Path to victory for Stipe against Jon?

[Nathan LaMontagne]

Hard to be sure, what with four years of not seeing how Stipe moves and reacts, and knowing how much can fail within that span — especially those specific rounding-the-curve-of-40 years. But there may be ways.

• Some pundits say that Jones is superlative all the way out (his kicking game) and all the way in (his clinch game with elbows), but really doesn't have a good way to get from one to the other. His boxing has always been suss. Maybe somewhere there lies Stipe's path. Keep a good boxing distance, and counteract how much he may have slowed down by setting traps for Jon to getting him moving the way needed to expose himself for a punch that's harder than he's ever been hit before.

• Clinch and foot stomp. I'm serious. It's a stupid pointless activity in every other fight, but Jon has almost had a toe fall off. And judging by how he's said he wouldn't ever fight without them letting that digit be taped up, it's always on his mind. Maybe a few good heels to the bad foot would rattle Jon enough to make him do something stupid...

• Capitalize on what may be Jon's overconfidence. Stipe is the king of being underestimated. And I have a theory that because Stipe hasn't shown a BJJ game in the cage, Jones thinks he can do him like he did Gane. But I've seen multiple testimonies declare that Stipe is almost impossible to submit, that defensively he's a force. So if Jones gets him down and goes for a submission, Stipe might be able get out, get on top and fuck up Jones' world with ground and pound.

Great, well thought out assessment.

Also who really knows how good Jones' cardio is at HW and so much time off.

Stipe may not have youth but he is tough as nails. He's been dead to rights and pulled it out.

I thought if Stipe kept his jab short, give Jones the illusion of a shorter reach and have the right prepared for a long, hard straight.

Also I can't think of any examples but how is Jones reacting to body shots?

Stipe has a good one.

 

[Hdfi]

^I'm not kidding. I think his best chance is to go full kill or be killed in the first round. At the age of 42 he will not have cardio, chin, etc. to beat Jones in R2-5.

 

[BigOlJeet]

Easily, enforce Jones to fight without roids BOOM Stipe wins.

 

[fedorthegoat777]

Stipe was put in there to lose, he is not winning.

 

[ComfortablyNumb55]

Punch his head really hard.

 

[Goutfather]

A prime Stipe could probably pose some challenges for Jones
But … being brutally knocked out in his last fight…

ahhh say no more. he lost his last fight. he’s a can.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

ahhh say no more. he lost his last fight. he’s a can.

its a combo of things imo. Getting chin cracked by Ngannou plus inactivity for years and being in his 40s, and going up against arguably the goat

 

[sonhow]

Bodyshots

Stylistically if Stip is even close to his Ngannou 2 fight form its avtually pretty interesting and if that were the case Id pick him to win. Like what is Jones gonna do, take him down? Nope. Then it comes to striking matchup and in that Id have to favor 2021 Stipe over a fat Jones.

But who knows with 2024 Stipe.

 

[Goutfather]

its a combo of things imo. Getting chin cracked by Ngannou plus inactivity for years and being in his 40s, and going up against arguably the goat

ive seen at least 3 times people counted out stipe and then he managed to win. counting him out is a bad idea.

 

[Davidjacksonjones]

ive seen at least 3 times people counted out stipe and then he managed to win. counting him out is a bad idea.

Fair enough. Anything can happen in MMA. And at HW one clean punch is all it takes and Stipe hits very hard
Nearly everyone counted Sean Strickland out against izzy including myself
I guess there's a small possibility Stipe can pull off the upset

 

[nonoob]

I think his best chance is to go full kill or be killed in the first round.

Totally agree, overwhelm Jones to prevent any scumbag eyepokes.

 

[Oddmonster]

Dirty boxing mixed with defensive wrestling ? Using his natural heavyweight frame to force Jon into uncomfortable situations? Make it a firefight? I mean since he fought DC and Ngannou 2x each ..

Look, Jon is the least powerful puncher out of all them easily. Stipe survived 7 rounds with Ngannou and like how ever many with heavyweight DC . Beating him twice.

JBJ subbing Gane the way he did was amazing but we still don't know how he'll react to strikes from a heavyweight how much his cardio is affected and how much his speed is affected especially since he got hurt.

There's a way for stipe. I sense it and it's intriguing to think about.

Step1 -




Step 2

 

[Oddmonster]

ive seen at least 3 times people counted out stipe and then he managed to win. counting him out is a bad idea.

I am not counting out Stipe, but I do believe his chances would have been much better before the almost 4 years of not fighting. And before he got K.O'ed twice. I would say Stipe right now is the weakest version of Stipe that has ever been.

I hope I am wrong and the long lay off has helped him, and he got stronger with age.

 

[humdizzle]

stipe has a punchers chance.

but at this point we have no idea how either of them look. In the last 4 years --- Jones has had like 2 minutes of fight time. stipe barely had 2 rounds before getting pummeled by ngannou in 2021.

 

[RockyLockridge]

outbox him, Fight dirty, Go for jones body

 

[dominion]

Pretty much how Reyes best him except don't gas out in the 4th

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Box his head off.

I hope Stipe pulls it off somehow.

 

[STRAWBOSS]

Start fast. Force Jones to make decisions fast by being aggressive. This is better than starting slow and allowing Jon to get comfortable because thats where Jon thrives. Be first and put hands on him. No low conviction punches. Hard jabs. Hard crosses. Heavy hooks. Pummel like crazy and throw bombs on the break and dont allow Jon contol the distance and pot shot. Better to keep Jon on the back foot and problem solving under pressure. Better to go for it than to get caught looking.

exactly this. I have Jon winning this one but this is the way to do it. Jones does that stupid thing of squatting in the cage and loping to the center without the least bit of fire under his ass. If Stipe just started in on him at the start Jones would feel uncomfortable, because he's not accustomed to waking up so early in a fight.

 

[PEDRO IVO RUSSO MIRANDA]

Eye poking and nutshots.
I doubt Jones want to win his last figth by DQ or an NC.

 

[arcadeperfect]

Boxing, which is Stipe's best weapon. He has the wrestling background and the size to negate Jones's grappling which means the fight has to be won on the feet. Stipe has the longest reach that Jones has ever come across at 80 inches and has legit KO power. If guys like Gus and Reyes can succeed someone of Stipe's caliber should be able to land good punches as well. The only question is Stipe's age and mileage.