Despite being on the shelf with no return date on the horizon, few fighters command attention like Jon Jones. The controversial former light heavyweight champion has always shown a willingness to speak his mind, and usually offers very insightful analysis about fighters and fights. And in a recent interview with a Russian outlet, he did exactly that in regards to the UFC 229 superfight between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Allow Me To Interrupt talked to Jones about a variety of things in the interview, but they focused a lot on Khabib – not all that surprising, considering they’re a Russian outlet after all. First, Jones gave Conor credit as inspiration for what he wants to do when he returns – namely, taking on the biggest names possible:
“Conor McGregor has definitely inspired me to reach for bigger fights. The higher the risk, the higher the reward. That’s my plan, take a page out of his book. And start challenging myself against some pretty scary dudes.”
He was then asked about Khabib’s wrestling and whether Conor can compete there:
”I believe that Conor McGregor has wrestling. I don’t think it’s at the level of Khabib. I believe that Khabib will get the majority of his takedowns that he goes for. Conor, he’s an athlete. He shouldn’t be underestimated.”
He also gave his analysis on what Khabib should be doing to improve his overall game:
”I think Khabib, his boxing defense isn’t the the strongest. I don’t understand why he doesn’t work a lot of jiu jitsu. If you can take down anybody, why not know how to finish them? He depends on ground and pound and he never finishes anyone with that. Khabib is a black belt wrestler. If he adds a black belt in jiu jitsu to his recipe, he’d be extremely scary.”
McGregor and Khabib meet on October 6th in what is expected to be one of the biggest selling PPVs in history. Jones is still waiting on USADA to decide his fate, and could possibly be on the sidelines for up to three more years.
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