Jon Jones defeated Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 but it wasn’t without controversy. Many MMA fans and commentators thought the challenger should have got the decision but Jones won’t care. It was definitely one of the biggest tests of ‘Bones” career. Will Reyes get a rematch? In all likelihood probably not.
Corey Anderson is the favorite to fight Jones next – provided he gets past Jan Blachowicz this weekend. If that doesn’t happen a move to heavyweight may finally happen. But can Jones handle the power and ferocity of a bonafide heavyweight like Francis Ngannou?
Israel Adesanya was full of scorn for Jones’s performance. The middleweight champion wants to fight Jones next year. Will that ever happen or is it just wishful thinking for Stylebender?
Vulnerable
The 185lb champion thinks Jones is looking vulnerable. He’s got a point. Jones faced a lot of adversity against Reyes. Adesanya thinks that it doesn’t compare to his display to Kelvin Gastelum. The pair put on the fight of the year in 2019.
“I’ve seen him. I’ve seen what I needed to see,” Adesanya told Sporting News. “In the fifth round, he tried to turn it on, but he couldn’t. Compare his fifth round to my fifth round against Kelvin Gastelum: there’s a difference.”
Of course, Gastelum is a former welterweight so it’s not exactly comparable is it? Only time will tell if Adesanya could deal with Jones’s size and power.
Washed Up
Despite Jones’s success in 15 title fights, Adesanya believes that Jones is on the decline. He’s definitely impressed less in his past couple of fights than earlier in his career. Is this a decline or a lack of motivation? Would Jones prepare differently for a fight with the likes of Stipe Miocic?
“He’s washed up. He’s done. His best years are behind him. He’s still great, but he’s washed up now, he wasn’t doing s***. He was winning the rounds, but it wasn’t really doing s***. He was trying, but there’s levels to this.
“I’m the guy,” Adesanya added. “First, I have to take care of Romero. I have to take care of Paulo Costa and possibly Jared Cannonier, but 2021 – I don’t care if Jones is still the champ or not – Raiders Stadium [in Las Vegas] in 2021, I’m going to go up there to 205 and do what I do.”
Ridiculous
Meanwhile, the judging disgusted Adesanya. There was a lot of controversy because of the judges scored four of the rounds in favor of Jones. In the end, it didn’t make a difference because all three judges gave the fight to the champion. But it still roused the anger of the MMA community. UFC commentators Jon Anik and Joe Rogan didn’t hold back on the air.
“That was ridiculous. Ridiculous,” Adesanya said. “I liked the conversation Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Dominic Cruz had after the fight, where they were appealing to the public, saying, ‘Please, can we come together for the greater good of the sport? That was ridiculous. Whoever scored it like that, never judge again. Ever.”
