fbpx
UFC

French Heavyweights: UFC 270 Preview

French Heavyweights Fight for Championship at UFC 270
  |  

The Heavyweight champion is said to be the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’. The UFC 270 title unification bout will crown the new undisputed UFC Heavyweight champion. Better yet, it will showcase the UFC’s biggest French mixed martial artists.

Jon Jones’ move to heavyweight makes this pay per view extra special, because he will face the winner of UFC 270 next for the title. No matter what the rankings say, Jon Jones is the #1 pound for pound fighter on the planet. The UFC’s ranking committee uses politics to evaluate fighters’ spots on the pound for pound list. Inactivity is no justification to take the youngest MMA champion in history, the lineal 205lb champion, who is yet to be defeated and has won over 10 undisputed titles, and rank him underneath champions with five or less title defenses. Jon Jones has been gone two years and they still have not closed the gap on him.

UFC 270 to Crown French Champion

Ciryl Gane will face Francis Ngannou at UFC 270, both being huge threats to defeat Jon Jones. However, Gane may be more of a threat because he is agile, has greater defensive footwork and uses more techniques than Ngannou.

Ngannou hits hard, but he is considerably slower and less experienced than every knockout artist Jon Jones has faced. But you can never count out a fighter from the home of savate. They have flown under the radar forever but continue to generate respected kickboxers and French-boxers.

If Daniel Cormier, Ryan Bader, ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Shogun Rua, Vitor Belfort and Gustafsson could barely land clean on Jon Jones, it is safe to say Ngannou will have a tough time. Ngannou’s reach is longer than those opponents, but he just seems too slow. Even when Jon has been touched, we have never seen him hurt. His chin might be as durable as a prime Carlos Condit or Dan Henderson.

Jon Jones at Heavyweight

So to think Ngannou, who is one of the least technical boxers in the UFC, can KO Jon Jones is a reach. Especially considering Jones is known for his striking defense, grappling dominance and his chin. Luke Thomas asserts that Jones is not the same offensively. Thomas is widely respected and such an elite analyst that I won’t challenge his observations. But to me, Jones’ defense has shown no decline, and that is what will matter at Heavyweight. His striking power was always average. So for years he would turn to spinning elbows, kicks and ground and pound to really hurt his opponents. He has thrown these techniques less over the years in order to mitigate risk. That may be the smart thing to do against the winner of UFC 270.

Jon Jones is still the best in the world. We have to respect what this man has done and can still do. He may be MMA’s Tom Brady despite the sport being so young.