jones?

Maybe Silva, he is already 6’ 1’’ and walks around about 220lbs. He has already fought at 205lbs before (James Irvin he finished in 90 seconds.)

Silva would take Jones standing, in my very uneducated opinion. Will he fend off the takedown? hmmm

Jon gets a lot of takedowns from the fence and the clinch. Silva is strong in the clinch, but he’s in a division with a dearth of quality wrestlers. There’s Chael, who managed a takedown or two against the fence, and there’s Okami, who didn’t. If Jon can get that takedown consistently, it’ll be a long night for Ando.

I don’t see Jones having any competition until he goes to a higher weight class. I also haven’t seen any weaknesses. Stand-up/ take downs, speed, technique creativity… it’s all there. I would never admit this in person because he annoys the shit out of me, but at his weight class he’s the perfect warrior.

Some people have touched on this…while others are missing it…but I think JBJ’s only glaring weakness is his boxing…exchanges in the pocket. But he makes up for it with his straight line attacks and crazy reach. Granted…his opponents(Rashad being a huge example) choose to make it easy for JBJ by playing patty-cake in his range.

I’ve heard it but I just don’t see that as Jones weakness. I see it more as something he hasn’t displayed yet. People have stated different weaknesses for him since his first fight but whenever he’s needed that it ended up not being a weakness. He seems to use the right tool for the job, the only reason for him to fight in the pocket would be to either prove everybody wrong or if somebody can get there. Nobody can get there so can we really say he’s weak in the pocket? And honestly I haven’t seen any great pocket boxers in MMA, and none that I would think are better then him.

[quote]Airtruth wrote:
I’ve heard it but I just don’t see that as Jones weakness. I see it more as something he hasn’t displayed yet. People have stated different weaknesses for him since his first fight but whenever he’s needed that it ended up not being a weakness. He seems to use the right tool for the job, the only reason for him to fight in the pocket would be to either prove everybody wrong or if somebody can get there. Nobody can get there so can we really say he’s weak in the pocket? And honestly I haven’t seen any great pocket boxers in MMA, and none that I would think are better then him.[/quote]

He trains with quite a few actually…so maybe he does have the ability…who knows. I’m not just talking trading in the pocket alone…but he “one-times” quite a bit for someone with his range. Showed that a bit with Rashad…for whatever reason. I do know JBJ has stated that his BJJ is his weakness. I assume he’s referring to is his bottom game…because his top game is legit,imo.

But back to the boxing,pocket,etc…he truly does know how to use his range better than most…but wish he would take advantage of it a little more with his hands. I would like to see how he fairs against someone who truly knows how to pressure,and use head movement…all without being at a huge reach/height deficit. Gustaffson,maybe…

[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
If Hendo has a plan, he’ll do fine.

The constant pressure of getting your face bashed in is a curious thing, if applied stalwartly.
Henderson trusts his fistacular power like no other asset of his.
If he can converge effectively, he’ll have Jones run from him.[/quote]

You know I wish that were true. But there isn’t much Hendo will be able to do to Jones. He can’t catch him, and he will spend most of the night as a live punching bag regardless of his plan. I think Evans is a better striker than Hendo (not power puncher) and he really had no chance.

I always like it when someone doesn’t like a fighter and uses anything to belittle him. "Without his speed…his power…his “range.”

Well…yeah without his range, but here’s the thing…He has range! And he uses it really well to his advantage.

I usually like your analysis but you’re off base with that one.

It impresses me. A fighter is supposed to fight at a weight that will be most advantageous to him. And Bones is a mighty tall LH. Whereas evans at 5’ 11" is one of the shortest. And he paid for that in the fight with Jones.

[quote] what did he do?[after the bell
Let me recheck before commenting on that one.
[/quote]

Yeah let me know because I didn’t see anything bad.