Honestly bro I ain't a huge Bones fan (Blaydes is my guy at 205+ and DP has been my favourite fighter for years) but I couldn't care less about Jon popping when you have borderline Phil Heaths like Usman and Chandler walking around and the UFC have the CHEEK to give them jackets for ''50 clean tests'' or whatever noise. Some of GSP's appearances were also sus. You compare the physiques of some of these unranked guys to those in the top 5 and this ''everyone is natty except JBJ, TJ etc.'' narrative falls apart
I was kinda wondering the same thing. To me I kinda feel the heavyweight division has been exposed a bit.
Is there anyone you'd confidently pick to beat Jones? If Jones hadn't existed and Francis never came back would Gane have his time in the sun?
Both 205 and 205+ are absolute doo-doo divisions. That´s why even the hardcore fans and media say things like "best striker at HW". Most of heavyweight striking has been pretty bad. Miocic was the first really clean striker the UFC had in a while. His jab was basic but it absolutely wrecked his opponents. Heavyweight is getting better with new talent like Tom Aspinall and Ciril Gane. But fat cavemen like Tuivasa can still make their way to the top.
And Cormier could have beat Stipe again had he found a way to adapt to those body shots. Miocic pulled a miracle out of his ass in the second fight. Cormier liked to hold out both of his hands forward, palms forward like a day one boxer. This allowed him to out-jab taller opponents, including Stipe. And it made his opponents punch in straight lines, giving Cormier ample opportunities to defend himself. In the third fight Cormier decided to fight most of the fight without that tactic because it left his body open, something Miocic took advantage in the second fight. So Stipe jabbed the **** out of him in the first two rounds. Then Cormier started reaching again and got back into the fight because he could now deal with the jab. Ironically, Stipe himself stopped focusing on the body.
The HW division is weak imo. Both Miocic and Francis have made their names against guys at the end of their career. Overeem, Werdum, Dos Santos, Velasquez. And the next level guys like Jairzinho, Lewis and Blaydes are all a bit crap as well. Francis, he was the next big thing but he did get schooled by Miocic first time out and had the bizarre loss to Lewis. Miocic is consensus HW GOAT which I don't really have an issue with but I'd be shocked if he turned the trick against Jones. But Jones is clearly the P4P GOAT. Followed by GSP imo.
Let's go through my picks.. Nickal Garmit Rakhmonov All spot on, Errr rather easy picks to be fair, nothing spectacular or Nostradamus like but anyway... Jon Jones correct pick but wrong method. Jones made that look too easy, just ridiculous. Valentina, completely wrong but I don't think many would have picked against her, a rather big upset. I'll give myself 5 out of 10 for effort.
