They can't, and that is why he has demolished fighters like Shogun with ease.

 

this is dumb. everyone knows that shogun has no striking defense. he has good offense and eats a lot of shots in order to deliver his "usually" very explosive offense. he has probably the best chin in MMA and has relied on that to overcome his opponents offense with his own. even recently against vera he ate a lot of punches and walked right through them to eventually TKO vera..

 

It's very difficult. There really isn't a "blueprint". I think one of the key things is to push him back and cut off the ring. Make sure he's struggling to use his reach as he's fighting off the back foot, pushes against the cage and stuff. Then hammer in with close hooks, in and out. A lot of footwork is needed to avoid the elbows and straights. As Rogan says, legkicks are an untapped possibility on someone like Jones. No one has really exploited it and there isn't too many people who I feel have a style suited to it at LHW, but if someone can bring Jose Aldo leg kicks to him, it might slow him down and make him drop down to his foundations rather than his unpredictable flashy shit (which is what puts you off so much).

 

You have to stay out of his range at all times. So you're either, all the way back out, or really tight up close. Don't ever stay at Jones' kicking range where he can pick you off with ease.

Vitor's speciality is activating berserker mode and lunging in with a flurry of deadly punches. He definitely has the skill set to KO Jones, but he needs to make sure that before he attacks, he doesn't stand at Jones' range, he needs to back WAYYY off and wait for the perfect opportunity to lunge forwards and blitz Jones.

Much easier said than done.

 

The only way is to have something that Hendo does and it is a rare commodity that you have to be born with, and Iron Chin.

Seriously, with a guy that knows how to use his range as well as Jones you have to know you are going to eat some punches and elbows. You have to be willing to eat those to land your strikes, so you also have to have KO or at least rocking power. If you don't have both of those then the best you can hope to do is what Lyoto did and attack behind an attack and hope to throw him off his game and finish him before he adapts.

 

Bonnar, Shogun and Rampage have iron chins. Rampage and Shogun also have a ton of power in their hands, Jones is pretty creative though and we saw he's not afraid to use his elbows as punches in the Rashad fight when he sent Rashad stumbling, that's an interesting tool to use on guys coming in on you.

The thing that makes Jones great though, is his work ethic, people may not like him as a person but this guy is a true student of the game and he's been blessed with some great skills for MMA. I think Machida, Gus, and Cormier might have a chance of beating him but I really think Jones could develop an awesome ground game off his back with his long limbs and what not.

 

Nice answers guys thanks!!

 

This isn't boxing. Being in the pocket against Jones is opening you up to elbow death. Plus, who on earth thinks it would be a good idea to get in close and get clinched? Bones and his ridiculous legs can trip anybody from the clinch.

Traditionally when a shorter fighter has to fight a much longer dude, the smaller guy nearly always has speed on their side. Bones is not slow by any stretch. Gus is a tad faster but simply not long enough. His reach is as absurdly short for his size ans Bones is long.

In a nutshell, with my limited knowledge, I believe the only person who can beat Jones right now is Jones.

 

Exactly this. Someone w/Jones' insane advantage reach is the only person who could beat Jones. He wins all his matches through this massive advantage and if you take that away or neutralise it then you have a much better shot. Even then of course you'd have to beat Jones who is an insanely skilful fighter anyway.

 

You have to mix it up and have a good TDD.

Going berzerker mode and just running straight at him has not worked.

I think most of you guys are right that leg kicks will need to be used. Bones likes to run straight back whenever someone launches, so there is a chance to chop him down with leg kicks when he does that and not risk the takedown as much.

Once you get him to stand there when you blitz him and anticipate the leg kick you can throw some straight punches down the pipe and catch him.

You need to be moving and working the angles in the meantime, never just stand in front of him and let him pop you with free jabs and kicks.

 

We'd basically need a 205 pound Jose Aldo to kick these skinny legs out under Jones. I think they make a very obvious target. Though I can't really think of a LHW with great leg kicks who hasn't faced Jones already.

 

Start with kidnapping Greg Jackson and keeping him out of the picture until after the fight.

 

This is MMA. Put Jones in a kickboxing match where grappling is non-existent, there are several guys he's beat in MMA so far I'd bet would murk him.

Jones is neither a counter striker or aggressive inside striker, he pot shots from the distance his body allows him to then runs from attacks.

Jones' reputation is built on his devastating ground game and great MMA grapplers like Rua, Machida and Evans simply do not want to go to ground with him. Side effects of that are they think they can only win the fight standing, and it makes them hesitant on the feet. Bad combination.

Basically, Jones is a crap striker, great MMA fighter. Would love to see him fight Gustaf, he can cover ground like Jones does and is a very good striker, Jones could get hurt quickly if he tries to stand for long like he has been.

 

Dirty box him and uppercut him from the clinch. Rampage had many chances to do just that when he got in close and ended up clinching with Jones, all he had to do was pull an arm back and blast away with punches from the clinch or the break from the clinch. But he never did that and just pushed away & reset. If a fighter has good defensive wrestling and a solid chin, he can get in close on Jones, tie him up in a clinch to take away the elbows, then unload with short uppercuts from in tight. Rock him back, then blitz him while he's off balance and trying to reset.

 

Jones reach and timing give him one of the best natural defence before his other skills come into play. He fights smart and uses his guard and teep leg kicks well which he also relies on for defence. That combination is difficult to any striker.
Gustaffson has a good chance with his offensive footwork and distance closing but is exposed to Jones timing.

This is why I have stated Mousasi many times for fighting Jones. Im not saying in any way Mousasi would beat Jones but he would definetly answer all the questions and even tag Jones from the outside.

 

What everyone else said. To get inside and land anything significant you're going to have to compromise; against a fighter with a gifted build and skills with a very high fight IQ. Pretty much it takes a brilliant combination striker with power, with ridiculous wrestling and a crazy chin. Aka nothing we've ever seen which sucks because I'm not a Jones fan but most people can agree he hasn't shown many holes if any, less the hope of a less than average chin which is still speculation. That being said I'm gutted at the Henderson fight being scrapped at the time it was going to take place. Even the haters can acknowledge Jones continues to get better..

 

I think you needs someone with Carl Condit's gameplan vs Nick Diaz. Sure, not the greatest but if you can get within reach quickly and dodge to the left or right and not back, you will make it frustrating for Jones.

Another way to look at it is someone that is able to go comfortably to the ground with Jones and fight for positions to kind of neutralize him but with his reach, he could still hit or push off his opponent.

As someone mentioned about Rogan's comments about leg kicks, it could be something to look at but you needs the quickness of Jose Aldo to pull that off.

I think someone will go for Jones' knee or legs to make him uncomfortable but I believe he is comfortable in either standing positions.

I think if Belfort were to go 'Hendo' and pushes Jones off his comfortable zone from striking from outside and picking shots to making him unbalance would be the keys to figuring out to frustrate him.

If any fighters is able to frustrate Jones from picking his shot and using his reach will probably have greater success in having much easier tasks in achieving a better results. Then it down to clinch, grappling and ground game.

From there, the better fighter will survive.

 

The only fighter I think can clearly beat him standing up is Anderson Silva.

For every other fighter, it would probably be better to pull guard and try for an armbar or triangle. I think someone with Vinny Magalhães/Rousimar Palhares ground game could submit Jones.

 

Thing with Jones, people think its all to do with his reach and height...but its not, people can get inside on him but what are they greeted with? Some horrible elbows and some of the best trip takedowns in the sport....Being amazing on the inside allows Jones to fight on the outside.

 

Another reason he's real dangerous on the inside are his knees. Without his height and length advantages he wouldn't be as dangerous as he is inside.

For example that guillotine choke he got on Machida, his long arms allow him to really get some torque.

Its skill no doubt but his size and reach are attributes that he uses in fights not passive stats.

 

I hear he was able to ragdoll Jones a few times. That said if Jones moved up I think he would end up with a lot more core strength.

A 240 lb. Jones would be a monster. He could legitimately put 20 of it on his chicken legs.

 

Like Anderson Silva jones have the perfect body for MMA.Those long limbs! He knows how to use the reach perfect but also being creative in his game makes him very difficult to face..

you need to be able to have a solid TDD and great ground game but be fast enough to step in and out. Those skinny leggs are easy target that needs to be used to your advantage.

i would like to se him against a BJJ specialist like Palhares.Someone in that league, would be very interesting to se how he could do against these type of fighters.

 

Like Anderson Silva jones have the perfect body for MMA.Those long limbs!

 

As far as bjj specialists go. I've seen that episode and I'm not interested in re-runs.

Jones is not going to allow the fight to go to the ground with fighters like that.

A. Silva had average tdd but we have seen what he did to bjj and wrestling specialists. Jones with his wrestling/grappling would be even more dominant because they would never be able to get him down or force him to fight their strengths.

 

I would say Randy Coture style dirty boxing with the speed to get inside. I would say you have to be fast and react quickly get underneath that big long reach put him up against the cage and land some dirty boxing.

I would have loved to se how hendo would have done. I rember seeing rashad hit jones with a few H-bomb style punches but he doesnt have the power Hendo has. If he had the right game plan i could see hendo ducking a punch while throwing the H-Bomb and moving in at the same time then tying him up if bones doesnt go down.

If Chael could find away to get some power in his hands he would be an interesting match up because he would be fast enough to move inside and put bones against the cage. His dirty boxing wouldn't really have the power to hurt bones though.

 

Well I don't think you can outbox Jones, and Vitor will be the test for this as he's likely the best pure boxer in the two divisions. I believe the best chance to takes Jones out is a guy like Alexander Gustafsson. With Gustafsson people are thinking about his striking in terms of reach. What I see in him that I don't see in other fighters is that he's good enough to pull guard, sweep, and sub/TKO with ground and pound.

 

Well I don't think you can outbox Jones, and Vitor will be the test for this as he's likely the best pure boxer in the two divisions. I believe the best chance to takes Jones out is a guy like Alexander Gustafsson. With Gustafsson people are thinking about his striking in terms of reach. What I see in him that I don't see in other fighters is that he's good enough to pull guard, sweep, and sub/TKO with ground and pound.

Negative. If Gus even shows a glimmer of a thought of a hope of taking a fight with Jones to the ground, Jones will GNP him to dust or Get a sub. Jones grappling >>>Gus. Gus' striking is very good and tht would be his best bet.

Basically, Jones is a crap striker, great MMA fighter. Would love to see him fight Gustaf, he can cover ground like Jones does and is a very good striker, Jones could get hurt quickly if he tries to stand for long like he has been.

How can you say crap striker. Sure his opponents worry about his dangerous wrestling but to say his striking is crap is ridiculous. You can out strike everyone you defended a title against just because your wrestling is THAT good. If so then you are saying he has the best ground game of all time. :wink02: