“To a mixed martial artist, to a trained eye, that fight was masterful in some ways. Did I get a big knockout and get drunk people off their seats? No, but did I hit and not be hit? Yes. I’ve fought many different martial artists and as a martial artist myself, I look at it as being masterful. I fought with no agenda. I wasn’t trying to be entertaining. I wasn’t trying to finish the fight necessarily. I was just out there fighting. I was just out there enjoying my art and I’m really happy with the performance… To elaborate a little bit, you watch Luke [Rockhold] try to go out there and be impressive, showboating and doing all this [expletive] and he gets caught by Michael Bisping. Everything that he’s worked for is over. You watch Fabricio Werdum go out there making faces before the fight, rushing in against [Stipe] Miocic, trying to entertain a huge Brazilian crowd and he gets caught and everything’s over. You watch Anderson Silva fight the way he fights and ultimately ends up losing the fight… When you fight the way I fought, the way my last fight was, and you come out on top it’s like how much does entertaining really matter? It’s like Floyd Mayweather, goes out there and fights smart and becomes one of the greatest boxers of all time and makes a ton of money… What’s more important – being entertaining or being a winner? Most people don’t like to hear this, but I think being a winner is clearly more important.”
-Jon Jones addresses critics of his UFC 197 performance against Ovince Saint Preux, and why he was ultimately pleased with the fight, in an interview with FoxSports.com.
Penick’s Analysis: Jones is capable of doing both, but unnecessary risk has felled too many overconfident competitors that there’s no reason for him to put himself in that position. If he fights comfortably against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200, he’s probably going to win that fight again. The entertainment of that fight may depend on Cormier’s desperation to win, and that may not be a huge selling point for some. Still, Jones believes himself to be the best fighter in the world, and keeping himself on top as the best in this game is more than just the talent and skillset. Anything can happen in that cage, and as Jones notes we’ve seen that happen very recently. He can’t let it happen to him, and that’s in many reasons why the UFC 197 fight played out the way it did.
[Photo (c) Mark J. Rebilas via USA Today Sports]
Attention iPhone/iPad and Android users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store and/or Google Play store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out!
For current App users, swipe right to view next article, swipe left to view previous article.
Leave a Reply