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Jon Jones’ Coach Says Alex Pereira Makes Him Excited To Try And End His Current Streak

A potential fight between the UFC’s heavyweight and light heavyweight champions is a divisive talking point right now. Despite that, it can’t be forgotten how big a clash between Jon Jones and Alex Pereira would be even if Dana White doesn’t seem sold on the idea. There are reasons why this fight shouldn’t be next […]

There are reasons why this fight shouldn’t be next for both men even if “Poatan” comes through his likely next challenger in Magomed Ankalaev. Not only does interim champion Tom Aspinall make the most sense to face Jones next time out, there’s an argument that putting Pereira in there with a heavyweight who is a dominant grappler could tarnish his star potential.

However, from the perspective of Jones’ team and the heavyweight champ himself, it’s easy to see why this match-up would be appealing. Jones has some clear advantages in this fight but the striking of Pereira is going to make any potential contest more exciting.

That’s exactly the point made by Brandon Gibson during a recent interview with Inside Fighting after Jones’ team were left incredibly satisfied by the performance that “Bones” put on against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Gibson believes that though there are some unknowns surrounding Aspinall, we’ve seen Pereira go into deep waters and come out on top in huge, high-profile fights time and time again and that makes him an interesting puzzle to try and solve.

“I think that’s a great stylistic match-up. Pereira has such dynamite in his hands and with his kicks. Incredible pressure, championship mentality and to see what he’s accomplished and the streak he’s been on is something that has us exciting to go and try to figure out and solve that puzzle but Jon brings so many tools to the table, I think it’s more challenging for another team and set of coaches to try to solve the riddle, the problem that is Jon Jones.”

Jon Jones’ Coach Says They’ve Solved More Complex Problems Than Tom Aspinall Before

With Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall both recently claiming that they’ve been speaking to the UFC about what’s next, the conversation regarding the promotion’s two heavyweight champions isn’t going anywhere just yet. The debate as to whether Jones is avoiding a title unification with the interim champion dominated the talking points both before and after […]

For many fans, the key reason that they want to see this fight instead of Jones against Alex Pereira, which is certainly the direction that “Bones” has been leaning, is because of the match-up itself. Whilst the heavyweight champion taking on the light heavyweight champion would be a huge fight, Aspinall presents different problems.

Pereira is an incredibly dangerous striker but as Dana White said himself, going up to heavyweight to face an elite grappler like Jones is a huge ask even for “Poatan” who has defied expectations throughout his entire run in the UFC. In a recent interview with Inside Fighting, Jones’s coach Brandon Gibson spoke about the match-up with Aspinall.

He believes that Aspinall’s greatest strength, his ability to finish fights so quickly, also creates question marks which may not have existed with previous opponents that they have beaten in the past. Those same unanswered questions aren’t there with Pereira, even if a fight between him and Jones would create other problems instead.

“He’s had a great heavyweight career so far. I think there’s still a lot of unknowns which could be a benefit to Tom but also a lot of those unknowns could be a big benefit to us like how is he going to do in deep water? How is he going to do in later rounds? There’ll probably be a lot of pressure on him to try to start fast so with all that said, Tom’s not a match-up, like we have respect for all of these great opponents and champions but I think Jon has solved a lot more complex problems.”

Jon Jones’ Coach Says They’ve Solved More Complex Problems Than Tom Aspinall Before

“He’s had a great heavyweight career so far. I think there’s still a lot of unknowns which could be a benefit to Tom but also a lot of those unknowns could be a big benefit to us like how is he going to do in deep water? How is he going to do in later rounds? There’ll probably be a lot of pressure on him to try to start fast so with all that said, Tom’s not a match-up, like we have respect for all of these great opponents and champions but I think Jon has solved a lot more complex problems.”

Jon Jones’ Coach Predicts Stipe Miocic’s Approach For UFC 309

Jon Jones returns in the main event of UFC 309 this Saturday night for what is just his second outing as a heavyweight. During his incredible light heavyweight title run, “Bones” was always one of the hardest fighters to predict or prepare for because he’s so good everywhere. Opponents could watch as much tape as […]

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Opponents could watch as much tape as humanly possible but ultimately, there’s no way to experience what it’s like to share the Octagon with the consensus greatest of all time other than physically being in there with him. This is even more true since he moved to heavyweight because of the lack of footage that is out there of him.

His heavyweight debut at UFC 285 against Ciryl Gane ended in just over two minutes so we still don’t really know how good Jones is at heavyweight. This creates a problem for Stipe Miocic and his team when it comes to strategizing for November 16.

In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Jones’ long-time striking coach Brandon Gibson spoke about what he would do if he found himself in their opposition’s shoes and had to plan for a fight against the heavyweight champion. Suffice to say that Gibson is glad that he’s on this side of the Octagon rather than the other.

“That team at Strong Style, obviously they’ve built a lot of great fighters and built Stipe into an incredible champ so I’m not gonna presume what I believe their game plan would be. I think through Jon’s 16 championship fights and 27 fights total that you could definitely plot little elements here and there of when Jon has been hit or hit clean. I think it’s very hard to replicate and to duplicate.

“You know if I were them, I would just be training Stipe to be the best Stipe out there. We’re anticipating him to come out aggressive like he has shown in the past and on the other hand, if I were to coach against Jon Jones, I think that’s the hardest puzzle as a coach in this entire sport to solve. Nobody has solved it yet and I think they’re the ones with their hands full.”

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Jon Jones’ Coach Claims Tom Aspinall Has Been On The Radar Since Before Heavyweight Move

UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is sure to be one of the most talked about fighters of the week despite the fact that he isn’t set to compete at UFC 309 on Saturday night. Many believe that it should be him facing Jon Jones in a title unification clash at Madison Square Garden rather […]

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During his time away from the Octagon due to the injury he suffered ahead of UFC 295 last November, Jones has been very outspoken about Aspinall and a potential fight with him. It’s been a huge talking point throughout this year with some accusing the champion of ducking the interim titleholder.

Whilst Jones has recently stated that he doesn’t believe that the Brit has accomplished anything significant enough to make him interested in the fight, that isn’t to say that Aspinall hasn’t been someone that he’s known about for a long time. This is something that Jones’ long-time striking coach Brandon Gibson recently spoke about in an interview with Submission Radio.

Gibson revealed that Aspinall’s rise to the top of the heavyweight division isn’t surprising because he’s a fighter that the team have had their eyes on for some time now, dating back to when Jones was planning his move to heavyweight during his long hiatus after vacating the light heavyweight belt.

“No, no surprise at all. You know back in the day when Jon was originally making his move up to heavyweight, we thought Francis was going to be the opponent and we were studying the heavyweight landscape. Aspinall was a guy that we’ve always had our eye on, for years now. He’s very smooth, great takedowns, he’s a finisher and in heavyweight, that’s a powerful thing. He has incredible footwork and defense so Aspinall’s been a guy that we’ve already had an eye on for sure.”

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Coach confirms Jon Jones will likely walk away from MMA soon: ‘He won’t have too much more to prove’

The newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion once again sits atop the pound-for-pound rankings, but Jon Jones may not be here to stay. A three-year hiatus and many new faces and champions in the UFC since Jones vacated his light heavyweight title, did not slow him down from submitting Ciryl Gane in just minutes, a fighter […]

The newly crowned UFC heavyweight champion once again sits atop the pound-for-pound rankings, but Jon Jones may not be here to stay.

A three-year hiatus and many new faces and champions in the UFC since Jones vacated his light heavyweight title, did not slow him down from submitting Ciryl Gane in just minutes, a fighter who’s never been finished before.

Speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, his veteran coach Brandon Gibson did not hesitate at suggesting Jon Jones’ illustrious career may soon come to a close, regardless of his brief time at heavyweight.

“I think Jon’s (Jones) going to be one of those athletes that walks away early,” Gibson explained. “He’s going to walk away early, I think so. I think Jon will ride off into the sunset, and us, as MMA fans, will still be clamoring for one more or talking about potential matchups.”

This may come as a surprise to some, but during the UFC 285 post-fight press conference, both Dana White and Jon Jones himself said that they don’t really have a plan for the future, and all he knows is that he has at least one more fight left in him.

While he may only be 35, which is often a common age in the heavyweight division, Jones has been a recognizable face in the UFC since his debut in 2008, becoming the youngest-ever champion at 23, a record which still stands to this day.

Making easy work of several iconic UFC legends throughout his journey, with an incredible 15-0 record in UFC title fights, Jones has undoubtedly cemented himself as the greatest fighter we have ever seen.

As for who that next opponent may be, Jones made it clear in his post-fight scrum that he’s only thinking about a fight with Stipe Miocic, a man who he declared as the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Gibson says he and Jones’ team are in favour of this matchup, and fully support the idea of returning as soon as July.

“I think it would’ve been a different conversation if [Jones] would’ve been in any way injured or scathed on Saturday night, but he said he was more sore (sic) from the warmup than the fight.”

The now 40-year-old Miocic was in attendance at UFC 285 and he entertained the idea of fighting Jon Jones to regain his title, which was taken from him by Francis Ngannou in 2021.

Stipe Miocic confident of snatching Jon Jones’ heavyweight title at UFC 290

When asked if defeating Miocic was worthy enough to hang up the gloves, Gibson says that although he thinks Jones will soon be retired, the mood within the camp is overly positive, and the possibilities of what’s to come are limitless.

“I don’t know. He has a lot of fire, I think he has a lot of motivation, and I’ll leave that up to Jon,” Gibson said. “I think this time away was really good for him, and us as a team.”

Will Jon Jones’ journey come to an end sooner than we think?