Anthony Smith Offers Prediction For Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II
This weekend (Sat. December 29, 2018) one of the biggest rematches in mixed martial arts (MMA) history will go down.
Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson will go head-to-head in the main event of UFC 232. The pay-per-view (PPV) will go down from The Forum in Inglewood, California. The winner of the contest will be crowned the new light heavyweight champion, stripping Daniel Cormier of his title. Back in 2013, Jones and Gustafsson headlined UFC 165 in one of the best title fights in UFC history.
Jones won the bout via unanimous decision, but many believe Gustafsson should’ve been given the nod. Now, six years later, Gustafsson will get the opportunity to prove he has what it takes to beat “Bones.” Recently, top 205-pound contender Anthony Smith joined “The MMA Hour” to offer his prediction for the fight. “Lionheart” explained why he believes Jones will prevail again (via MMA Fighting):
“I do,” Smith said. “I think it’s going to be a very similar fight, but I think Jon Jones is one of those guys that — I think that one of his biggest advantages is that his fight IQ is super high, so I think that if he has 25 minutes to figure you out, another 25 minutes isn’t going to be beneficial to you.
“I think that if Jon Jones is being truthful when he said he didn’t train that hard for the first fight [at UFC 165], I would imagine him coming off this long layoff, with everything that’s happened to him — that the best Jon Jones is going to show up, and I think that that’s what he’s going to need to beat Gustafsson.”
Smith is currently on a roll at 205 pounds. He is on a three-fight win streak over fighters like Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua, and Volkan Oezdemir. Smith has finished each of those fights with a pair of knockouts and a submission. He is currently one of the frontrunners to challenge for the light heavyweight title next.
