Stefan Struve Thinks Jon Jones Would Lose His Game At Heavyweight
UFC heavyweight Stefan Struve has been sidelined since his Mach 2013 KO loss against Mark Hunt. ‘The Skyscraper’ was diagnosed with a leaking valve in his heart, but has since been cleared to resume training, and is eying a comeback in 2014. Struve will look to get back in the mix after the ‘Super Samoan’ broke his four fight win streak.
Bloody Elbow was able to catch up with Struve to discuss his position among the heavyweight rankings:
“Not a lot has changed since I’ve been out for a year. I don’t think anything changed to be honest with you,” Struve states, as he talks about the state of the division, “Cain Velasquez is the number 1 guy. Right now, Junior Dos Santos is the clear 2nd. Travis Browne and Fabricio Werdum are going to see who is going to get the next title shot. Travis is doing really good, but Werdum is going to take him past the first round and really test him.”
Velasquez is indeed in charge of the pack right now, but has also suffered injury woes of his own. Junior Dos Santos has been unsuccessful in his rematch against CV, and the top end of the division is very much on hold right now. This may be a good time for the Dutchman to attempt a title run.
“They’ve been signing a lot of new talent for the heavyweight division lately, but looking at those guys, I don’t really think there’s one guy there that is really special, that can really do something at the top 10.”
Struve then turned his attention to light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones. ‘Bones’ has spoke a lot about moving up in weight, but the ‘Skyscraper’ thinks that would be a bad idea:
“We saw what happened when he fought Gustafsson, and he didn’t have that reach advantage, right? I think it’s going to be a little different for him when he comes up to our division and fights guys that are bigger than him,” he said, “A lot will be gone. He’s still a really really good fighter, but he’s not going to be the bigger guy anymore, so it takes a way a lot from the game he has now.”
It will be interesting to see if Struve is right about Jones, and I think it will be only a matter of time before we find that out. Time waits for no man, and Jones will start to find it increasingly difficult to make the 205-pound limit. Is Struve right, will ‘Bones’ get picked apart by the bigger boys at heavyweight?
