UFC 252 Miocic vs Cormier 3 Pick'em Thread

[Erik]

Yep, how can the heavier guy not be a real HW? He may look kinda fat, but he is strong as hell and the vast majority of his career KOs were at HW. He even said himself he thinks he performs best at about 240. 15-2 at HW but apparently not a real one lmao.

Got to love how the UFC commentators try to pretend he's better than he is by implying LHW was his natural weight division rather than a way to avoid fighting his team mate.

[DarthPenguin]

Cormier is a very very good fighter but unfortunately not elite, will be interesting to see what happens if Jones does get Stipe next. Wonder if he will try to be the first Champ / Champ to defend both belts? (assuming Jones wins but i can't see how Stipe beats him unless Jones chin is weak for a HW which i doubt)

[goosu]

Cormier is a very very good fighter but unfortunately not elite, will be interesting to see what happens if Jones does get Stipe next. Wonder if he will try to be the first Champ / Champ to defend both belts? (assuming Jones wins but i can't see how Stipe beats him unless Jones chin is weak for a HW which i doubt)

After seeing Jones (IMO) clearly lose to Reyes 3-2 after winning what was already a questionable but more toss-up fight against Santos, I can't agree with your level of confidence in Jones. I see a clear path of victory to Stipe. The two toughest fights Jon has had in his career were tall boxers(Reyes and Gustaffson I).

 

Stipe isn't quite as varied as these guys on the counter, but he still has a very good counter right hand, the best jab of the three, and he is the most powerful puncher by far. Jones has never had much power in his hands, and I don't think Stipe would have to be as wary about getting hurt as he was with DC. If Reyes was able to hurt Jon multiple times throughout that fight, I at least see Stipe taking 1-2 rounds from Jon by hurting him with punches. I could also see a finish(Stipe easily has more punching power than any other Jones opponent), but otherwise, I think Stipe takes the first three rounds for a decision.

 

Jon would make for a really interesting fight, so it'd be close to 50/50, but Stipe would still be a favorite in my eyes.

[barney]

After seeing Jones (IMO) clearly lose to Reyes 3-2 after winning what was already a questionable but more toss-up fight against Santos, I can't agree with your level of confidence in Jones. I see a clear path of victory to Stipe. The two toughest fights Jon has had in his career were tall boxers(Reyes and Gustaffson I).

 

Stipe isn't quite as varied as these guys on the counter, but he still has a very good counter right hand, the best jab of the three, and he is the most powerful puncher by far. Jones has never had much power in his hands, and I don't think Stipe would have to be as wary about getting hurt as he was with DC. If Reyes was able to hurt Jon multiple times throughout that fight, I at least see Stipe taking 1-2 rounds from Jon by hurting him with punches. I could also see a finish(Stipe easily has more punching power than any other Jones opponent), but otherwise, I think Stipe takes the first three rounds for a decision.

 

Jon would make for a really interesting fight, so it'd be close to 50/50, but Stipe would still be a favorite in my eyes.

 

Dunno. Stipe can strugfle against wrestling, and if Jo es can bring the same wrestling he did during his early career, TD Stipe and elbow to death, I think it should be his belt.

Yes, Cormier ALSO has elite wrestling, but I think the Height difference here made it difficult for him to mix it up before changing levels or clinching before throwing, thus making it more predictable.

 

Cormier is a very very good fighter but unfortunately not elite, will be interesting to see what happens if Jones does get Stipe next. Wonder if he will try to be the first Champ / Champ to defend both belts? (assuming Jones wins but i can't see how Stipe beats him unless Jones chin is weak for a HW which i doubt)

Jones was striped of the belt, so.. No champ-champ

[DarthPenguin]

After seeing Jones (IMO) clearly lose to Reyes 3-2 after winning what was already a questionable but more toss-up fight against Santos, I can't agree with your level of confidence in Jones. I see a clear path of victory to Stipe. The two toughest fights Jon has had in his career were tall boxers(Reyes and Gustaffson I).

 

Stipe isn't quite as varied as these guys on the counter, but he still has a very good counter right hand, the best jab of the three, and he is the most powerful puncher by far. Jones has never had much power in his hands, and I don't think Stipe would have to be as wary about getting hurt as he was with DC. If Reyes was able to hurt Jon multiple times throughout that fight, I at least see Stipe taking 1-2 rounds from Jon by hurting him with punches. I could also see a finish(Stipe easily has more punching power than any other Jones opponent), but otherwise, I think Stipe takes the first three rounds for a decision.

 

Jon would make for a really interesting fight, so it'd be close to 50/50, but Stipe would still be a favorite in my eyes.

I agree with you on the Reyes fight but i wonder how much he was losing interest in LHW now and if he is beginning to struggle to make 205 easily. He's a big guy and he keeps pushing his strength and conditioning so that could have been a factor too.

 

Stipe is very good and does have power but i can see Jones smothering him against the cage and cutting him up with elbows - will be an interesting fight though, if it happens

 

 

 

Dunno. Stipe can strugfle against wrestling, and if Jo es can bring the same wrestling he did during his early career, TD Stipe and elbow to death, I think it should be his belt.

Yes, Cormier ALSO has elite wrestling, but I think the Height difference here made it difficult for him to mix it up before changing levels or clinching before throwing, thus making it more predictable.

 

Jones was striped of the belt, so.. No champ-champ

yeah i saw that, i'd made the champ-champ comment before he gave it up / was stripped today. Am in favour of that tbh since none of the male champ-champs have defended in both weight classes. When boxers do it they usually give up the lighter belt and i think MMA should do the same - just holds up a division unnecessarily otherwise

[goosu]

 

Dunno. Stipe can strugfle against wrestling, and if Jo es can bring the same wrestling he did during his early career, TD Stipe and elbow to death, I think it should be his belt.

Yes, Cormier ALSO has elite wrestling, but I think the Height difference here made it difficult for him to mix it up before changing levels or clinching before throwing, thus making it more predictable.

 

Jones was striped of the belt, so.. No champ-champ

Stipe hasn't struggled against wrestling much in his career. He hasn't lost a fight due to wrestling. The only non-DC fight where I remember Stipe getting taken down is one where he faded cardio wise against JDS, and I'm pretty sure he popped back up quickly. The only fight in his career where anybody did something significant against Stipe with wrestling was that high crotch TD by DC in the second fight. He arguably outgrappled DC in the 3rd, considering he popped back up from the TD in the first and controlled DC in the clinch from rounds 3 to 5.

 

When was the last time Jones used his wrestling effectively? Smith I guess, but that was a pretty hapless opponent, and it still wasn't exactly easy. He didn't use his wrestling effectively against Santos or Reyes, I don't buy he did it intentionally against Santos(why make a fight a toss-up when you have a grappling advantage?), and he certainly didn't do it intentionally versus Reyes. I think there was a time Jones was a great wrestler, but that time has passed, and it doesn't help he built his wrestling off a tall man's game that doesn't work as well against opponents just as large. I feel like Smith and Santos are guys Jones would have dominated with wrestling in his younger days.

 

Now, I could see Jones hitting Stipe in the clinch with Elbows, but I just don't see him successfully taking or holding Stipe down, and just to get to the clinch he has to deal with Stipe's jab/right hand.