Though Jon Jones is currently on a forced hiatus following a USADA anti-doping violation, MMA fans continue to ponder how the former light-heavyweight champion would match up against current heavyweight titleholder Stipe Miocic.
According to Jones' longtime striking coach Mike Winkeljohn, a potential contest against the heavyweight champ would be the "scariest fight to date" in Jones' career, though not necessarily much different than a potential match-up against Anthony Johnson based primarily on one-punch knockout ability.
"Well (Stipe would be) the scariest fight to date because it's the one-punch power and then it's a strength of someone that can be on top of you," Winkeljohn told Submission Radio. "And Stipe is very, very strong and because of that one-punch power it's scary. It makes people second-guess what they're doing. So for that reason it's kind of the scariest fight in that way, but it's kind of like fighting (Anthony) Johnson or anyone else like that - if you can avoid the big punches, then Jon Jones can dominate."
While Jones' unprecedented title reign took a tempestuous turn several years ago, Winkeljohn remains confident that Jones' only true battle is against himself.
"I'm a big believer in what Jon Jones can do. I told everybody a long time ago, nobody beats Jon Jones but himself, that's what I said. Nobody studies as hard as Jon Jones, looking at tape. He knows what his fighter's going to do before he does it and Jon can beat anybody out there. I think he's going to just continue to dominate the Light Heavyweight division if he wants. If he wants to step up for Stipe, we just can't get hit by those big punches. Other than that, I think Jon could dominate that fight."
