UFC 285 Beforemath: Will Jon Jones Become the Next Georges St. Pierre?
He is competing not only with Gane but with the great Georges St-Pierre at UFC 285.
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We know Gane has a massive hole in his game when it comes to grappling. While he was exhausted in the latter rounds against Ngannou, he still was taken down pretty easily. Gane managed to avoid wrestlers like Curtis Blaydesand Alexander Romanov coming up, so when he was tested for the first real time against Ngannou, he crumbled under pressure. This will have Jones licking his chops to get his hands on Gane.
Daniel Cormier was the biggest takedown threat and defensive grappler Jones ever fought. In their first fight, (1) Jones managed to get in on a shot and press Cormier to the fence. Jones grabs Cormier’s collar, and the American Kickboxing Academy rep makes the mistake of not pummeling and grabbing the under hook to pull up an eventual shot from Jones. Of course, (2) Jones does shoot and gets his hands locked behind Cormier’s legs, right under his rear, to scoop and slam. Notice how Jones presses into Cormier’s hips, preventing the pummel with his shoulders. “DC” didn’t have the thought to go behind the legs and peel Jones off while he was in the heat of the moment. (3) Jones will scoop up Cormier and (4) slam him on to the mat.
Lastly, with the threat of the takedown established, Jones can add a layer to the game by using those brutal elbows with which he’s so effective. By having Gane think “takedown” when clinched against the fence, Jones will be open to land these elbows easier. This is a form of misdirection, and Jones is masterful at it.
Going all the way back to the start of his reign, Jones would have a magnificent display of the use of the spinning back elbow against Mauricio Rua. After grappling “Shogun” to death for two rounds, (1) Jones pressed him against the fence. Rua grabs at Jones’ wrist. Unlike Gane’s elbow from earlier, Jones doesn’t mind the hand being controlled. He is planning to strike with the other elbow and come around the side. (2) He will pull Rua’s hand down with his right, which creates a lane for the spinning back elbow. With Rua’s left hand down, Jones spins the body with full torque and (3) lands the brutal spinning back elbow.
Threatening the take down will have Gane thinking about his takedown defense instead of the oncoming strikes, like Jones had “Shogun” thinking. I look for Jones to land more of these later in the fight and start to pour the damage on late should the fight go on that long.