Many followers are excited concerning the long-awaited return of former gentle heavyweight king Jon Jones, who will struggle for the primary time in three years at UFC 285 – as a heavyweight. Jones’ heavyweight debut might be for the undisputed HW title, when he takes on Ciryl Gane following champion Francis Ngannou’s exit from the promotion.
There was a whole lot of debate over whether or not Jones would be the identical efficient fighter with extra weight on his body. And ex-UFC fighter and present analyst Dan Hardy is among the many folks that aren’t positive that is is the most effective concept for Bones.
In a dialog with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Hardy expanded on what he feels the problems may be (transcribed by Junkie):
“We don’t know the way he’s going to carry out with the larger body. In fact he’s received the peak and attain for heavyweight – 84.5 inches. He might fairly simply develop into heavyweight, however then would he be the identical fighter he was at gentle heavyweight? The instances that he struggled at gentle heavyweight is when he was taking over somebody that had comparable bodily attributes. Keep in mind the primary Gustafsson struggle, that was very problematic for him to start with. Dominick Reyes was a ache for him at instances, and I really feel like Jon provides up a whole lot of his pure benefits that he had at gentle heavyweight when he strikes to heavyweight.”
“Like Ciryl Gane’s 6-4, 79-inch attain or one thing like that, nevertheless it’s gonna be similar to Jon Jones in ways in which say a Daniel Cormier wasn’t again at gentle heavyweight,” Hardy stated. “And the way in which Ciryl Gane strikes is like gentle heavyweights did when Jon Jones was champion – the higher ones. I believe that is going to be an actual problem for him, and it’s troublesome to form of image Jon Jones in a heavyweight body. What does he transfer like? What strategies has he deserted? Is he going to have nervousness related to as a result of now he appears like he fills up with lactate and his muscular tissues begin to burn?”
He continued on with the Gane comparisons, describing the previous interim champ as a fighter that mirrors Jones’ gentle heavyweight recreation planning:
“We all know how good Ciryl Gane is, and the rationale why he’s so good is as a result of he does a whole lot of issues Jon Jones did so properly at gentle heavyweight. I virtually assume it might have been simpler for Jones to tackle Ngannou, as a result of no less than you recognize what you’re getting. When he begins to maneuver, you bought to get out of the way in which. However Ciryl Gane by no means stops shifting, so you may’t all the time keep out of the way in which, and we’ve seen Jon Jones form of get outpointed a bit of bit at instances by those that have gotten a very good work price and an extended attain.”
UFC 285 goes down March 4th in T-Cellular Area in Vegas.
