I PREDICT THAT ANDERSON SILVA AND JON JONES WILL TRAIN TOGETHER

In two days, I got 163 emails from my thousands of followers, telling me that I seem to be right. Again.

I like reading stuff about how right I am.

As nearly every one of my close family and friends will tell you that I have been predicting since 2014, public signs are indicating that Anderson and Jon Jones are almost certainly going to train together. They are good friends, and Anderson is the current GOAT. Jones and Mighty Mouse are the virtually guaranteed future GOATs. It only makes sense that they train together [ NOT fight each other, like Dana wanted for so long ].

But...what does that mean? How can training together help each man's already stellar game?

Jones would actually benefit in more skill set areas than Anderson would, in my opinion. I think that here are the  areas that JONES would benefit most from with a collaboration with Anderson:


INNOVATIONS AND TRANSITIONS

 The Holy Grail, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Solomon's Mines, The Nine Wonders of the World of MMA is INNOVATIONS AND TRANSITIONS.

This same thing is a part of the Wisdom of the "traditional" self defense arts too, even more comprehensively and with a far more illustrious history, but that is a topic for another blog.

Anderson wrote the book on creative striking and transitions, was the first to regularly shift between southpaw and orthodox and vice versa during a fight or combination of strikes. He is still the only person to actually emulate another fighter's style...recognizably and successfully [ Machida ]...during actual fights in the Octagon. Anderson was the first to break out the "ginga" [ actually NOT called the "ginga", that footwork is actually part of "Ronu Olorijori", "Harakati Ujuzi", and other Afrikan terms essentially meaning "Movement Skill" . The Portuguese called a defensive expression of this skill "sanguar" ] in the Octagon against Patrick Cote...and he did it again, for good measure against Maia. This kind of thing will be built on by the combined genius of Silva and Jones and the WinkJohn brain trust. The results will be avantgarde and revolutionize the games of Silva and Jones, as well as eventually change the sport of MMA.


FOOTWORK, FEINTS, FAKES, JUKES

 As everyone who trains with me will tell you, I am a fanatic about Footwork, Feints, Fakes, Jukes etc [ and other stuff like Stance Training, Breath which is #1, Perception, Weaponizing Human Movement, which is a term and Concept uniquely my own but which many others have tried to copy without giving me credit as the originator...but we'll get to those topics in other blogs ]. Anderson has absolutely magical footwork. Magical. Even though he and other Pharaohs of Footwork [ like Machida in his prime ]  were wrongly and still are wrongly and stupidly boo'd by a less educated fighting public, there is a upward shift in appreciation of footwork [ now that White fighters like Cruz, Dillashaw, and McGregor are essentially copying Black fighters' footwork...reflecting both the growth of the sport and the latent racism in MMA; and yes that's another topic for another blog ] . Jones has good footwork and good feints, but he's not yet as fluid, as effortless as Silva is. And his Stances can stand some refining [ as can all of ours ].

HEAD MOVEMENT

   Another major peeve of mine...and the area only less sucktacular than the Footwork of MMA fighters...is their head movement. Or insufficient proficiency and application thereof. Especially in combination with footwork and level changing. Jones, employing his height and reach to marvelous affect, hasn't really been menaced enough by a sufficient number of head shots to really have to work on his head movement and get his head movement to an elite level of skill. I and my students work whole rounds with nothing but head movement vs head/neck/shoulders level weapon, punch, kick, knee,grappling, pushing, etc. combinations.

THAI CLINCH


Need I even say how much Jones...already a nightmare in ANY kind of clinch war...would improve to horrific levels of skills [ and so would Anderson, as he trains Clinch with Jones ] in the Thai Clinch? Setting up his already unsurpassed MMA grappling clinch for even more success?

Oh. Trying to act brand new, like you don't know that Anderson holds it down as the King of the MMA Thai Clinch? This here ought to jog your memory:

Anderson did this to the former MW champ, Rich Ace Franklin

Rich got his nose broken so badly by Anderson's Thai Clinch and knees, that Rich looked like this:

Recognize Anderson's Thai Clinch game.



GUARD GAME


  Anderson Silva has one of the best defensive guards in the sport of MMA. Not only is his Guard hard to pass, but his striking, shifting, and sneaky submissions from the Guard are ALSO underrated. Jon Jones has spent almost zero time using the Guard. Work with Anderson will only make him better, especially since both of them have similarities in their style due to their long limbs. Jones' Guard game will pick up drastically, and that will be an absolute necessity that he has to develop to elite status BEFORE he steps up to challenge for the crown of the Heavyweight division.

Now. What does Anderson stand to gain from this? Three vital things:


WRESTLING WRESTLING WRESTLING AND...WRESTLING

 Anderson is known for essentially never deigning to use his actually pretty solid wrestling skills. The few times he breaks them out, he shocks the crap out of us. Few people remember that in Anderson's first meeting with Chael...Anderson took Chael down. Twice. Despite Anderson's broken ribs, mind you.

Few people remember that Anderson pulled that nasty wrestling switch out move on Nate Marquardt before pummeling Nate into sleepy-bye land.

Few people remember that Anderson dove into the elite, Mundials Bjj winning Guard of a prime Thales Leites and executed some solid ground n pound.

Betcha Izzy...the wrestling coach of WinkJohn...didn't forget, and is salivating at the prospect of giving Anderson a crazy wrestling game.

Imagine Anderson Silva with a Jones Greco clinch and a GSP Blast Double. Shudder at what he would do to the division he inhabits.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Because this is YOU when Anderson gives you the Ground n Pound:

 

 ELITE SPARRING QUALITY AT EVERY RANGE

  With Jon Jones, Anderson has literally the only person who can push him everywhere the sparring goes, and even overmatch him with unique challenges in the Striking department due to length, quickness, creativity and accuracy. Like Cormier and Cain, there is simply no telling who'd win with these two men on a day to day basis when they train together. You heard of the phrase: "Steel sharpens steel"? Well, both of these men are MMA GOATs. Anderson is the current GOAT. Jones is the hands down future GOAT...a title he will have to share with the criminally overlooked Demetrious Mighty Mouse Johnson.

Which means that the rest of the MMA world is screwed.



 RELENTLESS PACING, STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING


 Remaining injury free. Recovery. Pacing. Conditioning. These are the most important areas for older elite athletes to pay attention to, because their technical conditioning won't fail them. Their veteran acumen won't fail them. Their Recovery and Conditioning might slip that critical 3 or 4 degrees that will put them below a younger athlete who has good but inferior technique...and nonstop cardio.

Here, the WinkJohn machine will tweak Anderson's conditioning, and tactical focus.  Anderson's sniper style of striking will return to a hybrid of the fluid sniper accurate combinations he threw regularly in his early 30's. At ge 41, Anderson will strike less than he did in his 30's, because he will wisely trade accuracy for volume. He will make sure that he lands his shots and frustrates his opponents with his footwork. After training with Jones and Freddie Roach [ or possibly the Mayweathers if Jones goes TMT ], Anderson will strike more than he currently does. Combo sequences will be the norm for Anderson, and that will take the initiative from pretty much everyone in the MW division except for Luke Rockhold.

And yall know I love me some Luke Rockhold. I said that if anyone not named Anderson is a really good bet to beat Chris Weidman? It's Luke. Luke has all the tools, I said that if Luke wins the belt, HE WILL BECOME BETTER BECAUSE HE'S MAD AT EVERYONE FOR WHAT HE PERCEIVES TO BE DISRESPECT ON THEIR PART TOWARDS HIM.

If Anderson trains with Jones? Anderson beats Luke in a largely standup, technical, crowd pleasing, serious throwdown where Anderson's defense, footwork, his head movement, accuracy, jab and creative combos will make the difference.

And again...I bring up the tantalizing possibilities of Silva and Jones training boxing with the Mayweathers. MOST ESPECIALLY if Jones inks a deal with Floyd Mayweather's TMT [ The Money Team ] ,as rumors fly that he might. If this happens? I se both Jones and Silva will do pure boxing at the Mayweather Gym with Jeff Mayweather. probably occassionally Uncle Roger or Floyd Sr. due to the cost of training with them.


So that's it! Hit my Comment box below and tell me your thoughts.