GDT: UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes

[Avs_19]

Date: February 8, 2020
Venue: Toyota Center
City: Houston, Texas
Time: 10pm ET/7pm PT
Viewing: PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Jon Jones (c) vs. Dominick Reyes
Women's Flyweight Championship bout: Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Heavyweight bout: Juan Adams vs. Justin Tafa
Featherweight bout: Mirsad Bektić vs. Dan Ige
Heavyweight bout: Derrick Lewis vs. Ilir Latifi

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, TSN 5)

Middleweight bout: Trevin Giles vs. Antonio Arroyo
Welterweight bout: Alex Morono vs. Kalinn Williams
Women's Flyweight bout: Lauren Murphy vs. Andrea Lee
Bantamweight bout: Miles Johns vs. Mario Bautista

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass)

Bantamweight bout: Journey Newson vs. Domingo Pilarte
Bantamweight bout: Andre Ewell vs. Jonathan Martinez
Featherweight bout: Austin Lingo vs. Youseff Zalal​

Click to read more...

 

[CDJ]

Bektić and Ige should good. Lewis and Latifi should be fun. Everything else I do not care much about

 

[m9]

That bout order is hilarious. Adams/Tafa is a regional level fight. The other 4 main card fights are good though.

Those prelims are just awful, though.

 

[m9]

I think Reyes standup is better than what Jones has shown recently. If this fight stays standing, Reyes either wins or keeps it extremely close. We'll see if Jones took that Santos fight as an actual wake-up call or if he just took the win and moved on.

So yeah, will be interesting. Jones taking him down and smashing Reyes is the logical method, but if this fight is on the feet and Jones hasn't made improvements I think we have a new champ on Saturday.

 

[Avs_19]

I think Reyes standup is better than what Jones has shown recently. If this fight stays standing, Reyes either wins or keeps it extremely close. We'll see if Jones took that Santos fight as an actual wake-up call or if he just took the win and moved on.

So yeah, will be interesting. Jones taking him down and smashing Reyes is the logical method, but if this fight is on the feet and Jones hasn't made improvements I think we have a new champ on Saturday.

I can't pick against Jones until I actually see him lose once but I'm feeling the same way. Jones can make this easy on himself if he takes the fight to the ground, which I think he should be able to do if he wants. If it stays standing then Reyes will give him problems and has a good chance to win. He might be hesitant to throw kicks because he doesn't want to get taken down but he has a good striking game overall and doesn't just rely on his hands.

Other than that, Lewis/Latifi and Bektic/Ige could be good. Valentina always shows up as well but I doubt she has much trouble in this fight.

 

[CDJ]

Ppl forget Reyes lost to Oezdemir, that happened regardless of what the judges say.

I will say this- I was at the fight in Boston with Weidman and it looked like Weidman did get deep on a shot. Reyes managed to hold up (and flatlined him not too long afterwards). That’s a pretty good sign at least. Granted Weidman is a lot smaller but the guy can grapple

I might be a homer because Thiago is my favorite fighter but I think a healthy Santos puts Reyes on the moon and I know MMA math doesn’t work but it’s Jon freakin Jones and I think he submits Reyes in round 2


This card lost 4 fights that were rumored for it at one point. OSP/Spann, sugar Sean/quinonez, Lima/Morono, and Rivera/Vera. Damn shame because it has zero depth. Morono is still on the card but I was more interested in seeing Lima.

 

[pistolpete11]

Sorry, but this card sucks outside of the main event.

Reyes is a good striker, but as @CDJ said, he struggled with Oezdemir. Different styles and all of that, but if you can't handle Oezdemir, how are you going to handle Jones? I really think Jones looking human in his last couple has more to do with not getting motivated than getting old or getting off PEDs or anything like that. I think Reyes poked the bear a little bit too much in order to get the fight though, so I'm expecting Jones to go in looking to smash him.

I like Chookagian and she's a couple of split decisions away from being undefeated, but does she pose any type of threat to Valentina? Valentina is too well rounded and too smart to lose a 5 round decision and I can't imagine Chookagian finishing her somehow. Hopefully Valentina is in killer mode and can provide some excitement before the main event. Unfortunately, she's also very capable of giving us 5 rounds of slow paced point fighting.

Sorry, but Juan Adams-Justin Tafa is not a Fight Night main card fight let alone a PPV main card.

Bektic-Ige is an OK fight, but is also not PPV main card worthy IMO.

Lewis-Latifi is just a weird fight. Props to Latifi for having the balls to take on Lewis, especially in his first HW fight, but the size difference is too big to ignore.

 

[pistolpete11]

Luke Thomas made the point that Jones might also be more motivated to dominate if his plan is to setup a super fight with either Stylebender or Stipe. If that is indeed his plan, I think Luke has a point. To hype up a super fight, you want Jones to be more the guy who's considered by many to be the GOAT and less the guy barely squeaking by failed MW's.

 

[m9]

Luke Thomas made the point that Jones might also be more motivated to dominate if his plan is to setup a super fight with either Stylebender or Stipe. If that is indeed his plan, I think Luke has a point. To hype up a super fight, you want Jones to be more the guy who's considered by many to be the GOAT and less the guy barely squeaking by failed MW's.

I'm pretty sure there was talk of super fights last year when Jones was putting in the Smith/Santos performances and he hardly looked motivated.

Additionally, setting up a super fight makes it more likely to me that Jones fights safe like he did last year so he doesn't ruin the super fight by losing or getting hurt.

I mean, I don't know. Jones has had other fights he needed to setup a big fight and it didn't mean anything. He needed to beat OSP to setup the 2nd Cormier fight and he just went through the motions.

Seems like a reach by Luke Thomas. Jones will probably win because he's better, not because he's trying to get attention at HW.

 

[Jasper]

I know it's MMA math but Weidman took Reyes down pretty easily. There's no chance he could do that against Jones. Jones has looked beatable lately but I don't think Reyes has the tools to do it. Not exactly going out on a limb, but I think Jones wins pretty easily, however he decides to fight on Saturday.

 

[crazychimp]

I just don’t see Reyes doing well against Jones, if Jones wins his next move should be to go to HW and fight Stipe.

 

[member 51464]

Am I the only one with the impression Jones only wants Stipe to punk DC? I think Jones feels like he can jump DC in line and assumes DC would just retire then so his last fight is the loss to Stipe rather than potentially going out on top as champ. It's the ultimate f*** you.

 

[Neutrinos]

Am I the only one with the impression Jones only wants Stipe to punk DC? I think Jones feels like he can jump DC in line and assumes DC would just retire then so his last fight is the loss to Stipe rather than potentially going out on top as champ. It's the ultimate **** you.

If Cormier beats Stipe, and then retires, there's a good chance Ngannou will be given an opportunity to fight for the vacated belt

If you're Jon Jones, you want absolutely nothing to do with Ngannou

I think Jones is pushing for Stipe because it's a favourable match-up for him

Jones can move up to HW, beat Stipe in a big money superfight, and then move back down to 205

 

[Moncherry]

I know it's MMA math but Weidman took Reyes down pretty easily. There's no chance he could do that against Jones. Jones has looked beatable lately but I don't think Reyes has the tools to do it. Not exactly going out on a limb, but I think Jones wins pretty easily, however he decides to fight on Saturday.

Then Reyes KO'd him in under two minutes. Weidman gets takes downs on everyone, it's inconsequential. Jones will most likely win but this doesn't even qualify as MMA math.

 

[pistolpete11]

If Cormier beats Stipe, and then retires, there's a good chance Ngannou will be given an opportunity to fight for the vacated belt

If you're Jon Jones, you want absolutely nothing to do with Ngannou

I think Jones is pushing for Stipe because it's a favourable match-up for him

Jones can move up to HW, beat Stipe in a big money superfight, and then move back down to 205

I think this is right. I'm a big Stipe fan, but Stipe is as good of a matchup for Jones at HW as he could hope for. He could go to HW, win the belt, and then decide what he wants to do. Maybe he does the DC trilogy at HW or maybe he goes back down to LHW and lets them strip him of the HW belt or who knows, maybe he thinks he can beat any of those HW and he sticks around until there is a big fight at LHW.

If he loses to Stipe, I don't think it's that big of a hit to his legacy. He's still arguably the GOAT (depending on how you feel about the PED stuff) and can go back to LHW and still be the champ.

But I've been down this Jones is going to move to HW road before and it hasn't happened yet, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[MD thaivuN]

as the biggest Reyes mark here, i believe he'll dethrone Jones. He can kick with Jones at range, he's a better boxer than Jones. Plus, Jones is a less effective wrestler against tall fighters.

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Am I the only one with the impression Jones only wants Stipe to punk DC? I think Jones feels like he can jump DC in line and assumes DC would just retire then so his last fight is the loss to Stipe rather than potentially going out on top as champ. It's the ultimate **** you.

This definitely crossed my mind, and I have no doubt Jones is petty enough to do it. I don't think he'd do it if it was Ngannou, but as mentioned Stipe is a pretty good matchup for him.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Then Reyes KO'd him in under two minutes. Weidman gets takes downs on everyone, it's inconsequential. Jones will most likely win but this doesn't even qualify as MMA math.

and it was hardly a takedown too. Weidman only took him to a 50/50 scramble position.

 

[LSCII]

I think Jones takes this one easily. Jones is a cheat and a terrible person, but whenever someone shit talks him, he gets up for the match. I expect him to walk through Reyes very quickly, and mainly because of the shit Reyes said leading up to the fight.

 

[LSCII]

Am I the only one with the impression Jones only wants Stipe to punk DC? I think Jones feels like he can jump DC in line and assumes DC would just retire then so his last fight is the loss to Stipe rather than potentially going out on top as champ. It's the ultimate **** you.

No, I think that's exactly why he said it. The guy is a loser. I also think that he believes beating Stipe would either make DC quit or force DC to fight him one last time. Either way, he gets what he wants.

 

[m9]

I think the Jones/Cormier stuff is over, and probably for good.

Jones is more focused on legacy at this point which is why he would move up to grab a 2nd belt off Miocic. Cormier is definitely more focused on Miocic than anything to do with Jones.

So yeah, it's nothing between the two of them. I get people don't like Jones so they try to spin things in their mind to hate him more, but this ain't it.

 

[m9]

as the biggest Reyes mark here, i believe he'll dethrone Jones. He can kick with Jones at range, he's a better boxer than Jones. Plus, Jones is a less effective wrestler against tall fighters.

He has the skillset for sure and the Jones that showed up vs Smith/Santos last year isn't going to cut it this weekend. Jones either fights to his peak or there's going to be a new champ tomorrow night.

 

[chicagoskycam]

Give me three picks for the fights... Jones, 2, 3, .

 

[torero]

if Reyes low kicks Jones ... under the knees ... he has 50% in the pocket.
Valentina ... will probably make it ... but Chookagian will sell here skin at dere price.
80% Valentina.

 

[CDJ]

Antonio Arroyo apparently pulled out yesterday?

James Krause took the fight on one days notice, he’s facing Giles in the prelim main event