Anthony Smith: One UFC heavyweight is easiest for Jon Jones, one will give him problems

Anthony Smith sees Jon Jones having a lot of success at heavyweight, but not necessarily against the upper echelon of the division.

Jones, a two-time UFC light heavyweight champion, recently vacated his title and will be competing at heavyweight for his next fight.

Prior to relinquishing his belt, Jones was angling for a fight with Francis Ngannou, which caused him to get into a rift with the UFC when the promotion reportedly balked at Jones’ pay increase wishes.

Jones (25-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC) is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time, but he has yet to compete in multiple weight classes.

Smith (32-15 MMA, 8-5 UFC), who fought and lost a unanimous decision to Jones in March 2019, thinks Jones could compete with the heavyweight division’s top 10, but certain stylistic matchups, including UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic, would be tough for him.

But No. 1 contender Ngannou (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), Smith actually sees as one of Jones’ easiest fights.

“In the top 10, Jon would beat a lot of those guys,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “I think you start getting into your Francis Ngannous, even Curtis Blaydes I think would give Jon some problems. Stipe obviously would give Jon lots of problems. So there’s a lot of interesting matchups up there, and to be fair, I think Francis Ngannou is probably one of the easier matchups for Jon Jones at heavyweight.”

Smith thinks Ngannou’s lack of grappling background would give Jones the edge. Miocic (20-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) was able to expose that area of Ngannou’s game, tiring him out and taking him down at will when they fought in 2018.

But despite Ngannou’s first-round knockout run, Smith doesn’t think he has enough of a well-rounded game as the likes of Miocic, or the heavyweight division’s leader for most takedowns landed, Blaydes, to deal with Jones.

“Francis isn’t super fast,” Smith said. “He’s super predictable. You kind of know what he’s going to do. Jon is longer than he is. Once he grows into his frame, he’ll be comparable in weight, I would imagine – but not so much in muscle mass. But Jon is smart. You can stay away from Francis and pick at him from outside like Jon does. Jon is defensively sound. He’s good at not getting hit. He moves very well. I think he dominates Francis in the clinch and gets a takedown whenever he wants to get a takedown.

“I don’t think you can necessarily say that with Stipe and a guy like Curtis Blaydes, or someone like that, because Curtis is dangerous striking-wise obviously, but he’s going to be strong in the clinch and in those wrestling exchanges as well as Stipe.”