UFC legend Jon Jones has been warned that he might be taking the ‘wrong’ approach to heavyweight protege Gable Steveson after UFC 331 last month.
That is according to MMA cult hero Dan Hardy, who has insisted that Jon Jones’ “majority of skills” are not directly “transferable” to UFC star Gable Steveson.
Steveson, who is being mentored and coached by Jones, experienced the first major setback of his MMA career after his encounter with Sean Sharaf at UFC 331.
The 26-year-old American fighter was caught early in his last outing in the octagon and Sean Sharaf knocked Steveson out after 12 seconds in Los Angeles.
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Dan Hardy says that Gable Steveson needs to model his UFC approach on Daniel Cormier rather than Jon Jones
Gable Steveson has only had five fights inside the MMA world since his transition to the combat sport and has been tipped to reach the top of the heavyweight division.
The Real American Freestyle (RAF) star won on his UFC debut against Elisha Ellison at UFC 329 in July before Sean Sharaf derailed his momentum at the Staples Center.
Speaking on Submission Radio, Dan Hardy explained that Jon Jones might not be the perfect template for Steveson to build his approach to MMA on going forward.
The 44-year-old former UFC star says that Jones’ former fierce rival Daniel Cormier could be the blueprint to tap into Steveson’s best fighting style in the octagon.
“And yeah, I will say one thing, though, and yeah, you’re dead right,” Hardy said before adding: “The majority of skills that Jon Jones had are just not transferable to Gable Steveson.
“But Jon Jones knows Daniel Cormier better than most opponents. And there are lots of things that Daniel Cormier does and could do that Gable Stevenson could pick up on.
“So, it’s not even necessarily about Jon Jones teaching him what he did. It’s more [about] teaching him what ‘DC’ was very good at that he had to work around. So, that could be interesting.”
Dan Hardy questions how serious Jon Jones and Gable Steveson take the rest of the heavyweight division
Jones faced criticism for his role in Steveson’s defeat, including the decision to take his fighter to the back immediately after Sharaf’s win at UFC 331 in September.
Hardy admitted that he would be keen to hear what Jones and Steveson say to one another, including where they stand on the other heavyweights in the division.
“I’d love to listen to the conversations, but in my head when I’m listening to him, I just imagine them both on a gold throne with like a robe and like a gold laurel just going, ‘Yeah, f— these mortals,’” he added.
“You know what I mean? They just kind of like they’re on a different plane [of] mentally.
“I think these two guys, I wonder how seriously they would take the rest of the division, really, in their heart if they were dissecting them, you know.”
Jones shared a famous rivalry with Daniel Cormier and the pair fought twice, as ‘Bones’ won on both occasions before one result was overturned to a ‘no contest.’
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