- Georges St-Pierre praised Jon Jones following his epic UFC return
- GSP shared how “Bones” and Francis Ngannou could possibly beat each other
Georges St-Pierre is thrilled to have witnessed Jon Jones return and become the new UFC heavyweight champion. He rarely makes predictions but he delighted us with his Jones vs. Francis Ngannou analysis.
Unbelievable performance
Speaking on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel, GSP lauded Jones for “completely” dominating Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 and coming up with a new version of himself.
“That was amazing. That was a flawless performance. He did what he said he was going to do. It was a lot of X Factor… he made it look easy I mean he completely took Ciryl Gane, completely out of his game and normally Jon Jones has the tendency to strike with strikers, wrestle wrestlers and now he transformed himself like the complete nemesis of his opponent. It was wonderful performance. It was unbelievable,” St-Pierre analyzed.
Keys to win for Jones and Ngannou
As a former longtime UFC champion and an MMA legend, St-Pierre had known both Jones and Ngannou for quite some time. GSP said he knew deep down who would win between the two but he refused to say it. Instead, he broke down the keys to victory for both heavyweights.
“I know both guys. I’m really reluctant of doing a prediction… inside deep down my head, I think I know who I think is gonna win but I never release it to the public because of a you know some personal reason… I think Jon Jones if he fights Ngannou, he need to do a similar strategy than what he did with Ciryl Gane you know, exposing Ngannou because I think Jon Jones might have more skills on the ground he has more experience especially in grappling and Ngannou on the other side has a lot of power behind his punches, he has the the edge on power,” St-Pierre began.
“I think if I’m Jon Jones and I’m fighting Ngannou I need to use that long range, oblique kick that he does you know especially knowing that Ngannou had knee surgery. And Ngannou on the other side, need to throw those punches but not only be a headhunter, [he] need to start from the body, climb to the head and I think that’s one of the mistakes a lot of the guys do with Jon Jones because he has such a long reach, they try to be a head hunter. They need to go to the body because the body doesn’t move as well as the head and then as you start your combo you finish up to the head a little bit like Mike Tyson used to do,” he continued.
Like Jones, St-Pierre was also a two-division UFC champion. He held the welterweight title for a long time, having defended his belt nine times. In 2017, GSP also made his return and moved up to middleweight to dethrone Michael Bisping.
Jones is yet to be booked for his first title defense as the heavyweight champ. However, UFC president Dana White said they will be working on a date for a title fight between Jones and Stipe Miocic.
