Jon Jones Doubts Thiago Santos Possesses The Skill To Land His Power Shots On Him

Jon Jones faces off against one of the heaviest hitters in the light heavyweight division when he meets Thiago Santos on Saturday night at UFC 239. Many critics believe Santos’ best chance of beating the champion is to land one of his patented power shots, but Jones has heard that tune before.

“Bones” has faced some true knockout artists in his career including Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson and Glover Teixeira and has proven time and time again that having knockout power doesn’t equate to success against him. Jones has downplayed Santos’ power in the lead-up to the fight and said it doesn’t worry him, as he believes Santos will have trouble landing on someone like him who will have a significant reach advantage over him (Transcript via MMA Junkie):

“Every UFC fighter I’ve ever fought has had the power to knock me out,” Jones told reporters at open workouts. “It’s about being skilled enough to land that punch. Thus far, no one’s been skilled enough to land that punch, and I don’t think anything is going to change on Saturday night.”

Santos appears to have bulked up considerably for this fight, but the champion believes the extra muscle will only benefit him in the opening rounds before it becomes a hindrance.

“MMA is an endurance sport, it’s a 25-minute endurance sport,” Jones said. “I believe in the first two rounds his muscles will work to his advantage. Anything after that, he’s carrying extra weight and I think it will ultimately work against him.

“I’m actually a lot lighter than I normally am (in fight week),” he continued. “My idea was I’m fighting a guy moving up from middleweight, so I don’t need to be any more powerful, or stronger, for this fight. I need to be able to move really well and have some serious endurance.

While Jones believes the longer the fight goes will work to his advantage, he’s confident of finishing the fight early knowing well that is when Santos will be most effective.

“So I believe if it goes anywhere past two rounds, the fight is definitely going to quickly move in my favor, but I also believe I can finish him in the first two rounds as well, so let’s just see how it all plays out.”