Jon Jones has retaken his rightful place amongst the elite of the UFC’s 205-pound crop.
In the main event of last month’s (Sat. July 29, 2017) UFC 214 pay-per-view (PPV) Jones downed now-former UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier with a third round head-kick knockout to take back the title he never lost, and seemingly put an end to his rivalry with “DC.”
Following the win Jones called out former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar for a superfight, however, given that “The Beast” still has months left on his suspension for a UFC 200 failed drug test, Jones will have to keep himself busy with some of the top ranked competitors in his own weight class. Enter No. 3-ranked Volkan Oezdemir, who picked up a first round knockout win over Jimi Manuwa earlier on the UFC 214 card.
Oezdemir joined The MMA Hour earlier this week to discuss a possible match-up with Jones for the title down the line, and admitted he wasn’t that impressed with “Bones’” performance against Cormier (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“That was Jon Jones, that was his style, he was doing his stuff, but I didn’t see any new weapons,” Oezdemir said. “Of course, he probably didn’t get to display everything and yeah the fight was dominant, but DC had some good moments too. So you know, I wasn’t that impressed.”
Although he admits Cormier and Jones put on a great fight, he simply didn’t see any new tools from the Jackson-Wink product that caused him any concern:
“The fight was great, of course, but I was waiting to see Jon Jones fight different,” Oezdemir explained. “D.C. is also one of the best pound-for-pound fighters ever, so it was also a fight between two of the best guys, so that’s why I guess.”
Jones ate a good couple of uppercuts form Cormier early on in the fight that were able to knock Jones’ mouthpiece out of his mouth. Oezdemir speculated that if it were him who landed those shots on Jones’ chin, the 205-pound champ would have been taking an early nap:
“I think it’s very different power, D.C.’s stance is not made for striking,” Oezdemir said. “The way he stands, he’s not going to be able to generate a lot of power in his striking, so this would’ve been different. I have another style, I offer another style for Jon Jones, so when my punch lands, it’s going to be different.”
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