Anthony Smith Claims Jon Jones would ’50-45′ Francis Ngannou ‘Without a Mark on His Face’

Anthony Smith was very impressed with Jon Jones' performance at UFC 285 and believes a fight with Stipe Miocic is far more interesting than a fight with Francis Ngannou

Jon Jones
Courtesy of @UFCNews on Twitter

Anthony Smith expected Jon Jones to dominate on the ground, but not quite as quickly as he did on Saturday night.

After ruling over the 205-pound division for more than a decade, Jon Jones made his long-awaited transition to the heavyweight division over the weekend. Needless to say, ‘Bones’ did not disappoint. Opening as a +130 underdog, Jones delivered one of the most dominant performances of his illustrious career, submitting No. 1 ranked heavyweight Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes at UFC 285. 

Appearing on The MMA Hour, one-time Jon Jones opponent Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith spoke with Ariel Helwani to give his reaction to Jones’ incredible performance.

“I was blown away that he did it the way that he did it. I think I said this in all the preshows and any kind of breakdown that I gave, if Jon ended up getting it to the ground, it was going to be fairly one-way traffic. I did expect for it to be competitive on the feet for a while. I thought the striking exchanges were going to be close. Credit to Jon and what he does, he made sure that that wasn’t the case.”

Anthony Smith Says Stipe Miocic Has Bulked Up Significantly Ahead of a Potential Fight with Jon Jones

Now that the UFC once again has a heavyweight champion, the general consensus heavyweight GOAT is looking to capture the crown for a third time this summer. Ahead of UFC 285, Stipe Miocic confirmed that the promotion had offered him a UFC title opportunity against the winner between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane. 

Rumored to go down at UFC 290 during International Fight Week in July, Anthony Smith believes Jones vs. Miocic will be a far more interesting matchup than Saturday night’s offering. 

“That’s more interesting as far as their skills and abilities that they bring to the table. Stipe can match and/or neutralize some of the things Jon does to everyone. Physically he’s bigger. I did have some issues previously with Stipe because Stipe was so small there for a while as he was going into those Daniel Cormier fights. He was 230 pounds when he fought Daniel last time. I had dinner with him on Thursday and he is absolutely massive. He claims he’s 253, but he’s well over 253 for sure and he’s solid.”

Smith also believes that Jones vs. Miocic will be far more competitive than the long-rumored clash between ‘Bones’ and former UFC heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou.

“Jon would 50-45 Francis without a mark on his face. If [Jones] looks anywhere close to as good as he looked on Saturday, on his feet as well, I think he’s too dynamic and too diverse on his feet. I’ve always said that and people think I’m absolutely crazy, but I think he sticks him and picks at him from the outside. Grinds him on the fence. I think he wins every wrestling exchange. Aside from Francis catching him, which is kind of what Francis does, I just don’t see how Francis wins that fight. I don’t know that Jon is there to get caught.”

Published on March 6, 2023 at 5:14 pm
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