Jon Jones fights Ciryl Gane this weekend for heavyweight gold at UFC 285, but who is more equipped to win? Jones hasn’t fought in over three years and also never fought at heavyweight before, so he’s got plenty of questions to answer moving up in weight. Gane is V2.0 of the heavyweight division, so it’s his moment to state the beginning of a new era in the heavyweight division by defeating Jones.
How Is Jones Most Likely to Win at UFC 285?
Jones has 13 title defences under his record, which is more fights than Gane has in his ENTIRE career. If that doesn’t tell you who the most experienced fighter is, then nothing will. Jones has fought every type, build and style of fighter on the planet. Wrestlers, long and lanky strikers, BJJ black belts and heavy-handed power punchers. And his ability to adapt to the fight as it goes along is critical in this fight. We saw Gane struggle to adapt during his fight with Francis Ngannou when Ngannou took Gane down, something Jones is more than capable of doing.
Gane struggled to adapt to Ngannou’s wrestling in the later rounds of his unification bout with Ngannou. If Ngannou can take Gane down, then you can be sure that Jones can too. Of course, Jones has fought lighter guys than Gane has but don’t be mistaken; Jones doesn’t train with small dudes. If Jones can out-wrestle one of the most accomplished combat sports athletes ever, Daniel Cormier, then he can for sure do it to Gane. His wrestling pedigree is 100% the path of least resistance for Jones to take.
The Unlikely Ways for Jones to Win
An unlikely way for Jones to win is through submission. Granted, anything can happen, and if Jones can do a standing Guillotine choke against the cage wall, then he can pull off a rear naked choke. Six submissions on his record compared to Gane’s 3 isn’t anything major, but considering the opposition that Jones has submitted compared to Gane, hitting the matt would favour Jones.
And finally, Jones is known for the incredible diversity in the stand-up department. Having a longer reach against all his opponents has helped him keep them at bay and piece them apart with long-range strikes. The stand-up is the 50/50 part of this fight, as Gane is bigger and has a similar reach to Jones. In the past, Jones has struggled when dealing will long-reach fighters, so it’ll be interesting but don’t count Jones out on the feet despite Gane’s clear kickboxing skills.
How Can Gane Win This Weekend?
Admittedly Gane is far less experienced in MMA than Jones as well as far fewer weapons in his arsenal compared to Jones, but that doesn’t mean he should be counted out.
As mentioned earlier, the kickboxing element of the fight is by far the 50/50 aspect of the fight. Most media and fans favour Gane to win the stand-up department due to Gane’s truly incredible kickboxing skills. Many, many, many members of the community have named Gane’s kickboxing style the ‘middleweight style’. Reason being for his light-footed, bouncing in and out of-range approach. Essentially point, striking his way to victories but occasionally gets a masterful TKO. Back in Paris last September, Gane headlined the event against Tai Tuivasa. Throughout the fight, he faced adversity after getting knocked down in the 2nd round and then going on to wound Tuivasa later in the round and finish the fight in the 3rd round.
If you haven’t watched Gane’s fight with Tuivasa, then go back and watch it. Seeing Gane mix up his weapons is truly marvellous. From elbows to knee to teep kicks, it’s all pinpoint accurate. That may cause issues for Jones. Jones is used to being the more diverse and physically imposing fighter. However, this time, he won’t!
Don’t forget to tune in this weekend for the stacked, double-title fight UFC 285 PPV in sin city, USA!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
