Two Sides Of The Tale: Five Reasons Jon Jones Will Destroy OSP

It’s once again fight day, but this time it’s particularly special, as the former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones makes his return to the octagon. After 15 months away from action, “Bones” was originally meant to challenge Daniel Cormier for the title. Instead the junior belt is on the line between Jones and Cormier’s injury alternate Ovince St-Preux. The odds will tell you that OSP is a long shot, Jones’ highlight reel record would also argue the same, but of course it’s a fight and anything can and often does happen.

All of the marbles of a shot at redemption lay in wait for “Bones,” and obviously a win for Saint-Preux would catapult him in to the elite status he’s been longing for. Unfortunately for the very likeable OSP, he’s facing a monster in the ex-champion.

Here’s LowKick’s Five Reasons Jon Jones Will Destroy OSP…

Variety

Life is like a box of chocolates, and much like Jon Jones’ striking, you never know what you’re going to get. “Bones” mixes up his wide variety of striking techniques so well, that even if you think you know what’s coming, you won’t be able to defend it. His accuracy is insane, and the brutal force he delivers his elbows, knees, kicks, punches and spinning strikes with is simply scary to watch.

For Ovince St-Preux it’s going to be a very tough night for many reasons, but perhaps the most dangerous aspect for the unlikely contender is that unpredictability of Jones’ tool box.

Reach

Jon Jones’ reach is simply ridiculous, and he’s the master of using it. So many times you see tall fighters not taking advantage of their gifts, this is not the case with “Bones” though. He utilizes all 84.5 inches of his wing span, also throwing a variety of dangerous kicking techniques with his very long legs.

OSP has a decent length on him, 80 inches to be precise, but is not as adept at picking fighters apart at range. If worse comes to worse and Jones can’t win the fight on the inside or the clinch, he can just blast St-Preux from the outer limits of striking range, something that his opponent will not have the luxury of doing.

History

If Jon Jones’ record can tell you anything, it’s that he has no problem chomping through the top contenders in the world. Since starting with the promotion back in 2009, “Bones” has taken out six former or future champions in the form of Shogun Rua, Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort and Daniel Cormier. That’s an incredible run, and factor in wins over Glover Teixeira, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustafsson and Ryan Bader, you can see why his GOAT status is very legitimate.

MMA math doesn’t work, but what it tells us here is that Jon Jones has the pure ability to take out some of the sport’s most talented icons. In Ovince St-Preux, this writer believes he’s facing, at best, a skilled prospect who is stepping up a little too soon.

Motivation

We saw Jon Jones competing as a stoned champion for years, he’s since admitted that he would smoke the reefer all the time, meaning we are yet to see the full potential of the most talented fighter in the UFC today. For Ovince St-Preux, this is not a good thing. He’ll have a whirlwind of strikes and different grappling techniques to be wary of, but perhaps even more unnerving will be the fact that “Bones” will be more focused and determined than ever before now that he’s clean.

Which leads quite nicely on to the final point of this article…

Destiny

Jon Jones wants that undisputed title back, there’s no doubt about it, and he wants to defeat Daniel Cormier for it. The two had a severely heated rivalry before their first fight at UFC 182, where Jones was champion and Cormier the challenger. “Bones” defeated “DC” to end that rivalry, but the hard feelings ever really went away, leading to another deep feud before their latest booking, which was meant to be tonight (Saturday April 23, 2016).

With this fight in the back of his mind, and at the forefront of his motivation, “Bones” will put together all the other aspects discussed today to dispatch Ovince Saint-Preux in dominant fashion. No disrespect to OSP, he’s a game challenger and a super nice guy, but “Bones” is coming for that belt!