Is Jones the only A level athlete in MMA?

[mirellale]

You say Arthur is a better athlete but he's a fat roidhead, I find Romero's athleticism at 40 years old more impressive.

I also think Jones has a different kind of athleticism more suited to MMA, just cos you can catch and run doesn't mean you're gonna be a beast fighter.

He also beat one of the wrestling GOAT's Cael Sanderson twice in international competition so I don't think there's any disputing Romero being an A level athlete especially looking at him in MMA at nearly 40 years old past his physical prime and he still looks like a superhero.

How many 200lbs+ guys at 40 years old do you know who can flip like this?

that last gif..wow

 

[chuckleknuckle]

How many footballers can win a marathon? How many basketball players can do a backflip? How many 1500m world champions can dunk one handed?

What the Fuck is an A level athlete?

 

[Exemplar]

A-level reach and Gaidojutsu!

 

[blacksnake]

MMA fighters are all D level, just like your thread, TS.

 

[DaWrassler007]

OP musta forgot about Romero lol

Roidfreaks should be forgotten imo.

 

[VanMMA]

After the head kick D.C. Stumbled back to the cage & Jones attempted a flying knee

He could've jumped higher but DC got out of the way. Jones adjusted in mid-air to a body kick.

 

[mb23100]

Damn. Lol

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Jon is not really an A list athlete, he is a talented fighter but he is b level athlete at best.

I would say an A level athlete would be Brock Lesnar, GSP,

what about JDS? JDS was neck and neck with Brock in that NFL style coach's challenge and ended up beating him in the end.

which in my opinion is fuckin amazing since JDS probably has never even played football and Brock made the practice squad of the Vikings on a whim.

 

[OrangeGringo]

If you define athlete as fast and can jump high, then maybe. But if that is your criteria, then Usain Bolt is at the apex of "athlete," but I am not sure he would have excelled in MMA even if he had trained it his whole life.

Is the best marathoner in the world an A level athlete? Yes. But whoever that is probably does not have world class sprinter's speed or a vertical over 20 inches.

What about the strongest, best powerlifters? Those guys are incredible athletes. But they are not super fast (although many of them have incredible verticals, because they are usually really explosive).

What about the best tennis players? Great athletes. But probably average strength?

What about the great shot putters, decathletes, or downhill skiers. Athletes.

Tiger Woods? Michael Phelps? Tom Brady? Peyton Manning? All great athletes. None of them fit the bill you're thinking of.

There are a lot of ways to be a great athlete. Matt Hughes, for example, was incredibly strong. That's a form of athleticism. Fedor's lightning-quick hands are among the fastest I've seen. Athlete. And MMA also has some athletes that are really quick, jump high, explosive guys: Romero, Wonderboy, GSP, Mitrione etc.

Fun thing about MMA is there's a lot more to being great than just being fast and explosive. That's how plodders like Ed Herman and Derek Brunson have careers, even though they might not be able to crack first string on a good high school football team.

If you really want to watch 100 meter sprints or high jump contests, here you go:

But I get the sense you're too narrowly defining what an athlete is in your question and the assumptions you seem to be making.

 

[Nisareb]

In MMA terms I'd say Jon is a B level athlete personally (which is still impressive), he just happens to also have incredible technique, fight IQ and toughness that all combine into one awesome package.

A level athletes are people like Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez (when you consider his superhuman cardio), Yoel Romero, Hector Lombard, Demetrious Johnson, Chad Mendes, Tyron Woodley, Cody Garbrandt, Henry Cejudo, GSP, TJ Dillashaw, Dominick Cruz, John Dodson, Joseph Benavidez, Rumble Johnson, Jose Aldo etc.

 

[RicardinhoPT]

No, theres olympians that compete in MMA

A lot of olympians are amateurs...

 

[HangNail]

A lot of olympians are amateurs...

Wrestling in the Olympics is the equivalent of being a professional wrestler (Rick Flair and company excluded). It is the highest stage of competition for the sport. Judo is the exact same way. It would be foolish to call the men and women who compete in those sports "amateurs."

I believe that every single fighter for the UFC who was an Olympian competed in either freestyle, Greco Roman, or Judo. We can safely call them professional athletes.

 

[The Best JG]

A lot of olympians are amateurs...

All amateur means is u are not getting paid directly to compete.. u think usain bolt is not a good athlete???

 

[Gamer2k4]

DC is 40 year old with half a foot difference in height and one foot difference foot in reach from Jones. I'm a fan of neither but DC is a much better P4P fighter.

You can't be a better pound-for-pound fighter than someone who weighs the same as you (or less) and beats you consistently.

 

[Bewareofdawg]

A level?!?! LMAO Dude isn't even C level

Came in to post this gif

 

[rjmbrd]

Both of Jon's brothers not only made it to the NFL, they are play makers.

You have to be willfully ignorant to say he doesn't have elite genetics.

The upper weight divisions are filled with old B and C level athletes. Guys like Mitirone, well outside his athletic prime and on his THIRD athletic career, could compete at the highest level. Thats how bad the talent pool is.

When we get an A level athlete, just one, like Jon in the division, he literally becomes the greatest of all time. The NFL and NBA are covered wall to wall with guys of his caliber.

Head down to 155/170 and you'll find plenty of A level athletes in MMA. They are not of a suitable size to enter most other professional sports, and the pool is much deeper. If they were physically bigger, they would be elsewhere.

Until the pay scale (read: risk -vs- reward) changes, 205/265 is going to stay filled with one dimensional old farts until you hit the top 3 or so.

 

[kwd1253]

DC was an olympian and sub a level jones dismantled him off a layoff.

That was a mma match not Olympic wresting match.

 

[kwd1253]

Answers like this always baffles me... How does being an olympian means you are a great athlete???? Is DC a great athlete?

No he isn't, he's an absolutely terrible "athlete"

That dumb as shit. Olympic wresting is for best in the world. Name one althlet can go everything in Olympics. There not, fast sprinter in the world can't wrestle. Mayweather can't qualify making swim team but did make it in boxing. Jones couldn't qualify in anything in the Olympics

 

[BringBackTRTforFairness]

Jone Jones cant jump, hes not athletic hes smart, hard working, on drugs, long and skillful

Randleman is athletic, Manheof is athletic, Jon Jones cant jump

 

[ImNotSurpisedDonks!]

You can't be a better pound-for-pound fighter than someone who weighs the same as you (or less) and beats you consistently.

So if DJ fought Holloway at 45, didn't cut any weight, while Holloway cut weight, Holloway is better P4P? Because that is DJ's relative walk around and Holloway's cut weight. People talk of weight but don't take into account walk around weight, weight with a certain percentage of body fat, height reach and all these other measurable a that fighters manipulate. For example, Cormier has a ton of fat, used to wrestle at 184, then ballooned up.....Same with Fedor, he is so valued in P4P discussion because he was a middleweight by modern standards but just didn't cut weight and cared not for nutrition like modern fighters do.

Call it inch for inch if you want, but some fighters perform better against people that they have all the measurable a over and look exceedingly common when those measurable do are taken away (Jones vs Gus or Conor vs Diaz). P4P should take these things in common, like how Fedor, MM and Cormier excelled so greatly against men of similar proportions. Semmy Schilt reeked havoc upon the HW division, even when fighting men of his same weight, not because of skill alone, but because he was 7 feet, had an eight foot wing span, dwarfed his opponents and there is a reason he is not mentioned while talking about P4P list - Jones falls under this same class.