Ahead of his return to action a UFC 309 this weekend, Jon Jones‘ ability to maintain distance and manage the pace of his fights in almost marauding fashion is what makes his opponents “so vulnerable” against him, according to color-commentator, Joe Rogan.
Jones, the current heavyweight champion and former two-time light heavyweight gold holder, makes his return to action this weekend at Madison Square Garden in his home state, remaining sidelined since he featured in March of last year in his Octagon comeback.
Winning the vacant heavyweight crown in his return from a three-year layoff, Rochester native, Jon Jones turned in a dominant opening round win over former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane — submitting the Frenchman with a first round guillotine choke submission.
Joe Rogan gushes over Jon Jones ahead of UFC 309 comeback
And emerging from the quickfire pairing largely unscathed against Gane, according to Rogan, Jones’ ability to maintain distance and control the pace of the fight — even at the heavyweight limit, makes his opponents “vulnerable” to the veteran.
“Jon Jones has the perfect fighter’s frame because he’s still very strong, he has a lot of muscle, but he’s also long and lean,” Joe Rogan said in a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “So he’s not relatively bulky compared to his weight because he’s long and stretched out.
“If you have a distance like that between where a guy can hit you and you can’t hit him, you have to cross that, and you’re so vulnerable while crossing that. And if a guy’s a good counter striker, and he’s active and long, they’re so hard to get in on. So, a guy like Jon, that’s always going to be an advantage.”
Welcoming former two-time heavyweight champion, Miocic back to the Octagon for the first time since 2021 to boot, the Ohio native is set to feature for the first time since dropping a thunderous second round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in their title re-run.