Jones determined in which areas. Cyrillic GaneThe skill set he expects to exhibit UFC 285The two battled for the vacant heavyweight title.
After a three-year hiatus, former light-heavyweight champion Jones returns to Octagon. to make a long-promised move to the heavyweight, where he faced former interim champion Gane.
Speaking at a pre-fight press conference on Thursday, March 2, Jones said: “I respect Ciryl Gane, I really respect her. I say this with humility, but I’m constantly working on films and seeing a lot of models. There are things she really likes to do when she’s in one stance; she’s very into the same well. When it is in the opposite stance, it has many tendencies.
“The other two big holes are jiu-jitsu and wrestling. I know you don’t wrestle much. While trying to escape, he relies on escaping. He relies on jiu-jitsu rather than solid takedown defense. Same as ground game; I watched Francis Ngannou get a best time of maybe five or six minutes in that fight, and Francis is not a man known for controlling people from head to toe.
“(Gane) hit it,” the American added. “I don’t think he’s a very strong kickboxer defensively, (but) he has a really good offense. His defense is mainly in footwork. I’d say footwork is rare for a heavyweight, (but) it’s not something he sustained for a whole fight. Round 1, Round 2, maybe even Round 3, depending on how things go, moves a lot more than the average heavyweight. However, I’ve often seen from footage that most of that bounce disappears in championship rounds.
“Then another thing that really sets him apart is a lot of heavyweights who rely on proper defense to block punches and kicks, whereas we realized that Ciryl Gane likes to step back very fast. But that’s her talent, her ability to move her feet. Other than that, I feel like everything in his skill set is something I’ve seen before.”
The 32-year-old, 11-1 professionally and French, suffered his first defeat in mixed martial arts in January 2022 when he was surpassed by former teammate Ngannou, who used a surprising wrestling stunt to defend his heavyweight title.
Ngannou left the UFC this January and relinquished the heavyweight belt to set up the main event of UFC 285. Jones will finally bid to become a two-weight champion.
Jones, 35, came in 26-1 (1 No Contest) as a pro and his only defeat came in a controversial disqualification in 2009.
Click here To subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos.