I was actually rooting for Jones first time against Gane (I don't care if you believe it or not), because I tend to root fighters I see as an underdogs. The older and more out of prime Jones gets, the more I root for him. It has happened to me with a lot of other fighters as well that I have disliked, once they have gotten old. I might root Jones against Stipe too, but currently I see it as a close fight. A lot of it depends how much Stipe has declined the past 2 years, and none of us can really know that, so its a big question mark.
He did look old, and clumsy on the feet against Gane, imo, just like I was expecting, and that's why I was rooting for him, because I was worried of him being in serious trouble on the feet once Gane gets comfortable, and I would still feel the same if they fought a second time. He's been out of his prime for a long time, and I genuinely don't understand his fans that don't see it just because he escaped some close decisions in his final fights at LHW. Those fights weren't "Jones just taking it easy", he is just not the same fighter anymore he once was.
I'm sorry brother.
My response was a bit rude. You've always been fairly reasonable with me, so I respect that more than most.
You're also correct. He looked a bit sluggish. He testified this himself in the post fight press conference, said he didn't spar at all during camp.
He did look smart defensively and tactically, even in his sluggishness though.
That being said, I don't think his last two fights were him necessarily being out of his prime.
I've watched the DC Jones 2 fight recently. Multiple times.
And you simply seen a different Jones.
DC is one of the best fighters in the history of the sport. Outside of Jones, I would argue he could beat any man that has ever lived at LHW or HW.
Jones knew he needed to tap into his absolute full potential and come with his full tactical prowess to beat him.
That simply wasn't the case against Reyes.
Reyes couldn't even hit him. He connected cleanly perhaps 6 times and that's being incredibly generous. What Reyes did looked good, but in reality he wasn't hitting him.
So, what I saw is that Jones basically did the bare minimum, tapped into a fraction of his potential and still beat Reyes.
With Santos, that was 4-1 Jones, where Santos tested him was in the kicking game where at his peak, he's probably one of the best in the history of either LHW or HW.
His Muay Thai background mixed with capoeira was a very interesting test.
But that was also Jones challenging him where he's best.
He truly came to kill DC. To prove he's superior. That was the real Jones.
If he came with the same ferocity against Santos. He would've took him down within the first 2 rounds and ended him.
He would've threw about 5x more against Reyes.
It's like saying Jones was out of his prime against OSP. No, he's just been on top for so long, that these guys can't motivate him.
This is something that even DC said. Rashad. Smith, who vividly painted a picture of a disinterested Jones. These are all guys who fought him.
I understand where you're coming from, but it's upon watching the DC fight multiple times did I realize how good Jones really is.
You only truly seen his best self against certain fighters.
Which can, in theory make him a tricky fighter to analyze at times.
You're a smart guy, but you just miss the full picture at times.