If Gustafsson couldn't win, though, then I at least wanted a fight like the first. That first bout in 2013 may be my favorite MMA fight of all time, as it has a great mix of high octane action and technical thoughtfulness that checks every single box for what I want out of a fight. If Gustafsson were to lose, I at least wanted another classic that could satisfy both my fight science brain and my more animalistic brain.
Obviously, things didn't play out that way.
It was definitely disappointing to see my favorite light heavyweight lose, and even more disappointing to realize that, with two losses to Jones (as well as a close loss to Cormier), that may be the last title shot Gustafsson ever receives. I was thoroughly impressed, however, with how well Jones had learned from his first fight with Gustafsson. He implemented a lot of changes to his approach in this fight that really paid dividends.
To keep this post from becoming a novella, I'm gonna focus on Jon's use of distance and the changes he made made in how he controls distance to win the rematch. Jon's biggest gift as a fighter isn't just his reach, after all, but his understanding of how to use it. There's a reason why Stefan Struve never won a world title despite having a Jon Jones reach: his inability to fully take advantage of it. Jones succeeds not just because of his physical gifts, but because he has the fight IQ to use them. Let's dig into how.
First, let's start with one of the key conceptual approaches of Jon's game. One of the first things wrestling-based MMA fighters who learn to strike gravitate towards is punching. It's a pretty smart idea. Knowing how to exchange in the pocket is important, as you'll inevitably find yourself there as you try to go for a clinch or your opponent's hips. Beyond that, knowing how to throw your hands can also be great for setting up takedowns, and vice versa. This is why, for example, Khabib Nurmagomedov out-strikes fighters like Conor McGregor and Edson Barboza. He'd get demolished in a boxing or kickboxing bout. It's the threat of his grappling that prevents his opponents from knowing whether his next move will be a strike or takedown.
Jon Jones, however, makes an interesting alternative case for wrestlers developing their striking: what if you developed a really good kicking game instead?
Back when Jones first started fighting in the UFC everyone talked about the occasional spinning kicks that he threw with flair, while on a more nuts and bolts level he threw side kicks and teeps/push kicks aplenty. He used a solid jab-cross to help keep his opponents at bay, but his punching never compared to his kicking. Why? Well this takes us to his range, as well as Gustafsson's footwork.
Throwing straight-line kicks (that is, kicks that you throw immediately in front of you, like the kicking equivalent of a straight punch) is a great way to jam up someone trying to close the distance on you. Jones understand this well, and uses it to stifle fighters trying to close the distance on him to great effect. His Shogun and Rampage fights in particular saw him using these tactics to make sure that neither fighter could get in any meaningful offense against him.
So why would this be good for wrestlers in particular? Because if you're a wrestler who can control the kicking range, your opponents will desperately try to close the distance. That's when you can use your wrestling. Your opponents are then faced with a dilemma: do they try to keep distance to avoid your wrestling, or try to close the distance to avoid your kicks? The ultimate goal is boxing range if their hands are good enough, of course, but first they need the ability to maintain that exact range. Too little or too much distance and you've fallen back into your opponent's range.
The closest Jones ever came to facing someone who could effectively use their footwork to control that distance was Machida, whom he had to out-feint and rock on his way to finishing him with a devastating guillotine. With every other fighter up until that point he was able to control the range of the fight easily, alternating mostly between kicking and grappling ranges. He could kick when he wanted to keep fighters on the outside, then, whenever they got inside, step in to use his wrestling. No need to close the distance when your opponent is doing it for you!
Then he fought Gustafsson.
In that fight Jones
struggled not just against Gustafsson's size, but his skillset. Yes, Gustafsson's size threw off Jones. But he also used his excellent boxing to land body shots that opened up punches
to the face, and vice versa, even throwing in the occasional unexpected takedown. It wasn't just Gustafsson reach, but his variety of attack. His footwork also played a key role. He was able to use his elite lateral (side to side)
footwork in order to evade the straight-line kicks Jones likes to use. While Jones did throw the occasional round kick, especially to the head, he very much favored those straight line kicks. With Gustafsson able to effectively sidestep them, however, he couldn't control the range nearly as well.
That combination
of footwork, mixing up attacks between the head/body, and his impressive
physical attributes helped Gustaffsson challenge Jones more than any fighter had, or has since. Whoever you thought won that fight, it was pretty clear that Gustafsson made things closer than most people thought possible. While many thought his height might prove an interesting challenge to Jones, his relatively unimpressive run to the title simply didn't prepare anyone for how good he would look that night.
Jones clearly learned from the experience, as he intelligently made a variety of improvements to his game thereafter. One was that he began to fight more in the pocket. Being smart enough to use his natural gifts, he didn't do so by trying to throw his long, lanky arms in such a small, confined space. Instead he relied primarily on his elbows, which have rapidly become one of his top weapons. Glover Teixeira in particular got absolutely brutalized by Jon's punishing use of his elbows up close.
Then came last Saturday's rematch.
In the first round of their second fight, things were quite close. Jones succeeded in using his better-rounded skillset, which we'll get into the details of in a moment, but Gustfasson looked good, too. One of the biggest changes he made between this fight and the first was that he mixed in more kicks with his punches. Specifically, he used leg kicks and the straight-line kicks to the knee that Jones is known for. He didn't jab to the body as much as he did the first fight, unfortunately, but his skills looked sharp overall, and the first round made it seem like it could still be anyone's fight.
It was the second round that the differences began to show, however. Though the round was still close, Jones used a variety of tactics to get the upperhand. Two of the biggest changes, paired together, is that he had more mobile footwork while also better knowing how to outstretch his arms to keep Gustafsson at bay. In the past, against shorter opponents, Jones would stick out his hands to block fighters from coming in on him. He couldn't do that the same way against Gustafsson, who shared his approximate stature. In this fight, however, he stuck out his hands on Gustafsson's shoulders. This allowed him to jam up Gustafsson's boxing, forcing Gutafsson to either retreat or engage in hand-fighting, which Jones often used to try to set up elbows and short punches.
Jones also threw far more round kicks to the legs and body to take the wind out of Gustafsson's sails. Round kicks are useful for opponents with lateral movement because its line of attack isn't a single point in front of you, but a wide sweep. These kicks landed often. Because of that Gustafsson's mobility declined more quickly than it did in the first fight, where it wasn't really compromised until Jones rocked him with that beautiful spinning back elbow. The lowered mobility, mixed with Jones using his hand-fighting and improved footwork (not on Gustafsson's level, but sufficient enough mixed with everything else), allowed Jones to better control the range.
These things all worked together in different ways. Jones used the hand-fighting to set up some of his leg kicks, for example, while his round kicks helped slow Gustafsson down enough to land more straight kicks that kept Gustafsson at range. In the third round Jones used Gustafsson's lowered mobility and his own better control of range to land that takedown, which Gustafsson didn't expect considering during the second round almost every takedown or clinch attempt was a fake meant to set up strikes. Once it got to the ground, Jones showed great positional control and passing abilities en route to a pretty devastating finish by ground 'n pound.
As I said before, it sucked watching Gustfasson lose so decisively. Still, I love me some high level MMA gameplanning and technique. Both fighters, but especially Jones, delivered those in quantities I can't help but be thankful for. UFC 232 was a great night, and this bout was an exciting, technical one that any fight fan can learn from. It'll be interesting to see what happens from here. Jon Jones has a lot more he can achieve, and a lot more greatness in technique and strategy that he can show us.
Hopefully he doesn't fuck it all up.
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