Jon Jones will be taking on Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285 this weekend. ‘Bones’ has been studying Gane’s previous fights in order to prepare for his opponent.
Jones recently took to Twitter to announce that he noticed a pattern in Tai Tuivasa’s fighting style that contributed to his loss to ‘Bon Gamin’ at UFC Paris in September. According to ‘Bones’, Tuivasa has a habit of dropping his left hand, which is his lead hand, to pull up his shorts.
This left the Australian’s chin open for Ciryl Gane to land his lightning fast jab, which ‘Bon Gamin’ found a home for continuously throughout the bout until he won via TKO in round three.
Jon Jones took to Twitter to share his analysis, writing:
“Can someone count how many times Tuivasa had his left hand down pulling up his shorts in that last gane fight”
Another tweet read:
“He should switch to the board shorts with the slits on the sides. He spent half the fight with his left hand down.. i’ve never seen anything like that, it almost hard to watch. Would rather eat a jab and pull up his shorts then displayed good defense.”
See the tweets below:
Ciryl Gane outstruck Tai Tuivasa by 81 strikes in the fight, which may give Jon Jones’ observation some weight. ‘Bones’ is regarded as having arguably the best fight IQ in the sport, and has shown an incredible ability to analyze opponents on the fly and make adjustments mid-fight in order to win.
Jon Jones believes the heavyweight championship “means the most” to win
Jon Jones is the most accomplished fighter in UFC history and holds a plethora of promotional records, including becoming the youngest-ever UFC champion and recording the most UFC title-fight victories (14).
In August 2020, following a narrow victory over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 earlier that year, ‘Bones’ decided to vacate the light heavyweight title. He announced he would be moving up to heavyweight. His moment has finally arrived to debut in the division.
The return of Jon Jones is set to take place at UFC 285 this weekend against Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title. ‘Bones’ took three years away from competition to build enough muscle to compete at the heavier weight division, and reportedly weighs 250 pounds.
In a recent interview with ESPN MMA, Jones stated that he believes the heavyweight title is the “most prestigious” of all the titles:
“It’s not that I didn’t respect light heavyweights, it’s just that it’s a different game that we live in right now. In my opinion, the heavyweight champion of the world is the most prestigious weight class [title]. It means the most. You’re one of the baddest men walking the planet.”
Watch the interview below:
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