"Once he gets on top of people, it's kind of a bloody mess" - Jon Jones' coach claims wrestling will be key in future heavyweight move
Jon Jones’ coach Mike Winkeljohn believes Jones’ wrestling is going to be key in his move up to heavyweight.
For many years now we’ve seen and heard Jon Jones tease the idea of a shift up to heavyweight, and finally, it appears as if we’re just a matter of months away from finally seeing it happen.
There’s still no real clarity regarding who he’s going to face, whether it be Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane or Stipe Miocic - but as long as fans get to see Jon Jones in a new weight class, they’ll be happy.
Just how good is Jon Jones?
There are many different factors behind what makes Jon Jones the success story he is, and in a recent interview with Submission Radio, the aforementioned Winkeljohn spoke about an important one: his wrestling.
“Oh it’s huge [his wrestling], I mean that’s what makes Jon so different to so many people. The fact that he can threaten the takedown makes his strikes that much scarier. The fact his strikes are so unpredictable makes his takedowns so much scarier. That’s what Jon brings. You don’t wanna be underneath a big guy, there’s no doubt about it, but Jon can cut those corners real quick and once he gets on top of people, everybody has already seen it, it’s a bloody mess.
“Jon has many avenues for success which starts scaffolding on itself to make it that much harder for the other fighter to figure out.”
Catch Mike Winklejohn's appearance on Submission Radio below:
It’s scary to think that a guy like Jon Jones could still be evolving at this stage in his career, but based on what everyone is saying, that could well be the case.
Obviously we won’t know for sure until he finally steps in there at heavyweight but there’s every reason to believe he can, and potentially will, build on the platform he created for himself at 205 pounds.
Jon Jones isn’t someone who backs down from a challenge and if everyone says he can’t topple Francis Ngannou, or any other elite heavyweight for that matter, he’s going to do everything he can to prove them wrong.