Gordon Ryan and Felipe Pena will face each other for the fourth time in their careers, on February 25… But who will take the win this time?
Craig Jones believes that it’ll all come down to who has more mental prowess. Here’s what he had to say in a recent Club Good Podcast episode:
Honestly, that match is all mental. The last one was a psychological battle… So I think he really needs to get into Gordon’s head for that one.
But how does one get into the head of someone like Gordon Ryan? Well, Jones believes that it isn’t impossible:
I mean, Gordon is nervous.
I can remember I was talking to Nicky Ryan before his last Pena match, and he’s like: “He [Gordon] will literally kill himself if he loses.”
You know what I mean?
Craig also added that the best chance of beating Gordon is not during a no-time limit match:
It’s tough to go against Gordon in a no-time limit [match]. I think that his style is very well suited for no-time limit, because he’s not really an athletic guy – it’s all just technique.
Your best chance to beat him is over a shorter match.
And what about Ryan’s most recent match against Nicky Rodriguez? Jones believes that it had an effect on the way the public perceives Ryan’s success:
I think that sort of chipped the facade there… You know, the image. Everyone’s like: “Oh fu*k, he’s beatable.”
So, I think that he has that Mike Tyson aura right now, but that people are going to chip away.
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