So a friend of mine texted me last night after the Shogun/Jones fight and said. "Shogun was overrated." I responded " uh no, Shogun WAS Jon Jones when he was 23! Hes banged up now and his time is over, changing of the guard." "Overrated fighters dont Destroy Overrem x2, Rampage and Machida." I hate when casuals try to chime in on shit they know nothing about. Kinda like when attending a live fight and the little turd in front of you is screaming to the fighter "armbar! armbar! take his arm!" As if the fighter and his team hasnt already thought of that option.:notallthere:
Bradki you are spot on!! Shogun has always been one of my faves - especially in PRIDE. Last nite was indeed a changing of the guard. Lingering injuries or not, shogun has been blessed with a storybook career and an outstanding resume of dominant wins over elite fighters. Its always bittersweet tobsee a legend fall from grace. Everybody is gonna have their opinion of last nites events but those who have watched for years know what Shogun means to the sport. To call him overrated is incredulous. Im just shocked at Jones' to perform so well on short notice. Im dying to see how he matches up against Machida.
Well, I'm in the middle. I don't think Shogun is overrated but I also don't think last night was completely because Shogun has faded. Jones is just THAT good.
You know im not sure about him being shot either. BUt there is a way to find out. put him in there with the winner of the Machida vs. Randy fight. I just didnt see any issue with his knee last night. And he wasnt wearing any brace or limping whatsoever.
My problem with blaming his knee is the fact that it held up fine in a 5 round fight with Machida with constant movement. And I don't think you can give too much credit to Jones. This is a guy that has made everyone he's faced look inferior. It's amazing that he was able to do it to a guy as respected as Rua, but he did. It's far more about Jones honestly being in a different league than Rua being shot. Again, I don't think Rua is the same guy he was before the first knee injury but he's not shot.
I think Jones combination of size and style would give ANY Shogun problems. The dude is just a gigantic fighter with great skills.
See, this is my feeling as well. I've watched all the versions of Shogun and there is nothing that tells me he would ever have an answer for the range, size and grappling of Jones. The guy is just a different animal. I don't think MMA lends itself to fighters being able to completely distance themselves from their peers because it is so easy to get caught with a shot or fall into a submission and end up losing. But I have feeling Jones might be one of the few that manages it.
I agree completely. Don't think he will manage it easily though if he moves to HW because he will no longer have all of these advantages.
Agree completely about HW. I'm not saying he can't compete at the highest level, but he won't throw guys around like he is at 205.