Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images
“He’s avoiding me. He called me out thinking I would hesitate.”
Why does Jon Jones have such great cardio?
Because he’s been running from Corey Anderson for most of his career. But now the time has come for the reigning light heavyweight champion to smoke up and work “Overtime” instead of all these easy paydays he’s been racking up against former middleweights.
Who haven’t seen a three-dimensional gameplan since JAWS 3-D.
“All these guys he fights are one-dimensional,” Anderson told MMA Fighting. “Dominick Reyes is a great striker, but he doesn’t have the best wrestling defense. He has okay jiu-jitsu. Thiago [Santos], we knew he was a striker, but that was it. We knew Anthony Smith, his only chance was if you gas out and you let him get you down or some shit, or he gets you at the end.”
Jones is expected to make his next 205-pound title defense against undefeated contender Dominick Reyes, who continued his winning ways opposite ex-middleweight champion Chris Weidman last month on ESPN.
That said, bread probably won’t be stacked until 2020.
“But when you’ve got a guy like me who has the cardio, who has the striking, and has the wrestling the same or better than Jon Jones, as well as the jiu-jitsu that can match him, then it’s like, that’s a tricky fight,” Anderson continued. “Does he want that fight right now, or does he want to keep getting these easy wins, stack his bread and keep breaking records?”
Anderson shot to No. 5 in the division rankings with his bookie-busting upset of Johnny Walker at UFC 244 earlier this month in New York City, his fourth straight win and first knockout finish since late 2016.
Maybe “Overtime” can face the winner of this fight instead?