How would Strikeforce's Lightheavy weights fare against Jon Jones?
Posted on March 30, 2011, 06:27 AM by Daniel CassidyWith the recent announcement of Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce, fans have speculated over how the merger will eventually work, despite Dana White promising "business as usual". With the announcement, every dream match up comes a step closer to reality. Now instead of fans asking if two fighters will ever fight, we are wondering WHEN we get to see these fights under the Zuffa banner.
Following on from his sheer destruction of now Former UFC Champion and PRIDE legend, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, fans and writers alike are left scratching their heads as to who could give the new Lightheavy Weight Champion a run for his money. At just 23 years of age, Jones has shown very few chinks in his armour. With a future bout with former Greg Jackson team mate Rashad Evans lined up, if "Suga" joins the likes of Shogun is falling to "Bones", who then is left? Rampage Jackson, despite having killer hands, has been shown to struggle against wrestlers. Randy Couture, despite being so well rounded, is 47 years old. Lyoto Machida might have an elusiveness that could trouble Jones, but ultimately would fall in similar fashion. Even Phil Davis proved this weekend that despite having such a high level of wrestling, he still needs to make big adjustments to his MMA game to be considered a worthy challenger.
So with the UFC division, in my humble opinion at least, struggling to find an answer to the Jon Jones enigma, perhaps newly acquired Strikeforce could provide some worthy challengers for Jones?
Despite being 40 years old, Rings, UFC, PRIDE and now Strikeforce legend Dan Henderson proved just a few weeks ago that he has what it takes to hang with todays top tier of Lightheavy weights. Weathering an early storm, Hendo put his Olympic calibre wrestling to good use to wear down Feijao Cavalcante is their bout at the start of March. Henderson proved that his skill set is still dangerous inside the cage. He proved many doubters wrong, especially when he was written off following a loss to Jake Shields at Middleweight. He then made the right decision to once again move to Lightheavy weight, where he demolished "Babalu", before he faced Cavalcante for the title.
In a bout against the UFC Champ, Jones would no doubt struggle with Henderson's wrestling. He may have faced Ryan Bader, but has never faced anyone with the wrestling quality of Henderson. As well as this, he is known for what Mauro Ranallo calls "The H-Bomb". Alongside his heavy hands and wrestling skills, Hendo has never once, in his 35 fight career been knocked out.
"King Mo" Lawal is a similar fighter to Henderson, albeit with a few differences. Like the veteran, Lawal is known for his wrestling credentials, coupled with massive knockout power. Lawal holds a disturbingly large number of wrestling awards, and is regarded as one of the best wrestlers in MMA today. At 30 years old, no longer regarded as a prospect, Mo has had 8 fights, only losing by KO against Feijao Cavalcante in an upset. In his past bouts Mo has used his superior wrestling to wear down his opponents, including a dominating 5 round decision over Gegard Mousasi. In his first MMA fight, he faced veteran Travis Wiuff, and knocked him out in the first round. Of his 7 wins, only two come from decision, while 4 of his knockout wins have come in the first round.
Against Jones, Lawal would have the options of trying to wrestle of strike, giving him an edge in unpredictability. I have no doubt that the NCAA champ would have little problems putting Jones on his back, and proved against Mousasi, that he has no problem keeping an opponent there.
At just 25, the Dutch-Armenian has fought a very impressive 34 fights, with 30 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. Already a veteran by those standards, despite his young age, Mousasi has a definite edge against most opponents he will ever face. Skilled with submissions as well as on his feet, and holds a variety of title belts. He is the DREAM Middleweight and Lightheavy weight Champ, and Former Strikeforce Lightheavy weight Champion. He most recently proved his stand up skills were on par with K1 levels, when he defeated K1 stand out Kayataro.
In a fight with Jones, while Mousasi might have the better striking, he proved he struggles against wrestlers, and that could be a big factor. If he could keep it standing, I would favour Mousasi, but as soon as it goes to the ground the fight would be all Jones.
Training out of Black House is a big thing in MMA, and the world renowned training camp would no doubt have the Former Strikeforce Champion well prepared for a bout against Jones. With a record of 10-3, Feijao might not seem out of the ordinary, especially given he has lost against Mike Kyle via KO, but make no mistake, he is a master of the clinch, and possesses sledgehammer like hands, seen in his loss against Dan Henderson, where he dropped his opponent. He troubled the veteran a number of times before succumbing to a trademark "H-Bomb" in the third round. Using his vicious Muay Thai skills, Feijao broke King Mo in two, displaying his exceptional clinch work, and knocking out an opponent who has never been beat.
In a potential fight with Jones, Feijao has proved time and time again that he has extreme power is his hands, and on the right day could stop anyone. However, with Jones' reach and power, he could struggle to use his clinch to full effect. While he has a decent chance, Jones would be too well rounded for Feijao, unless Cavalcante can keep it standing, where he could trouble Bones.
Call this one the wild card, if you will. While his stand up credentials are sub par, he has an array of submission skills that could tap out almost any MMA fighter on the planet. Multi time ADCC Champion, Gracie is arguably the greatest grappler still active in the world. Currently 4-0 in his MMA career, the Strikeforce Lightheavy weight has won all four fights by submission, his last 3 by rear naked choke.
If he were to be paired with Jones,I have no doubt he would been picked apart in the stand up, and would struggle to take down Jones. But, and it's a big but, if the fight hit the matt, Roger would easily tap out Jones.
Image Source: Tracy Lee | Yahoo Sports
Comments
Most of the wrestlers that have out wrestled Hendo were freestyle wrestlers. Jones is a Greaco-Roman wrestler like Hendo. I actually think that Hendo might match up better with Jones than anyone else because I believe him to be the better Greaco-Roman wrestler.
Anyone else in SF. I think Machida is the worst LHW for him.
Let's not get too excited yet folks. I personally would want to see him defend the title once before we start looking into other organizations for an opponent. Jones still has to go through Rampage and Evans. The top two contenders of the light heavyweight division.
IF, though, the UFC were to bring in only two new threats. I would select Gegard Mousasi and Roger Gracie to be those threats.
Mousasi has world class Boxing and Kickboxing to go along with his Judo/Sambo base. He is quite similiar to Shogun's style but Gegard's style is more technical. Let's not even overlook his ground and pound, it's like a damn machine gun going to work on Allied troops storming the beach on D-Day.
Roger Gracie is more than likely the future of the light heavyweight division. His BJJ is phenomenal. He's labeled as 'The Greatest Grappler in the World." All he needs to do is work on developing his wrestling and striking, and everything else will fall into place. NO ONE wants to take the fight to the ground with Roger, and that includes Jones. Unlike Shogun, Jones will not have the size advantage in this match up.
Good call on Roger. He would be scary for Jones on the ground. That said I don't see him getting Jones to the ground.
It's almost impossible to be "realistic" about the outcomes of these fights. It's mere speculation based on small sample evidences. Most of the fighters in question (including Jones) haven't been fighting top competition for long and haven't experienced a variety in match-ups against top competition.
Is Jon Jones amazing? Yes. Is he beatable? Most likely.
You can't discount fighters because of one fight they had in their past. A part of being a great fighter is being consistent, which is hard to do. I feel like everybody is completely writing off the entire LHW division's chances of beating Jones. It's insanity! The only people that are being given a chance are guys who are unproven (but talented) up and comers. Phil Davis was the guy, then he had a not-so-impressive performance against Lil Nog, now he is years away. Now its Roger Gracie, who again is unproven in MMA, but very talented and has great BJJ credentials (as does Davis in wrestling). I'll withhold judgment on Roger until i see him beat a top 10 guy with good TD defense. In MMA, you have to earn your reputation / respect based on your fighting results, not your talent or potential.
Hendo - interesting matchup. He is a different type of wreslter than the guys Jones has faced. He has never been KO/TKO'ed, and that right hand can end a fight at any moment. He was out wrestled by Rampage though, thats a fact that can't be denied. Even if he avoided being taken down and secured some of his own TD's, I don't know if he could finish Jones in time to be taken down or rocked himself. I don't like his chances.
Mo - I'll wait till I see the Rashad fight first, that will tell alot about this matchup. Plus what has been said above is accurate.
Gegard - He has proven that he can avoid damage well off his back. I don't think Jones could ragdoll him like he has others, Gegard has excellent Judo. It would be a matter of avoiding being finished on the ground, a landing a well timed, well placed strike, which is possible.
Mike Kyle - I second Edub's statement.
I still believe Machida is the most interesting matchup, but we might have to wait 3 fights (for Jones) till we see that one if things go as expected.
I think that if Machida beats Couture he will probably have one more fight for a shot at the title.
In my opinion, Shogun is still the #1 threat in the UFC LHW division. Sure, Rua is probably a year away from getting another title shot (in the range of possibly two fights) but I think if Shogun is able to stay healthy and improve his TDD, then Jones could see himself lose to the guy he destroyed the first time around.
Machida, indeed, is a very interesting match up for Jones but I've lost alot of faith in his abilities. After losing to Mauricio, Lyoto seemed to be a little gun shy against Rampage. We'll see how he handles Couture, if he doesn't beat him convincingly then he will never be ready for Jones.
Agreed about Shogun. According to the man himself, after getting hit with that first flying knee, he was already out of the fight. This could play as an advantage if they meet up in the future. Jones could be a little too confident or a little too comfortable. The only thing I fear (for Shogun) is that Jones is continuing to grow into his body, and his base may be even harder to handle for Shogun off his back. It's foolish to write someone as well-rounded and talented as Shogun off (which alot of people are doing), but still, on paper, Jon Jones will always be a tough match-up for him. I do see Rua getting back to a #1 contender status within the year, but he may not even be fighting Jones at that time.
That being said I still believe Shogun can beat Jones. He needs to work mad cardio, muscle endurance, and wrestle wrestle wrestle, and work off his back with heavyweights ontop of him.
Couldn't agree more.
Shogun has had inconsistant stamina/cardio but that can't really be proven considering Rua's less than stellar performances have been tied to his knee injuries. In addition, Rua's mother was a marathon runner, Mauricio was running three miles a day by the age of 10.
Personally, I think he should hire a strength and conditioning coach and train at a wrestling base camp like AKA or Tristar. Because you're right, I fear the exact same thing. Jones is only getting started.
And seeing how stacked the LHW division is, it is more than possible that when Rua is once again the #1 contender, Jones may not be the champion.
I believe in a Mousasi with good takedown defense in the future. That is the guy to beat Jones.
I don't see Machida against Jones anytime soon after 2 back to back losses but I would like to see him try his luck against the champ. I just love to see Machida fight. Big fan.
they should go to the doctor and take better care of themselves in the future.