Coach: I don't think Anderson Silva would like to fight Jon Jones
Posted on September 27, 2011, 03:42 PM by Anton GurevichMike Winklejohn, Jon Jones' striking coach, discussed the learning curve of his product, as well as the potential superfight with the eternal UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva. According to Winklejohn, Jon Jones is not there just yet when it comes to KO power, but he's still much better than "The Spider" when it comes to "everything wrestling". Winklejohn also added, that stylistically Jon Jones is a bad match-up for Silva, who's well known for using his reach advantage to win fights.
Here's some bits of what Winklejohn said on Mauro Ranallo's "The MMA Show" (via FightOpinion):
MW: “You know what, I think with Anderson, Anderson is probably the best as far as the eyes going, watching an opponent and then knowing he can strike a certain time and put them on their ass. That’s what Anderson does and I think Jon’s getting there with his strikes. I think Jon’s much better, way past Anderson as far as wrestling skills go. With his stand-up I think Jon brings many more strikes to the table than Anderson has, a lot more variety. We’re just not there on a knockout type of shot, we’re going to get there pretty soon. We hurt Rampage many times during that fight with strikes, but we’re going to get there. We’re going to get those things fine-tuned. It’s just going to take just a little bit longer and we’ve only just begun. The future is definitely bright for Jon.”
MR: “What do you think about his learning curve right now? Where do you think he is?”
MW: “Oh, I think he’s there. You know what, down the road there’s no doubt he’s going to get some weight on and go to Heavyweight but he’s got a lot to do at Light Heavyweight. I don’t think Anderson would probably want that fight with Jon Jones. I think, you know, Anderson would use his length and pick his shot against people. With Jon coming in at so many different angles from a long range, I definitely don’t think that’s a good fight for Anderson. I think we’re here to stay in the Light Heavyweight division for a while and build a legend, something that hasn’t been done in a little bit of a while. The Light Heavyweight division has had a lot of turnover.”
UFC President Dana White recently suggested that Jon Jones will move up to Heavyweight, where he could test his skills against fighters such as Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Frank Mir. Following the victory over Rampage Jackson, Jones improved his MMA record to 14-1, with 8 KO/TKO and 4 Submission finishes. Jones' only loss is via a controversial DQ against Matt Hamill.
Comments
i realise hes jons manager so hes biased, and i realise jones is a phenomonal fighter with a bright future ahead of him, but i just cant get my head around how disrespectful this guy is being towards anderson and andersons abilities....i mean do people forget how unbelievable anderson silva is? he could be the greatest fighter we ever have the pleasure of watching, and we get comments like this? its crazy
Anderson vs GSP is the most logical superfight at a....catchweight. This is why:
1. Anderson used to fight at 168. Jones is almost a HW. GSP walks around at 188. Catch my drift...
2. Jon Jones has to beat Rashad and Machida before he is even close to clearing that division.
To add to that I think that all catchweight superfight should be in the lighter guy's favour. So Anderson should have to cut to 180 say or Jon Jones to 195. If that is not a feasible cut for the fighters then the fights should not happen. It is the most logical solution in my humble opinion...?
i agree, id rather watch GSP vs anderson that jones vs anderson right now.
yeah but that fight for GSP is a big thing Silva is huge compared to
GSP thats why GSP will want a great training to retrain his body to
put the weight on and stay fast , most the guys in the weight class
will be bigger....to keep changing your body is hard on your body
anderson is more a light heavyweight than GSP is a middleweight and by far. GSP walks on 188 but anderson walks on 220. GSP is 5 10" thats really small for a middleweight. anderson is way more bigger on gsp than jones is on him.
he should man up and try to beat someone like jones. if he wins that fight only then he could be considered the best of all times above fedor without a doubt. it will be a hard fight for anderson but if jones fights like he did with rampage i think he has a nice shot. if he fights like he did with shogun, matyushenko, vera and hammil in my opinion he has little chances on beating him. he will get destroyed on the ground
Why should A.S. go up and fight Jones, what about Jones dropping weight to fight the veteran or how about you suggest him to move up to heavyweight while you suggesting shit.
shit head!! AS has like 10 title defenses... jones only 1!! im sure that if jones has one day 6 title defenses he will try and go directly to a title shot at heavyweight. next time try harder on using your brain
here comes that infamous 'hype train'....jones is a fantastic fighter, sklls beyoned belief, but anderson is on another level. he toys with fighers like cat and mouse. its so satisfying as an MMA fan to see someone (jon jones) display mma skills in such an entertaining fashion like he does but to compare him to silva, already is madness. what happens is jones is caught by a flash knockout in his next fight? he will shatter down the rankings faster than ryan bader. rampage and shogun, sure, utterly impressive, but shogun looked flat and rampage....well hes never been the same rampage as we saw in the old days. im not a hater, i just think we need a little bit more time.
I suppose if Jones destroys Evans like he did Rua, Rampage and Bader, that some idiot will be saying Evans was overrated or past his best.
For the record, Rampage was in the best shape he has been for years. Watch the interviews pre fight and Rampage explains how hard he has prepared for Jones and how seriously he took him. watch the press conference after the fight.
Rampage said he was the best he had been for years. Rua said he was in top form and condition for the Jones fight also and that the better man won.
They can take defeat humbly and respectfully, why do some fans striggle with this concept so much and make excuses for Jones brilliance? The only thing i would say is Jones has a massive reach advantage and should fight someone with equal physique, same as Silva should.
rampage also said on an interview after the fight that sometimes rampage doesnt come to fight. and with jones that happened he said. after the fight he shows sportmanship. even with rashad he was respectful on the pressconference. but i can imagine someone like hendo or a shogun in shape being like rampage on that fight. he almost didnt tried to punch. i know jones has a huge reach but he never tried to close the distance. he knew that for doing he had to take some punches but if he wanted to win thats what he needed to do. for me rampage made a terrible fight. for moments he was just standing there and watching like for 2 minutes. i think jones is amazing but that night he looked really scared and slow. if he fights rashad like he fought rampage he is going to be in big trouble
lol... thats why he sent his recruiter Seagal to try and sneak there way in before the fight and talk about how he can of been better and just wasnt
on his game..... Jones gained so much more respect when he said no to
him even coming in to talk before the fight.....and Jones is looking for greatness so if they asked him he would say yes in a heart beat but it is funny for black house to play nice hoping to be friends to not to half the fight
Totally agree. Stock went up in my book when he said no to to Master Bloat-boy.
Bones Jones needs to work on his stand up if he fight Silva in the future!! Jones didn't look so good with rampage IMO
The only good strikes were the knee strikes and I hate those. So i just hated Jones' performance.
But Joe Rogan got all super wet....I dont complain about biased commentary but by the 2nd round I just wanted Rogan to stfu. Everyone gets a little biased so whatever.
Silva couldn't deal with sonen's level of striking. he was put on his arse twice by Sonnen. Do you and 27 others think Sonnen is better than Jones in the stand up?
Jones looked superb against Rampage. I suggest you all watch the fight in slow motion because I'm pretty sure you have missed many things.
they are going to need to put somebody a little faster in there against him, jackson has always looked like a statue swinging his arms to me, even in the pride days
exactly... machida, hendo, rashad and shogun in shape have way bigger chances than him
II agree jones is no Silva. he is better. ALOT better. No weaknesses exposed so far in his career and is yet to be tested by anyone to any considerable degree. Their styles are vastly different, but the one thing they do have in common is they enjoy massive reach advantage over most opponents and both utilise the advantage very well.
Where is Edgar's punching power? He is still p4p material due to skill. Skill beats power most times. Not always as sometimes fighters make mistakes or power strikers get lucky, but usually skill triumphs. Jones has skill in abundance. Ask yourself when was the last fight you watched where you saw such a display of kicking, punching, clinching and ground game that Jones displayed? So what if his power is lacking in a single strike, he dominates all he has faced and has never been in any serious trouble in doing so. Weakness is not a lack of power, but a lack of technique which an opponent can capitalise upon. Jones has shown no weaknesses so far.
Tank Abbott probably had the most punching power and if not was pretty close tothe most power anyone has ever witnessed but he will never be viewed as a great MMa fighter will he?
IMO MMA in it's purest form is controlling the fight and your opponent without risking damage to yourself in the process. GSP is a master of this though probably does not possess as many tools as Jones does. But Jones has a MMA brain too, hence his caution against Rampage and his control throughout. he dominated, was never in trouble and finished one of the toughest LHWs there is to finish.
I expect I am gonna be classed as a nuthugger anytime soon, but as a MMA fan I see Jones demonstrating MMA to near perfection. Different people have different views on what MMA is and what perfection means. Some say Silva is it, some say GSP. They all are right on certain points. Jones is young and has learned from what has gone before. he has physical advantages and the skill to utilise them.
To truly respect what any fighter at a high level does in the cage I think you have to have had some experience of competition of some form. I used to box when I was young and have a very healthy respect for what it takes to stay composed enough to function relaxed and focused when the adrenaline is full on. I am fairly certain many fans have never even been in a good scrap nevermind competitive combat.
Sorry if this is long, I am drunk, but learn to appreciate what it takes to even get in there and test yourself in this way, and then what it takes to utilise your ability to its full potential.
It's an easy to say Jones hasn't matched Silva's accomplishments, he's only been fighting for a decade longer.
But if you don't think Jones is on a comparable level to Silva, or talking about them fighting is somehow disrespectful, I disagree.
When Silva was 24, he was 2-0 and fighting in some tiny league in Brazil. Long way from being UFC champ, isn't it?
Would Jones beat Silva? Who knows? But he certainly is capable of it. And as time goes by, and Silva gets closer to 40, it would become more and more likely....
But as much as I'd love to see it, it'll never happen. As soon as Jones whipped Shogun, Silva played the bogus friendship card and started talking about a match up with GSP.
Jones' trainer is right. I'd bet Bones is the last guy on the planet that the Spider wants to fight.
shit is so dumb
I agree with the trainer. silvas advantage is his reach in MW. He would not make the same sucess in LHW with taller guys.
its the exact same thing for jones in LHW.
jones would get a big reach advantage on silva and he is also a great wrestler which is cryptonite against silva.
I think its a nightmare matchup for silva and there is a reson why he always staid in MW....
anderson dont want to fight without the advantage... he will never fight a 205 fighter like shogun, rashad or jones. i think also he will never fight a 205 hendo. theres no way you can compare hendos power at 185 with his power at 205. for godness he went from losing to shields!!!!!! to being LHW champion and the KOing fedor that has never been KOed. the spider is a safe fighter on his spectacular fashion! obviously he isnt boring but he is safe
it took fedor one round to knock out arlovski, who knocked out big country who mir and jds santos couldnt put away, lol. mma math doesnt work straight like that or else overeem would be the top ranked hw
well I can't speak for JDS but Mir is no knockout artist
True....However this was a diffrent Rampage, then the Rampage that fought Griffin...He was in the best shape of his life for the jones fight and like a lot of ppl said that was the best head movement ive ever seen him have he wasn't just the same ole statue rampage so thats something to consider as well if jones fought the old rampage he would've gassed out by round two for sure that choke would've came a lot sooner
it's funny how the coach says that jones striking is more strikes to the table when it looks like jones mimics anderson's striking style and he surely didn't before and true that jones has better wrestling but people forget henderson is no slouch in wrestling and is it just me or are those long limbs of jones just asking to be caught in a submission because i don't think jones has faced a top level submission person and don't tell me shogun is a brown or black belt because he submitted someone once in his whole career
I wish this fight would be made. No other 2 fighters are as similar as Jones & Silva.
Anyone in a higher weightclass will have the edge because of weight. Especially if there is a significant weight difference like 20-30LB. Either way there needs to be a catch weight in the middle. Either way because of age, Jones has the potential everyone from his weight class and under, including Anderson. Better Athletism, Better wrestling, longer reach, multiple weapons on stand up. No one can argue that.. Anything is possible in a fight but looking at abilities and potential including Past Performance. I dont think anyone Anderson has fought can destroy Shogun like Jones did.
They only have an advantage if they have equal skill or reach advantage. Edgar is small for a LW and could easily fight at FW but his skill makes up for the size disadvantage. I have him very high on my p4p list for this reason. He has no advantage yet beat BJ twice and is champion in the deepest division MMA has ever seen by a long way. The only thing I am disillusioned about is how rare title fights seem to occur these days. But regardless weight does not compare to tehnique and skill. The latter are more important than size or strength.
fist off Anderson Silva is a far superior overall fighter than Jon Jones is atm.
with that said, i think Jones would crush Silva
i think the striking would be nulled, Silva is a far more technical striker but he has no pro fighting experience against a fighter who enjoys a height advantage and a massive reach advantage. Silva is also a rather slow starter, taking a bit of time to feel out his reach and get going.
Jones has the the obvious wrestling advantage, and strength advantage.
Silva has a advantage in regards to submissions
i think Jones would engage Silva utilizing his reach to force Silva into the clinch early, where i think Jones would achieve a realitively easy trip/thow, from there Jones starts to wear on Silva from the top.
tho the striking advantage might be so far in favor of Silva that he might simply KO Jones early in the first. Jones is unorthadox in his standup but he is also not very technical in regards to his overall striking, he has simply enjoyed such a reach advantage that it is difficult for any opponet to exploit his faults in his technique.
i like the idea of this fight better than GSP v Silva given that GSP has confirmed that he would want him and Silva to have a year away from fighting while Silva has already shown he can float between LHW and MW.
A fight between Silva and Jones would be the cooler fight to watch because of the similer size, body type and reach of both fighters. GSP vs Silva would be an amazing 'David and Golith" type of fight that would end in one of two ways: Anderson winning by KO or TKO or GSP winning by take downs and laying on him for 3 rounds. At the end the only real winner in that fight would be GSP win or lose. If he won he would be hailed as the P4P best by beating a bigger fighter in a higher weight class with a much longer reach than himself. Its all a step up for GSP. But, then everyone would be asking him to fight Jones. If he lost, He would be viewed as the champion and warrior that wasn't scared to mess up his record by fighting a much taller fighter with exceptional accuracy and crazy reach.
HOWEVER,,,,,, If Silva was to fight Jones it would be a much more evenly matched fight. Similer reach, accuracy, unpredictability, so on and so forth. Plus,,, Silva has already jumped up to 205 in the UFC and dominated both fights. If Silva wins against Jones, and if he does it with the same ease that he has shown with most of his past fights, he would undoubtly be the "Undisputed" P4P best fighter in the world. Both Silva and Jones have the physique to easily jump to HW if they wanted. GSP would have to wear a iron vest to ever weigh that much.
i was with you untill you started talking about a more even reach
Silva only has like a 1 1/2 inch reach advantage on GSP, its the height difference that is big 4 inches in favor of silva.
Jones has something like a 1 inch height advantage and a 7 inch reach advantage against Silva.
honestly as far as being on a level plan physically with A.Silva, Forrest was Height/reach near equal to silva with Forrest having a 1 inch height advantage and Silva having a 1/2 inch reach advantage.
Winklejon said the dumbest thing he has ever said in this interview in claiming that Jones is a more versatile striker. AS only uses about half of what he knows and still displays more impressive striking. Jones is no where near Silva's level and even with the wrestling advantage and the reach it would be a long, painful night for Jones. He might pull out the win but I seriously doubt it. I see AS destroying those tooth pick legs and then taking out the head.