If Jones loses at Heavyweight

I think Jones feels that his time is up at LHW.

It's been increasingly tough for him to win his fights there, but he still managed to make it undefeated this far (besides that Hamill DQ loss). He's somewhat following the GSP blueprint in that he dominated the division for a long time, held the title longer than anyone else before, and now the last few fights have proved to be harder and harder, and the next logical move is switching to another division in search of a new challenge, which, in reality, is more of an escape toward new waters where new opportunities are available and the surprise factor can give you a new, much-needed edge that you wouldn't get in your original division.

The thing is, the higher you go up in weight, the steeper the transition should be, at least on paper. There's a 10 pound difference between divisions in the lower weight classes (125, 135, 145, 155) but then it's 15 pound gaps (170-185) and then 20 pounds and more. Jones ain't a small man by any stretch of the imagination, but there are some absolute behemoths at HW.

I'm looking at the top 15 HWs, and I don't see a whole lot of matchups where I'd personally favour Jones to be the victor. This is a high risk/high reward situation, definitely. But I think the comparison with other GOAT contenders such as GSP will be inevitable when he fights at HW. But how he compares to GSP depends on a number of factors too. Will he, like GSP, fight for the title immediately? Will he win his first HW fight? Does he get a finish, or does it end in yet another controversial decision?

I don't think Jones can fall into oblivion at this point. He's secured a status as one of the all-time greats, albeit not without any controversy. Have I lost interest in watching his fights? I admit that I have. I hadn't seen the Reyes fight until this morning, and it was underwhelming. Does this renew my interest in his next fight? It certainly does, so that's a good starting point. But I honestly don't think we have 3 more years of Jones' career ahead of us.
 
Moro said:
He has a loss at LHW no matter how the nuthuggers slice it, a loss at HW wouldn’t mean much either.
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he absolutely doesn't have a loss on his record. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows this...are you actually talking about his destruction of mat hammil? in which he almost murdered the guy? due to a stupid rule, the ref robbed jones of his win....but make no mistake, a loss is when you either tap out, get knocked out or lose a decision...any other way isn't a loss....especially when nobody considers it a loss. now, if you want to say he lost to Reyes. great...but according to all the judges, jones won that fight.
 
The Chosen said:
Khabib never lost a round and had finishes against his toughest competition and GSP was never busted for PEDs while being a successful double champ
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dude, you obviously missed khabibs fight against Gleison Tibau. do me a favor and go on youtube or where ever and watch that fight...most mma websites had Tibau winning that fight...not just a round, but the entire fight.
 
The Chosen said:
Khabib never lost a round and had finishes against his toughest competition and GSP was never busted for PEDs while being a successful double champ
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BForrester said:
They haven't failed numerous drug tests? They haven't hid from test sample collectors?
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Sure, but if it's about PED then he should neither be considered the greatest fighter nor the greatest champion (see original message by @The Chosen for context).
 
Lee_ said:
2 losses really. First fight against Gus was not a win.

Jon will greatly benefit from the super weak division with no grapplers. He still can't beat all of them, even if he matches well with strikers that can be controlled on the ground.
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when jones beat gus in the rematch, that made their first fight, totally mute...it no longer exists...cause jones proved with proper training, he can easily beat gus.
 
bigconan said:
dude, you obviously missed khabibs fight against Gleison Tibau. do me a favor and go on youtube or where ever and watch that fight...most mma websites had Tibau winning that fight...not just a round, but the entire fight.
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How about you go back and watch it?
 
it changes nothing. Does it hurt fedor or anderson legacy they lost later in their careers? Bones never lost in his prime. He is definitely on the downside going on 34 this year and a shit ton of fight mileage.
 
It changes nothing, he will never be a true GOAT because of the multiple PED violations on his record. Jon barely got by, Santos and Reyes, I doubt he goes very far in HW unless he goes straight against Stipe and gets lucky. I'm pretty sure Francis can KO him.
 
bigconan said:
he absolutely doesn't have a loss on his record. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows this...are you actually talking about his destruction of mat hammil? in which he almost murdered the guy? due to a stupid rule, the ref robbed jones of his win....but make no mistake, a loss is when you either tap out, get knocked out or lose a decision...any other way isn't a loss....especially when nobody considers it a loss. now, if you want to say he lost to Reyes. great...but according to all the judges, jones won that fight.
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Like I said, still an official loss no matter how you slice it, it is what it is.
 
I don't see how Khabib is the greater Champion, unless your argument is around the juice use.. But otherwise absolutely not imo.
 
i would be so happy to watch him lose at HW to Jan, stipe and francis. Then he'd have to go back down to defend against stylebender
 
Ryeboi said:
i would be so happy to watch him lose at HW to Jan, stipe and francis. Then he'd have to go back down to defend against stylebender
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More like challenge Stylebender. The fight only happens if Jon can become HW champ and Adesanya can become LHW champ. Adesanya and Jon would meet at HW for Israel to be the first triple champ.
 
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