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By: Raz, MMATorch UK Contributor
Welcome to this week's edition of MOTW! Today we will be discussing the main event at UFC 165 where we saw the defending UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones taking on his toughest test to date in the form of Alexander Gustafsson. This fight didn't receive the hype it deserved given how the fight went. We have two young fighters growing into there prime with similar height and reach, but they couldn't be anymore stylistically different. With Jones having a strong offensive wrestling base mixed with his unorthodox striking game against Gustafsson's strong boxing base good defensive wrestling, this fight was expected to go wherever Jones wanted it to be however this wasn't the case. Let's have a closer look.
In the beginning
Before this fight, before the belt, we started off with two young fighters working there way up in the UFC's light heavyweight division. With Jones showing a dynamic striking game, it was only fair he stood out. Meanwhile, Gustafsson was working his way up in the division in a more silent way where people noticed but didn't truly see the potential.
Jones famously went on to step up his game and train at Greg Jackson's camp with former friend and foe Rashad Evans. In the meantime, Gustafsson went on to lose to then rising contender Phil Davis, which took the wind out of his sails for a while.
Thus we have two fighters set on different paths, with Jones going on to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and cement himself as one of the greatest pound for pound fighters. During that time Gustafsson started rebuilding his career stepping up his game going on to train with former opponent Phil Davis and his camp. After his loss to Davis, Gustafsson went on to finish his next two fights by submission, and his next to after that by KO.
He continued his winning ways with two straight decisions, stringing together a six fight win streak earning the right to fight Jones. Both fighters were being matched up earlier in their careers when it became considerably noticeable that Jones was physically big for the division, and some went on to say it was down to his physical attributes that he was so successful and not down to skill. With Gustafsson being the closest physically gifted fighter in the division, the pair were bound to fight when the time was right.
The Fight
Leading up into this fight it was billed as being "Greatness within reach," highlighting the physical similarities between the two fighters. During the pre-fight shows everything seemed to be focused on the physical attributes of the two fighters rather then the skills possessed, but it was unanimously decided within the MMA community that wherever this fight went, Jones was going to be better. Further, if Jones felt threatened on the feet, he would likely take down Gustafsson and control him throughout, and that's why this fight was such a surprising one.
I won't go into the details of the fight itself, it's been rehashed plenty, but I will give you my take on it: surprise. Straight from the start, Gustafsson did something most opponents don't tend to do, and that was taking to the centre and pushing forward against Jones. I believe this caught Jones of guard and he didn't expect this from the challenger.
Jones used a lot of movement trying to work out the puzzle in front of him. He seemed to be on the back foot throughout the first round and was even taken down which caught everyone of guard. After the first round I was sat around the TV with my friends and I said "We have a fight on our hands right here" which is exactly what we received.
This fight was a lot of back and forth action, and I do believe without a physical advantage, Jones was unable to take Gustafsson down at will or land as much as he would like on Gustafsson. There are moments I think that went unnoticed throughout the fight, and it has to be highlighted when scoring the bout.
Jones landed several head kicks throughout the fight, but Gustafsson's ability to eat them and move forward caused many of them to get overlooked. I think Gustafsson showed a small hole in Jone's game, which was speed. I believe Gustafsson was the quicker fighter, and it became more noticeable throughout the fight; however, did anybody notice how many times Gustafsson was able to catch his opponents leg? There were times where he was able to hold onto Jones' leg but didn't know what to do once he had it, and it was an awkward couple of seconds whilst Jones rolled his way out of it every time.
The one thing that became noticeable as the fight went on was the way Jones defended himself moving backwards, and not many may notice but when Jones' guard failed him he would move his head back at an angle where it would seem he is looking away from his opponent to keep his head as far back as possible. This is a hole in Jones' game because it leaves him open to a head kick of the back foot. I believe Gustafsson had Jones cornered against the cage at times, but rather then follow up with strikes he seemed to back away and I believe this came down to the final attribute of the fight and this was cardio.
It was clear by round four that Gustafsson was tired, and though Jones was getting there as well, it allowed him to capitalise in his best round yet with a vicious spinning elbow. That would have knocked out lesser opponents, and it had Gustafsson hurt at the end of the round. The final round came and it was apparent Jones had a little more left in the gas tank than his opponent. You could see it when Gustafsson put his hands on his waist and stood still for a breather. The fight ended in a decision for Jones, but there's been plenty of speculation on how close this fight truly was, and I would like to help break it down.
The result and the future
Since this fight everyone who watched it has an opinion on it, and it would seem the many think Jones did just enough, but let's have a closer look. The fans think it was close and could have gone either way. The fighters are in favour of Gustafsson, some even going as far as implying it was robbery. The media seems to believe Jones won the fight by a single round and this becomes a bit of a problem, because it depends on what the judges are scoring on.
I watched the fight live and I was scoring right from the beginning, and for me the first round belonged to Gustafsson and the last round was for Jones; so it comes down to the three rounds in between, and this is where fans are confused. In pretty much every round of the three, Gustafsson controlled the majority of the round, landing cleaner strikes with more consistency and defending several take down attempts. Jones didn't land as consistently, but when he landed it was with devastating effect. The rounds were often controlled by Gustafsson due to his striking, but coming to the final minute of each round Jones would turn it up a notch and out strike and land more.
It would be hard to score the rounds in between as I have noticed a trend where judges score a fighter for completing a take down, but they don't tend to score when a fighter defends a take down, and I have an issue with this. This for me is why wrestling is the dominant art used in the Octagon. If a fighter goes for a takedown and it gets defended, then the fighter who defended doesn't receive anything from the judges; however, if the fighter succeeds in his takedown it is a major score for them and normally wins them the round.
Surely this type of scoring will always favour the wrestlers? This is the case we have with this fight, and I believe when Gustafsson stuffed many of the take downs he wasn't scored for it. In theory, a fighter could attempt a takedown but not complete it for a whole fight, yet still be awarded the fight because he was on offense. However, the fighter defending the takedown throughout wont be scored, and thus we have the snoozer fights (not saying that's what Jones was doing).
This is a big issue in MMA but I am not going to go any further into that and save it for a time more appropriate. Still, this for me was a contributing factor in this fight, and if it was scored for defensive wrestling as well then I would give this fight 3-2 in favour of Alexander Gustafsson.
The future for these two young fighters is big and I expect a rematch is destined to happen, unless Jones decides to move up to heavyweight which I believe he is contemplating. I believe you could warrant an immediate rematch after this fight due to the split opinion, as well as with Glover Teixeira being the next in line and not looking ready for Jones (as per his previous performance). It would be wholly justified to have Gustaffson granted a rematch.
I think Jones won't be too happy with the idea, and may even request Glover to be given to him next so that he can leave the division and move up in weight in 2014. The question we have to ask ourselves - and not many people have asked - is can Jones be as effective with opponents who as just as physically gifted as he is? If the Gustafsson fight is anything to go off of I would say no, as he normally uses his reach in all his fights to his advantage and dominates. He couldn't use his reach that well in this fight, and therefore that's a big part of his game gone.
If Jones is given Teixeira I believe he will beat him and then move up in weight. However, after seeing what big people can do to him, he may think twice before trying to go after the physical specimens that are JDS or Cain Velasquez.
Gustafsson, on the other hand, may have lost this fight, but he is still a winner in the eyes of many. What he did to Jones won't be forgotten any time soon. I think he deserves a rematch, but if the UFC go against the idea, then I would like to see Gustafsson fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira or the winner of Rashad Evans-Chael Sonnen. Regardless, both of these fighters did a great job on Saturday night, and really delivered. Both deserve a tremendous amount of respect for going out there and putting it all on the line; they are absolute warriors, and I only believe this fight will help them both grow from this experience.
Have you got an opinion on this? Disagree or Agree with me? Send me your tweets fight fans! @Raz_UFC and use #MMATorch That wraps it up for this week's edition of Moment of the week. Thank you and Good night!
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