The consensus greatest UFC fighter of all time, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, is set to make his highly anticipated return to the octagon next weekend when he faces the legendary Stipe Miocic for the second time of asking.
Next weekend’s main event will be his 17th UFC title fight in a row; albeit one of those championship victories left the iconic Albuquerque-based superstar feeling a little disappointed in himself.
Jon Jones admits he was ‘disappointed’ after winning UFC title fight in 124 seconds
Ahead of his long-awaited return to action at UFC 309, former light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight king Jon Jones sat down with ESPN’s Stan Verrett for a fascinating conversation about his MMA career.
Whilst Jones holds the record for most title fight wins in UFC history, ‘Bones’ admitted that his last title victory in the octagon, a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane, left him with mixed emotions.
“Beating Ciryl Gane was an amazing memory and experience, [but] I remember one of the first major feelings I had was a little bit of disappointment, you know.
“I remember sitting on top of the cage and celebrating my victory, taking a deep breath and thinking ‘Man, that was fast, that was fast’.”
That heavyweight title fight lasted just 124 seconds, with Jones able to score the early takedown before pressuring Gane into the fence and locking up a sweet guillotine on the Frenchman.
“It was three years leading up to that [moment]a lot of prayer, a lot of meditation, a lot of teamwork – and for it to be over in two minutes and four seconds, I kind of felt robbed in a way.”
Yet that feeling of disappointment quickly dissipated when Bones realized that he’d just accomplished something that only a handful of MMA athletes can ever hope to experience; the joy of becoming a two-weight world champion.
“The next emotion that I felt was just gratefulness that I didn’t get hurt and that I did my job that I came to do flawlessly; so mixed emotions, [it was] bittersweet.
“It felt just as good [as it did light heavyweight] but it felt slightly better just because it had been three years, and I had so many questions about how I would compete after three years off… And that was the best part of it I guess, being able to answer all of those questions in one night.”
Jon Jones opens up on challenges of rehabilitation after Miocic fight fell through
The UFC 309 main event comes exactly one year after Stipe Miocic and Jones were first scheduled to throwdown back at UFC 295, with ‘Bones’ forced to withdraw from that event after suffering a painful pectoral tear during training.
“I was very disappointed [because] at this age injuries can be a death sentence,” acknowledged Jones, before admitting that he didn’t necessarily put 100% of his effort into the physical therapy as he instead leaned on those closest around him.
“I have a very strong support base, so right away my coaches were very positive, very optimistic about a healthy return… I have really great trainers around me who got me on a great physical therapy program right away and I knew that we would be back.
“Physical therapy: I don’t think I did it to the best of my abilities, I definitely gained a lot of excess weight and stuff like that… I also stayed doing therapy [during camp]rebuilding my strength in my chest and my shoulders so today, I feel phenomenal, completely healed and recovered.”
Whilst UFC fans are desperate to see Jones back in action, the vast majority would much rather see him fighting interim champion Tom Aspinall, rather than the 42-year-old Miocic.
Unfortunately, Jones has now teased that he could overlook the British juggernaut completely in favor of a super-fight against Alex Pereira – something that Hall of Famer Michael Bisping argues is enough to see Jones stripped of his championship title.
UFC 309: Jones vs Miocic goes down live from Madison Square Garden on Saturday, November 16.
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