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Is Phil Davis the only guy with a chance ?

2K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  K R Y 
#1 ·
I'm trying to picture who in this world can give JBJ a good fight and it seems Phil Davis could be the one. Phil Davis has the athleticism and wrestling experience to neutralize JBJ. I still think JBJ will win but i have a feeling Phil Davis could do well.
 
#5 ·
Though I love Machida, I think he will be taken down at will. Machida has already been exposed, and will have to have a few tricks up his sleeve. I think Rashad will give JBJ a good run for his money, but Evans has a suspect chin.
 
#6 ·
I knew this thread was coming.:shame02:

Davis is not the only challenge. He is an example of the threats that Jones will face through his career. Bigger better athletes focusing on MMA and wrestling at a younger age.

Just as the bar was raised when wrestlers discovered MMA could be a successful career, The bar has been raised again as Better natural athletes start focusing on wrestling as their main sport in high school.

Jones is not the Be ALL End All of MMA. Davis, Evans and others will be legitimate challenges and somewhere right now a 18 year old boy who's been training MMA for a few years is trying to decide which D1 college he's going to wrestle at.

That kid will wreck jones.
 
#9 ·
I knew this thread was coming.:shame02:

Davis is not the only challenge. He is an example of the threats that Jones will face through his career. Bigger better athletes focusing on MMA and wrestling at a younger age.

Just as the bar was raised when wrestlers discovered MMA could be a successful career, The bar has been raised again as Better natural athletes start focusing on wrestling as their main sport in high school.

Jones is not the Be ALL End All of MMA. Davis, Evans and others will be legitimate challenges and somewhere right now a 18 year old boy who's been training MMA for a few years is trying to decide which D1 college he's going to wrestle at.
I was first! :p


PLUS - you never know what amazing talent could pop-up from outta nowhere: 3 years ago if someone would have said: 2011 - Jone Jones, UFC LHW Champion - people would have laughed at you like you were some crazy person. Funny how things work out, huh?


PS: i'm looking forward on seeing Phil Davis evolve and maybe picking up the pace a bit, now that he saw what Jones did. It should definitely motivate him.
I believe Davis will also become an important contender, in the not so distant future.
Evolution.....looking back just 5 years ago, this soirt has come a long way. I'm curious on how it will look like in 5 more years.

That kid will wreck jones.
That, my dear friend...remains to be seen....muhahahahaaa:)


PS: i already have another bold prediction, for a future champion. It's a *new breed fighter*, but the situation in that division is a bit tricky...
Care to guess?! :D
 
#8 ·
...Phil has a stellar ground game but he really would get demolished by Jones rather quickly. Last night Jones put on a performance of a lifetime. Youngest champion. It was surreal seeing Jones dismantle Shogun that brutally and well-roundedly. Freakish reach with big power behind those strikes. His knees. His dominating wrestling. His kicks. Special kid. Congrats to Bones winning the belt. May he break from the pack and defend it multiple times. I had a feeling Bones would have to face Rashad.
...At this point, I think Rashad knows he can't beat this kid. Shogun wasn't his best but Jones made him look his worst. The hype is for real now. After seeing his amazing performance last night, I doubt anybody wants a piece of Jon Jones at this point. I wish Rashad luck because if Shogun got crushed on the feet, Evans would too. 84.5 inch reach....sick...:confused03:
 
#11 ·
I don't think Davis will be the answer. I believe Rashad is a better version of Phil right now. Davis will be competing for the belt eventually and might be against Jones, just not anytime soon. Jones is a freakishly strong dude and he is huge too. I don't think Phil will be able to handle that and bring him down into his world. Jones will keep it standing and destroy Davis.
 
#13 ·
Don't forget Jones' freakish reach. Not just used for punching, but clasping those hands in for a TD or a SUB are so important. The reason he can keep a distant, shoot, and still manage to take you down from distance due to his reach, and reach around for side control guillotines!
 
#15 ·
I know we are all going down the Brock/Cain road with finding guys with better wrestling and strong striking to beat Jones...I disagree. What the UFC LHW division needs is a Matt Serra, a guy who scrambles but also has heavy hands.

Anderson Silva is in the best shape now, he could pick apart Jones stand up...the question is, what's Jones chin like.

Alexander Gustaffrson is a dark horse right now, he has the best chance at sweeping Jones on the ground, he has KO power and submissions.

Roger Gracie from Strikeforce is the same size as Jones and has deadly submissions, he's the love child of Gracie and Dan Severen, a giant that can tap you out.

Stephan Bonnar although this is in the hands of the doctors rather than the judges, Bonnar went three rounds, took everything Jones had and kept coming. He has the best chin in MMA and with Jones questionable gas tank those championship rounds look tempting.
 
#17 ·
*Boner time* lol .... I'm gonna get some hate for this...i think

Anderson Silva is in the best shape now, he could pick apart Jones stand up...the question is, what's Jones chin like.
If they were to fight under K1/kickboxing rules, it would be an interesting fight.
MMA rules: i'm picking Jones 95/100 times.
Anderson is allergic to wrestlers. The only time he was in any trouble in the UFC is when he was put on his back: Lutter, Henderson and of course, Mr. Sonnen.
Consider this: Jones is bigger, stronger, faster, more technical, more aggressive, more creative, more destructive than Sonnen. Plus he has better striking, better grappling, better ring movement.
I'm having a hard time thinking on how Silva could win this fight.
But underestimating Silva would be/is a mistake.
Still i would go with Jones.

Alexander Gustaffrson is a dark horse right now, he has the best chance at sweeping Jones on the ground, he has KO power and submissions.
Gustaffsson is an interesting fighter, but he is relatively green. He needs more fights. Tough fights, against tough fighters.

Roger Gracie from Strikeforce is the same size as Jones and has deadly submissions, he's the love child of Gracie and Dan Severen, a giant that can tap you out.
Same as with Anderson, but in a different context: if they were to fight in a pure grappling match, it would be a very interesting fight: technique vs power.
But overall, it's hard to see how Gracie would win this. He would have to take the fight to the ground.
That is, if could hold his own on the feet. And then attempt to take down an excellent greco-roman wrestler.
Good luck with that.

Stephan Bonnar although this is in the hands of the doctors rather than the judges, Bonnar went three rounds, took everything Jones had and kept coming. He has the best chin in MMA and with Jones questionable gas tank those championship rounds look tempting.
Don't get me wrong, i love Bonnar, i find him very exciting, an overall A+ guy.
Like you say: hard chin, incredible will, tough as they come. But there's no aspect of the game where he is better than Jones.
Since their first fight, 3 years ago, Bonnar has remained pretty much the same fighter, while Jones has made gigantic improvements. If that 20 year old kid was able to do those things to Bonnar, i can't even think what this Jones would do.
One think i guarantee: Bonnar would not give up an inch. Because he's a "Psycho".


I don't wanna sound like i'm putting Jones on a pedestal, like an invincible GOD or something. But to beat Jones, you need a better fighter than him.
Guys who could surprise him in at least 2 areas of the game. Someone who would approach the game in a similar creative way. Someone that would posses great physical attributes and solid wrestling.
And it's hard to come up with a name that feets that description right now.

Only one name comes to my mind, but at this moment it's a wild bet: Phil Davis: wrestling + physical attributes - check. Somekind of creativity - check, but nowhere near enough.

But he lacks in the striking department, aggressiveness, ring movement, ground control, experience, mental game.

I'm waiting on Davis to pick up the pace starting this weekend.
Jones' win should give him some extra motivation also.

PS: i would also be curious to see how Machida get along with Jones' game
 
#18 ·
I agree with everything you are saying, but I feel like those guys have the best chances and those are the prototypes of the sort of fighter who could beat Jones.

The question to me is really what the skills that can test Jone's game.

  • He has to be at least 6'2
  • He has to have phenomenal defense
  • Precision striking
  • KO power
  • sweeps
  • He needs to be amazing at triangles and arm bars
  • Better cardio

I think Machida, Jackson, and Evans are just to small to hang with Jones. I think Jones can ground and pound Evans in full guard. Machida is giving up 10 inches in reach, I think Rua tried to use the Machida style and Jones was able to easily get out of the way. Jackson....I think Jones beats Jackson easily in every way.

Phil Davis is interesting but I think his free style wrestling is no match for Jones Greco Roman. A free style wrestler will use the shot to go after the legs, take a guy down and then advance. You do that against Jones and he'll turtle you up like Bader and punish you.
 
#20 ·
Phil Davis would get destroyed. Jones is bigger, stronger and IMO has better wrestling and striking.
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
Firstly i have to say Jones was simply awesome. I love shogun and although i was shattered abt the loss i give full credit to jones for living up to the enormous hype around him. Guess he has now cemented his place at the top of the light-heavyweight division ( Ironically he had just cracked into the top 5 after his win against bader. To think, if rampage would have gotten off his fat ass in his off season, he could have faced shogun instead.)

Anyway I digress, back on topic. When i saw Mr.Wonderful in his first fight, against Brian Stann of all people (gr8 move to middleweight), i had the same feeling i got when i saw jones against bonner. This kid has all the tools to be one of the top guys in the 205 division. He has had an outstanding collegiate career at penn state and won an NCAA title in 2008. Hell, he even won the No Gi World Jiu-Jitsu Championship as a blue belt in 2009.

He even has a submission named after him. Yea thats right.

Anyway my point is, i believe next weekend Phil Davis, is gona break lil nog, and move up in the 205 division (maybe fight thiago silva) by the end of the yr.

I predict that davis will be the one to knock off jon jones.

But in saying that he mite just lose on the weekend and im gona get flamed. But here's hoping !!!!

What do u guys think?

oops. i just saw neoseeker already has a thread out abt this. how do i get rid of this one
 
#25 ·
Threads merged.

I think Phil will make waves in the division, he's very humble and respectful as well. I really like him, and his grappling is brilliant. He has a bright future but it's far too early to be comparing him to Jones right now.
 
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