5 bad matchups for Jon Jones at heavyweight

#2. Ciryl Gane

Ciryl Gane recently claimed victory on home soil against one of the heavyweight division's most powerful fighters in Tai Tuivasa. The Frenchman reminded the world of his vaunted kicking game as he punished Tuivasa's legs and body en route to a brutal knockout win. Standing at 6'4" inches tall with a reach of 81 inches, 'Bon Gamin' is exactly the kind of striker that Jones will struggle to post and retreat from. Like Gustafsson, the Frenchman's height and length will trouble Jones.

Whenever Jon Jones faces committed punchers or jabbers, he neutralizes their boxing by hand-fighting. Gane is not a committed puncher but he is a committed jabber. What favors him, however, is that Gane frequently fakes the jab to draw foes into hand-fighting. With his opponent's focus on his hands, the Frenchman smashes his leg into their exposed midsection as their arms are outstretched. This effectively nullifies Jones' hand-fighting.

Additionally, the threat of Jon Jones' wrestling will not be pronounced due to the stylistic struggles the former light heavyweight champion will encounter when trying to hook his hands behind the widened legs of someone matching his frame. The true danger Jones will face against Gane, however, is the Frenchman's counter-kicking. Often-times, Jon Jones throws naked low kicks without fear of being countered.

In the light heavyweight division, there are very few competent kickers. Furthermore, Jon Jones remains taller and longer than most, allowing him to kick from a distance where he can land but his foes can't. He has never been counter-kicked, while Gane specializes in counter-kicking. Against Tai Tuivasa, the Frenchman exhibited the depth of his counter-kicking abilities.

Like Jones, Tuivasa throws naked low kicks. Within seconds, Gane drew his foe's kicks by feinting a heavy step with his lead leg. Once Tuivasa took the bait, Gane retracted his leg, pulling his heel to the rear of his thigh, causing Tuivasa to kick ahead of himself. With his foe's kicking leg in the air, Gane pulled his leg back into stance before throwing kicks at either the body or legs.

As Thiago Santos demonstrated, Jones' thin legs and low stance mean he's exposed to hard low kicks.

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#1. Francis Ngannou

After Francis Ngannou's first outing against Stipe Miocic, no one would have described him as one of Jon Jones' most difficult matchups in the heavyweight division. However, the strides 'The Predator' has made to improve his overall game cannot be understated. Against Miocic, the Cameroonian's defensive wrestling was impregnable as he correctly widened his base and immediately dug for underhooks before snapping his foe down.

As has been mentioned several times in this piece, Jones struggles against tall and long opponents who widen their base, rendering him unable to hook his hands behind their legs. At 6'4" inches in height with an 83-inch reach, Ngannou more than fits that description. Additionally, the Cameroonian's striking will prove nightmarish for Jones to deal with due to the specifics of the former light heavyweight champion's defensive striking.

One of the reasons Alexander Gustafsson was so successful against Jones in their initial matchup was similar to why Dominick Reyes was similarly successful. Jones' primary means of striking defense consists of extending his lead arm to post his hand out as a barrier while raising his rear hand up to his chin as he leans away and retreats from strikes.

Against shorter foes, it is a nearly bulletproof shield as it causes them to either miss or overextend to such an extent that any blow that lands has no power. Against opponents who are tall and long enough to still reach Jones even when he posts and retreats, 'Bones' struggles. Gustafsson came within an inch of beating the former champion, while Dominick Reyes pushed him further than most.

Ngannou possesses a reach of 83 inches, which is longer than the reach of any previous Jones opponent. Against him, Jones' habit of posting and retreating will be all but useless. The only other means of striking defense that Jon Jones possesses is blocking, which is notoriously difficult to do against Ngannou due to his long forearms changing the dynamics of a boxing guard.

Against Ngannou, all it takes is one punch, and given how poorly Jones' method of defensive striking matches up against Ngannou's, he'll struggle to stop 'The Predator' from landing his power shot.