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“I feel like he’s going to be fighting to get that finish, get that respect he hasn’t really been getting.”
Jon Jones’ back is up against the wall at UFC 247, and the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion will be looking to make a serious statement when he takes on undefeated light heavyweight Dominick Reyes on Feb. 8.
That’s according to top-fifteen UFC featherweight Shane Burgos, who believes ‘Bones’ will be looking to finish Reyes from the opening bell to make up for his somewhat lackluster title defense against Thiago Santos earlier this year at UFC 239, which saw Jones edge out a split decision to retain his light heavyweight title.
Speaking on a recent episode of the TSN MMA Show (h/t Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock MMA), Burgos said it would be foolish to bet against Jones after he has continually proved himself against the divisional elite.
“You can’t pick against Jon Jones though,” Burgos said. “You know what I mean? You can’t pick against him, you just can’t. He doesn’t stop winning and the biggest hole I would say would be in his boxing and he’s really cleaned that up lately and he’s using his reach a lot better. I got to go with Jon Jones.”
“I feel like his last couple fights haven’t been his best performances,” Burgos added. “… I feel like he’s going to be fighting to get that finish, get that respect he hasn’t really been getting.
“The fights with Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith … it didn’t look like he was hungry to really get in there and finish. When he fought Shogun to win the belt, doing all the title defenses against Rashad, Rampage, and Machida, he looked like a killer. He looked like he was on a mission to finish those fights. From the first bell to the last. In his last couple fights, he’s been content just to go [to] decisions and win rounds.”
UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes takes place next year, February 8 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.