One of the attributes that made Jon Jones arguably one of the greatest talents that the sport of mixed martial arts has ever known was his ability to adapt and evolve as a fighter.
While he came from wrestling, Jones has constantly worked to add new elements to his arsenal so he’s ready for any kind of fight that an opponent might throw at him.
Jones definitely isn’t afraid to address areas where he’s struggled in the past so those shortcomings don’t ever come back to bite him in a fight. That’s why Jones has remained undefeated throughout his career — minus one loss from a disqualification for illegal blows — and is widely regarded as one of the best fighters in the history of the sport.
Ahead of a showdown against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October, Jones was asked recently for his thoughts on lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and areas where the undefeated Russian might have a few holes that haven’t really been exposed yet.
“I think Khabib, his boxing defense is not the strongest,” Jones said when speaking to ‘Allow Me to Interrupt’ in Russia. “I also don’t understand why he doesn’t work a lot of jiu-jitsu. If you can take down anybody, why not know how to finish them?
“He depends on ground and pound and he never finishes anyone with that. Khabib’s a black belt wrestler. If he adds a black belt in jiu-jitsu to his recipe, he’d be extremely scary.”
Nurmagomedov has definitely been dominant since first arriving in the UFC and stylistically he would seem to have at least one major advantage over McGregor thanks to his wrestling.
In the past, McGregor has struggled at times to stop the takedown and his one loss in the UFC came after an ill-advised grappling exchange with Nate Diaz that ended in a submission.
While McGregor will probably never tout himself as a grappler first, Jones cautions everybody not to look past what the former two division champion could do to stop Nurmagomedov from taking him to the mat.
As much as there might be a mismatch on the ground, McGregor might offer the same level of lopsided attack on the feet when going up against the Russian.
“I believe that Conor McGregor has wrestling,” Jones said. “I don’t think it’s at the level of Khabib. I believe Khabib will get the majority of his takedowns that he goes for but Conor, he’s an athlete.
“He shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Do you agree with Jon Jones and his assessment of Khabib Nurmagomedov ahead of showdown against Conor McGregor at UFC 229? Sound off in the comments and let us know.
