Jon Jones talks Mind Games: I'm always looking to "humanize" my opponent
Posted on February 24, 2011, 05:05 AM by Anton Gurevich"If you look really closely at my past fights, I never actually look into the guy’s eyes. Nor do I do it at weigh-ins. At weigh-ins normally I just look off into the audience and it kind of plays a little mind game on my opponents a lot of times. They don’t really know how to react to that."
"As far as when I’m in the Octagon, I’m always looking at the opponent’s body when I’m standing there. I’m big on not fighting an opponent’s name, his credentials, his past fights, his face. I fight the body and when I’m standing across and I’m looking at his body, I’m really just humanizing the guy, and looking at imperfection in his physique or… You know there’s a quote that says, ‘If a guy looks soft in the mid-section, usually he is soft in the mid-section.’ So I’m just humanizing the opponent. That’s what I’m doing. For Ryan Bader it wasn’t that easy though because I’m staring at the guy’s body and the guy’s built like an NFL linebacker, but yeah I’m just excited when I’m out there and getting ready to fight the human." - Prommanow.com via BloodyElbow.com
Jon Jones will look to become the youngest Light Heavyweight Champion in the UFC history, facing Mauricio Shogun Rua at the main event of UFC 128 next month. Jones is currently 12-1 in his Mixed Martial Arts career, having his only defeat via a Disqualification, in a fight against Matt Hamill. So, LowKick'ers, will Jon Jones be able to find a soft spot in Shogun Rua? Voice your thoughts in the comments section.
Comments
There is no soft spot in Shogun
ääh his got some love handles
Shogun has one soft spot that I know of.... his knees
If you think of him as SHOGUN than yes you are correct, but if you think of him as another 205'er with good stand-up and decent ground-game than he has many weaknesses.
sho gun the destroyer !
that was dirty.
Jones is way better than mark coleman ever was, and somehow he gave shogun more than alot of problems in both fights.
Jones had the skills, the body and the mind to defeat Rua.
*has.
jon jones.... pahh hes full of hot air. no credentials what so ever. he got lucky against matyushenko and schooled by hamill!
somebody just started watching mma six months ago...schooled by hamill, i hope youre not serious....if youre being sarcastic, then disregard this comment...
@ Riddle
Yeah - that Hamill fight was amazing. He was all over Jones. Damn DQ ruined a good fight, man. Matt was really putting it to Jones before that happened.
...I wonder if I should...cough...cough...here or something, so that everyone will know I'm being sarcastic?
@ Riddle-jitsu
you a dame fool for this one... lol u got me dying over here, fool...
Hey ip man! youre not allowed to be sarcastic. arent you like a grandmaster, start actin like it.
@ 808
I'm sorry. I should know better. I humbly bow to you if you took offense and inference from my remarks.
*no sarcasm was used in the writing of this post.
didnt you watch that fight? matt hamill has a black belt in playing possum. he studied jones to a T knowing quite well them elbows were coming, amazing tactics! and just you wait wingchun till he breaks rampages hands with his face forcing him to retire in the 2nd!!!
holy crap, thats genius. how i didnt figure out that masterful strategy is a mystery. /palm to face/
@ R-J
LOL!
im not sayin jon jones is gonna lose but it wud b a big mistake to count out shogun hes been in enough fights lets not forget he was the youngest pride champion to b honest i dnt want to see any of dem lose cuz i like the two of dem but sumones gotta win il probley get weakd for this but i want shogun to win.....jon jones dose have a chance and is defo a future champ
"il probley get weakd for this'. Who cares what people label your post as, this is a forum where you can speak your mind. Granted, some people say some very stupid things that don't need to be said, but there is nothing wrong with expressing your opinion.
@ Moots
Can we quote you on this?
Irony WingChun
@ a222g
...lol
JJ new LHW champ. It's a wrap son!
I'm not looking forward to watching Jon Jones vs Shogun because I don't want neither one of these guys to lose. It's going to be a great fight though.
Shine up the belt Shogun, and get ready to hand it over to Bones. I can't wait to hear the excuses...... ring rust will probably be the big one.
@ Cage
Ya know CR, I think he'd Shogun would probably say congratulations; I got beat by a better fighter. I don't think he'd make excuses; and I'm with you, I think JJ is going to take him out; probably round 1. Either way, this is not a decision fight.
Yes, afterall Jon Jones has that spinning elbow and...
Hmmm, I guess when you really think about it Jon's stand up is NOT unorthodox, it's just simply overrated.
This just another classic match-up: Excellent Wrestler vs. World Class Striker... only this striker also has world class grappling.
lol ... bones is a brite kid ! if sho gun steps up the way he fought machida ! jons is going too be put asleep looking into a flash light ! or tko ! i am going with sho gun ! i think sho gun catches jones on a mistake because of inexperience !
Doom...
Do you really think his stand-up is overrated? I think when we see him against a guy the caliber of Shogun, were going to see just how underrated it really is. Can he lose? Sure. Shogun is a tremendous fighter, but I'm a big believer in anticipating the curve and the curve, in that division, is John Jones; buy on rumor, sell on news; that sort of thing.
I won't be stunned or disappointed if Shogun win, but what I'm "expecting" if for JJ to come out and shock the world with how quickly he puts SR away and how far he raises the bar @ 205 & MMA in general. Stay away from 205 to Anderson Silva. Look out 225+ when the man decides to move up, because he's cleaned out the division.
Really? Sloppy striking and looping punches qualifies as underrated striking?
I suggest you look over the bouts involving Andre Gusmao, Stephan Bonnar, Jake O'Brien, Brandon Vera and (recently) Ryan Bader.
In his UFC debut with Gusmao, Jones missed quite a number of punches and elbows. In fact, the reason why he tired himself out was because he missed most of his strikes. He did find Gusmao's sack three times though. And Joe Rogan described his striking as "rudimentary".
Then you've got the Bonnar bout. The only thing people remember about that fight is the sweet spinning elbow, nothing else. Jones missed more than half his strikes and proceeded to slam and takedown Bonnar. Jones also gassed out.
Now onto the big shocker - O'brien (who is known as a wrestler who loves to blanket the opposition) out-boxed Jones for the majority of round one. His only offense was found in leg kicks.
I suggest you really review these fights before you make up your mind about Jon's 'unorthodox' striking.
I'm picking Jones in this fight but if anyone can beat Jones its shogun. Shogun is one of the if not the most aggressive fighter in the world and Jones hasn't faced someone like that yet. Bader is quite aggressive but when facing Jones the hype and simply Jones himself made Bader overly cautious, ending in his loss to Jones. I feel Jones has too many tools for Shogun but if Rua comes out like he did in Shogun Machida 2 then I could see Jones leaving the Octagon the same way as Machida.
I have seen many fighters in my day, but have never seen anything like Bones. I'm sure most of you agree he is something that comes along once in a lifetime. Much like Jim Brown in football or MJ in basketball.
Wow... I just love the Jones nuthugging in here.
Jon is only 23 years old with very little experience in MMA. Yes, I know Rua was also 23 when he ran through the 2005 PRIDE Grand Prix but Shogun was already a success in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu before entering MMA competition. Very little is known about Jones. Can he take a knee or punch without folding? Can his cardio go all five rounds? What of his submission defense? Etc...
If anyone is an underdog in this bout, it's Jon Jones not Shogun. And frankly, I am not gaga over Jon's striking - very overrated.
agreed! i dont think sho gun is done at all! he has been sparring with dos santos and a few from black house ! sho gun is ready too school this kid ! if jones did win ! it wouldnt surprize me ! but i gotta say sho gun !
Yes, he looked incredibly sharp sparring with Dos Santos. I'm quite excited to see him in action next month.
yes me too. sho gun is a destroyer .
The fact he has gotten to a title shot with all your questions still an unknown is the very reason he is touted as highly as he is. Sure we don't know how he will react to a clean shot or his cardio over 5 rounds. His submission defense looked spot on against Bader, effortlessly getting out of a guillotine choke if you care to watch it back. If you cannot see the talent and more importantly skills and disciplines he has took the time to learn, so be it, but he is a very special talent in MMA. He has dominated in a similar fashion so far to how GSP dominates his division also. he still has it to prove against the best LHWs but so far so good and Rua is as good a test I think he will get but i will not be the least surprised to see another dominating performance from Jones, and I think Rua is an awesome fighter when he is fit.
Bingo. Bader is not an elite BJJ black belt - he was a D1 wrestler with a nasty right hook. That is all.
Now is Jones a top level wrestler? Yes.
But is Jones a top level striker or grappler? No.
You're right, Jones does remind me of GSP - wrestling is his bread and butter, and when he gets into trouble he reverts back to it. There's a reason why he did not want to stand and trade with Vera.
Jones might be the future but he is not the next Anderson Silva.
Actually, Shogun won the South American games (for grappling) which is a big tournament down in Brazil and he competed in Mundials (and finished in 5th place). So I would classify in Rua having a ground game that could potentially win at another big event like the ADCC.
In addition, he also beat (at the time) a world Muay Thai champion in the Muay Thai Storm tournament.
While I do think that Jones has great wrestling, I sense his submission defense is also sloppy. He's yet to face a grappler with an active guard like Shogun's.
Randleman, a veteren and powerful wrestler, bullied Rua to the ground but was found in a Knee Bar seconds later.
So I'm not too excited about Jones. Don't get me wrong, I like the kid but he really reminds me of guys like Brandon Vera and every other guy Dana overhyped.
Jones will not want anything to do with Rua's striking. And Shogun knows this. This fight will go to the ground and the victor will more than likely be Mauricio due to the fact that Jones has never faced a level grappler.
This is going to be a really good fight. Both fighter are wild. Have crazy skill and striking abilities. In the end I think Bones Jones will be the winner due to his strength and ability to serious damage on the ground.
Shogun is gonna get rocked by bones. Bones is to big with to much reach over Rua... I was at the UFC Expo in Boston and had the chance to meet Bones and Rua. Both are Great fighters and great people in general. But i got my boy Bones takin this belt next month and holdin onto it for a while.
The only fighter to ever rock Rua was Lil Nog. And keep in mind that Lil Nog won a gold medal at the South American games for Boxing. Now add the fact that Rua got right back up and delivered a left hook of his own and you've got a fighter who has a granite chin.
Jones has zero striking credentials and Shogun has never been knocked out, so I highly doubt Jon will harm Rua.