Not to turn a football forum into a MMA discussion but, respectfully, I couldn't disagree more with the above. Even completely disregarding the fact that everyone in Pride was juiced to the gills, the men of the dark ages were technical trainwrecks with the exception of the combat sambo guys...which explains the dominance of Fedor and Arlovsky. Additionally, most of the dominant Pride guys were college wrestlers with an overhand right on more artificial ingredients than a Shamrock Shake. Sambo is the best counter wrestling discipline out there which is why Fedor was able to handle the Randlemans and Colemans of the world. The jiu jitsu used back then was all gi based and even the super high level stuff like what the Nogera brothers were using back then is purple belt level jits today. The striking was very basic, unevolved, stand and bang tough guy stuff or chute boxe style linear muay thai. Cross counters, level change and overhands, front teeps, jab-hook-outside leg kick. The stuff you learn your first month of training now. It was essentially a tacit agreement that they would meet in the middle and throw from the hip until one guy fell. It was ugly and brutish. Jones would have absolutely smashed the Chucks and Tito's of the world in their primes. He's a better athlete than them and a far better martial artist. They were too slow to handle Jones' speed, they couldn't take him down, and they couldn't get into the pocket with him if they wanted to. It would be ugly. Hell, he absolutely smashed Chuck 2.0 in Glover Texeria and put on an absolutely marvelous technical clinic during that fight. First, with the standing americana to neutralize his power arm, then employing a Mayweather-esque shoulder roll to neutralize Glover's overhand cross counter, he utilized superior angles to deny any potential offensive output and levied a crisp jab to keep the snake coiled. Nobody uses the oblique kick like he does. He's begun to utilize beautiful drop shifts to reinvent his attack angles. He is so creative, precise, and lethal.
Washed up and lacking talent? Shogun was a 30 year old wrecking machine when Jones put him to sleep. I'd hardly consider a 30 year old athlete washed up. Rashad was in his prime. Rampage was in his prime. He put a damn standing guillotine on Machida and dropped his limp body like a cadaver. He took down the best wrestler in the sport outside of Nurmagomedov at will when he fought Cormier. Cormier was the undefeated #1 heavyweight contender when he dropped to 205 and was rag dolling everyone. IIRC, Cormier took Jones down once in that fight and tried multiple times per round. Single, double, ankle pick, high crotch, body lock, he tried everything and was beaten at his own game with superior hand fighting and hip positioning. There's a ton of killers at 205, Jones is just that good man.
Vitor didn't let go of that arm bar, either, and he did dislocate Jones' elbow with it. If you remember when it was applied, Vitor was taking a brutal GNP from half guard after being rocked. Jones posted to pass and Vitor, being the high level black belt that he is, trapped the arm and snapped into a tight arm bar instead of trying to sweep him in transition. Jones stacked him, Vitor tried to roll for the belly down, but Jones defended, picked him up and shook the grip loose. It was a marvelous grappling exchange, and an incredible display of both courage and athleticism. Arm bars are a jiu jitsu 101 technique but holding on when you both are dripping with sweat and you are suspended in mid air with a guy trying with every fiber of his being to slip loose is impossible. In the following round, Jones took him down with one functioning arm, took his back, and submitted him with a kimura. After that fight, SuperVitor dropped to 85 and ran through the division like a buzz saw until they instituted drug testing and stopped giving TRT exemptions. Jones, for as much of a dink as he is, is an absolute savage and a once in a generation talent.
