UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is arguably one of the most complete fighters in mixed martial arts. But he has candidly spoken of gaps in his striking arsenal.
In a chat earlier this week with celebrity barber and entrepreneur Vic Blends, Jones admitted that from early on, he knew he would be fighting an uphill battle from the get-go.
Jones is a dynamic striker at both the light heavyweight and heavyweight limit. A decorated grappler and well-tuned striker, Jones truly appears to have it all on lock.
On show already at heavyweight, the Rochester native has lodged two finishes. Both in very different fashions. He first subdued Frenchman Ciryl Gane with a first-round guillotine choke.
Then, Jones went on to land his first knockout win since 2018, albeit against an aging Stipe Miočić.
Jones landed a spinning body kick on the former pound-for-pound number one, folding the Ohio native en route to a third-round knockout win in New York.
But one shortcoming associated with Jones is his apparent lack of out-and-out, dropping power. Known for usually taking down opponents with an accumulation of strikes rather than a one-hitter-quitter, Jones spoke openly of that fact.
When discussing his favorite striking technique, Jones admitted he was lacking when it comes to the power department, allowing him to generate more with those tools rather than his fists.
“I enjoy throwing elbows only because my arms are so long,” Jones told DeepCuts with VicBlends. “And when you think about guys like Mike Tyson or [Gervonta] ‘Tank’ Davis, they have short arms. And I think it allows them to generate more power by being shortened, like, you know, a little brick like that.
“Long, gangly guys like myself, we just aren’t as powerful,” he added. “And so in training and in fights, I would realize when the guys were close to me, you know, my uppercut and my left hook, you know, these are my short, shorter-range weapons. They just weren’t as effective as the more muscular, stockier guys.”
But where Jones falls short in his power, potential opponent Tom Aspinall certainly doesn’t. And according to his biggest rival, this is the biggest reason Jones is so hesitant about fighting the Brit.
Daniel Cormier claims Jon Jones is fearful of KO loss
Twice sharing the cage with Jones, Daniel Cormier weighed in on a potential fight between Jones and Aspinall later this year. For the interim champion, he has racked up 11 knockout/technical knockout wins already in his brief UFC run.
And for this fact, largely, Cormier claimed Jones likely fears coming undone in such brutal fashion against Aspinall. That’s, of course, if they ever face off.
“He’s [Jones] not scared, make no mistake about it,” Cormier said. “But I think it’s enough to question. And you know what I think a big worry might be for him? With Aspinall, he could potentially get knocked out. Like, legitimately knocked out and put on his back out cold.
“I just don’t know that he wants to have that visual of himself in the world. He’s knocked out a lot of guys and he’s never had — because I’ve seen myself get beat. And I’m like, ‘God, that’s such a horrible visual every time.'”
