The consensus biggest UFC fighter of all time, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, is ready 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 foremost event might be his 17th UFC title fight in a row; albeit one among those championship victories left the long-lasting Albuquerque-based superstar feeling a bit dissatisfied in himself.
Jon Jones admits he was ‘dissatisfied’ after winning UFC title fight in 124 seconds
Ahead of his long-awaited return to motion at UFC 309, former light heavyweight champion and current heavyweight king Jon Jones sat down with ESPN’s Stan Verrett for an enchanting conversation about his MMA profession.
Whilst Jones holds the record for many title fight wins in UFC history, ‘Bones’ admitted that his last title victory within the octagon, a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane, left him with mixed emotions.
“Beating Ciryl Gane was an incredible memory and experience, [but] I remember one among the primary major feelings I had was a bit little bit of disappointment, you recognize.
“I remember sitting on top of the cage and celebrating my victory, taking a deep breath and considering ‘Man, that was fast, that was fast’.”
That heavyweight title fight lasted just 124 seconds, with Jones capable of rating the early takedown before pressuring Gane into the fence and locking up a sweet guillotine on the Frenchman.
“It was three years leading as much as that [moment], a whole lot of prayer, a whole lot of meditation, a whole lot of teamwork – and for it to be over in two minutes and 4 seconds, I form of felt robbed in a way.”
Yet that feeling of disappointment quickly dissipated when Bones realized that he’d just achieved something that only a handful of MMA athletes can ever hope to experience; the enjoyment of becoming a two-weight world champion.
“The following emotion that I felt was just gratefulness that I didn’t get hurt and that I did my job that I got here to do flawlessly; so mixed emotions, [it was] bittersweet.
“It felt just pretty much as good [as it did light heavyweight] however it felt barely higher simply because it had been three years, and I had so many questions on how I might compete after three years off… And that was one of the best a part of it I assume, with the ability to answer all of those questions in a single night.”
Jon Jones opens up on challenges of rehabilitation after Miocic fight fell through
The UFC 309 foremost event comes exactly one yr 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 used to be very dissatisfied [because] at this age injuries could be a death sentence,” acknowledged Jones, before admitting that he didn’t necessarily put 100% of his effort into the physical therapy as he as a substitute leaned on those closest around him.
“I even have a really strong support base, so immediately my coaches were very positive, very optimistic a few healthy return… I even have really great trainers around me who got me on a fantastic physical therapy program immediately and I knew that we could be back.
“Physical therapy: I don’t think I did it to one of the best of my abilities, I definitely gained a whole lot of extra 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 eager to see Jones back in motion, the overwhelming majority would much somewhat see him fighting interim champion Tom Aspinall, somewhat 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 sufficient 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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