Man, this whole Francis Ngannou versus Jon Jones thing, it just kept popping up everywhere, right? Online, buddies talking smack, everywhere. For the longest time, I just kinda nodded along, yeah yeah, dream fight. But then I had some time on my hands, stuck at home nursing a busted ankle from a stupid ladder incident, nothing better to do. So, I figured, let me actually sit down and really try to picture this, you know? Break it down my way.
Okay, First Things First: Watching the Tape
So, I pulled up a bunch of Ngannou fights. Started with the greatest hits, obviously. The power is just dumb, everyone knows that. It’s like watching a horror movie sometimes. Guy swings, opponent goes night-night. Simple as that. Watched the Stipe fights, the Rozenstruik one, Overeem… You see the improvements over time too, not just raw power, but how he sets it up sometimes. Still, the main thing screaming at you is that terrifying force. One touch, game over potentially.
Then I switched over to Jones. Man, it’s like a different sport sometimes. Pulled up Gustafsson 1, the DC fights, Reyes, Gane. It’s not about that one-shot power. It’s the opposite. It’s about being slippery, awkward, using those long limbs, the elbows, the oblique kicks. The wrestling is always there in his back pocket. And his brain, you can almost see him figuring guys out mid-fight. He makes guys fight his kind of fight. Very crafty, super high fight IQ.
Trying to Make Sense of It All
Alright, so I got the raw ingredients. Powerhouse vs strategist. Classic stuff. But how does it actually play out? This is where I spent hours, just running it through my head while icing my ankle. What happens if Jones tries to clinch? Can he even get Ngannou down? Ngannou’s takedown defense got way better. What if Jones keeps it long range with those annoying kicks? Can Ngannou close the distance without walking into something nasty?
Got into a few arguments online too, just reading comments and stuff. People saying Jones is too smart, others saying power like Ngannou’s cancels everything out. It’s tough because Jones at heavyweight is still a bit of an unknown against someone like Francis. We saw the Gane fight, sure, but Gane isn’t Ngannou. And Ngannou’s been off doing boxing, who knows how that changed him, if at all, for MMA.
You know, it’s funny. Sitting there, analyzing frame by frame almost, it reminded me of physical therapy for my ankle. Sounds weird, I know. But with the PT, you got these big goals (walking normally, getting back to work), like Ngannou’s power wanting that KO. But then you have the therapist telling you slow down, do these tiny, annoying exercises, focus on technique, don’t push too hard too soon. That felt like Jones’s approach – the careful, step-by-step plan, avoiding the big risks, using technique over brute force. Trying to analyze the fight felt like trying to figure out my own recovery, weighing the fast, powerful approach versus the slow, careful one.
So, Where Did I Land?
Look, after going back and forth, watching hours of footage, and thinking way too much about it while laid up, here’s my gut feeling. Jones finds a way. It ain’t gonna be pretty. He’d have to fight the absolute perfect fight. Use his length, wrestle at the right moments, probably make it boring, frustrate Francis. Survive those first couple of rounds where Francis is most dangerous.
It feels like that old saying, power is great, but technique and fight IQ, especially Jones’s level of it, often finds a path. It’s like with my ankle recovery – trying to rush it (pure power) just risked re-injury, while the slow, methodical exercises (technique and strategy) were the frustrating but likely safer path back. Doesn’t mean Ngannou couldn’t land that one shot, absolutely he could. But if I had to put my money down after all that “research”? I’d lean towards Jones weathering the storm and using his smarts.
Anyway, that was my little project while stuck on the couch. Just my two cents after going down that rabbit hole for a few days.
