Athletes
Jon Jones Believes He'll Make It Look Easy
After More Than Three Years Away, Jon Jones Is Excited To Add Another Chapter To His Legacy At UFC 285: Jones vs Gane
At this time 12 years ago, Jon Jones was 23 and about to fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the light heavyweight championship of the world. It was a late call for his first title bout as he stepped in for his then-teammate Rashad Evans moments after his February 2011 win over Ryan Bader.
Jones won the title that night in Newark, New Jersey, but not before foiling a fight day robbery with coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn. That was how it was with Jones in those days; nothing seemed too outrageous or impossible that the kid from Rochester, who learned his MMA game from YouTube, couldn’t do.
Twelve years later, Jones has lived a life that can be a movie someday, complete with the good, the bad and the ugly. What hasn’t changed, though, is that the hot prospect and young champion is, at 35, still the most intriguing figure in the sport and someone still expected to do the outrageous and impossible.
UFC 285 COUNTDOWN: Jones vs Gane | Shevchenko vs Grasso | Full Episode
Like winning the world heavyweight title after three years away from the sport. But while Jones’ fearlessness to take on any and all challenges in his professional life remains the same as it was when he was 23, the mid-30s version of Jones has altered his life view.
One Moment From Every Jon Jones Fight
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One Moment From Every Jon Jones Fight
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“My mental approach to be being a professional athlete, being a martial artist, has completely changed,” said Jones. “I see the distractions, I see where things could go wrong, I see where I've messed up in the past. All of it. My ability to not get too high on myself, my ability to never feel too down on myself, just all of it. The man that I am is just a different guy than I used to be. I've been through life, man. I've had some setbacks. I've set myself back and I'm grateful for all my lessons that I've learned. And I feel like everything in my life has prepared me for this moment.”
How To Watch UFC 285 In Your Country
This moment is a Saturday main event in which he will face Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title. It’s Jones’ first fight at heavyweight, and in Gane, he will face one of the best in the biz. It’s not an easy fight in the best of circumstances. For a fighter debuting in the division after three years off, it’s a sizeable mountain to climb. But as Jones points out, he hasn’t been off since he successfully defended his 205-pound crown against Dominick Reyes in February of 2020.
“I've been training nonstop for the last three years,” he said. “I've been training about two times a day, some days three times in a day. And it's been awesome. It's been something very different for me. Now I've really adopted the martial arts warrior lifestyle of just trying to be in shape and trying to be sharp skill wise year-round. And it feels good. It feels good to be finally living the lifestyle of a martial artist.”
Without living the lifestyle of a martial artist, Jones has shattered records, dominated nearly every fight he’s been in, and earned nearly universal recognition as the best to ever do it in the sport. That just shows the talent, the creativity and Fight IQ he possesses, and makes one wonder how much further would he have separated himself from the pack in the G.O.A.T. discussion if he was completely focused 24/7.
Reasons To Watch UFC 285: Jones vs Gane
None of that really matters now, though, because all the What Ifs are in the past. What matters now is Saturday night and whether moving to a new weight class was the answer for a fighter who was in tougher than expected fights when he defeated Reyes and Thiago Santos in his last two trips to the Octagon. He believes it is, and while he thought this journey north would have taken less time, he found out that getting up to heavyweight properly was a more complicated ordeal.
Jon Jones Fight Week Interview | UFC 285
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Jon Jones Fight Week Interview | UFC 285
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“At first, I thought it'd be really easy,” Jones admits. “I thought I could do it in a few months. And as I got more into it, as I got more into the culture, I realized that if I wanted to do it right, I would have to really commit my life to it. It would have to become something that I did almost every day.”
So as the months ticked away and speculation about his future mounted, Jones simply put in the time in the gym, far from the bright lights that nearly blinded him at times. And when it was time to make that call to say he was ready, he truly was.
“I feel amazing,” he said. “I've gained the weight very slowly and I feel like I do everything I used to do, just more confidently and with more power. Back in the day, I've had some really great fights where I've showed really solid boxing, but I never really believed in my punching power. Now I believe my combinations are sharper than ever. I also feel like my punching power and my confidence to be in the pocket is higher than it used to be. My explosiveness and my quickness, my ability to wrestle and everything I used to do, I just do with more power now, more confidence. I feel like I got that grown man strength finally. And it's exciting. It's an exciting time.”
Jon Jones | Best Moments
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Jon Jones | Best Moments
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It is for all the fans who have been waiting for his return, but also for Gane, who has the opportunity to win an undisputed title in his second try with the whole sports world watching. Jones respects the Frenchman, who was decisioned by his former teammate Francis Ngannou in his first undisputed title fight in January of last year, but has no doubt that the one leaving T-Mobile Arena with the belt fights out of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“Ciryl Gane is an awesome competitor,” said Jones. “He's very fast for his weight class. He's light on his feet. He can evade very well. I think he's great for the sport. He speaks well. He carries himself like a gentleman. And I really have nothing bad to say about the young man. I'm excited to compete against him. I feel like everything he's good at, I'm pretty damn good at, as well.”
UFC 285 FREE FIGHTS: Gane vs Tuivasa | Gane vs Lewis | Jones vs Rua | Jones vs Machida | Shevchenko vs Andrade | Grasso vs Wood
But…
“I've been waiting for a long time for all this and yeah, I'm not going out there to lose; it is just not who I am as a person,” Jones continues. “I'm not going out to there to win, either; I'm going out there to dominate and that's what I'm going to do. I believe I'm going to finish this fight. I believe I'm going to make this fight look surprisingly easy.”
It’s been Jones’ M.O. since the start. Every fight that was going to be his toughest turned easy. The biggest test? Aced with a perfect score. And even when he was taken into deep waters over the years, he found a way to swim.
“I'm very resilient,” said Jones. “It's really hard to get me to quit on myself or just quit. It's really hard. I'm grateful for that resilience and yeah, it all leads to this moment.”
JON JONES: One Moment From Every Fight | Career Highlights | Dynamic Debuts
A moment three years in the making, and though Jones’ fighting legacy is set regardless of Saturday’s outcome, another title in a new division wouldn’t hurt his G.O.A.T. argument. Then again, he’s not fighting for us to have ammo for our debates. This is for more than that.
“I'm not necessarily coming back to remind people who I am,” Jones said. “I don't feel like I need to prove anything or remind anybody who I am. I'm excited for people to see the man that I am today. I'm not the guy that I used to be athletically as a man. I just feel more mature, more comfortable in my own skin, more aware of who I am. I'm coming back to prove things to myself. I'm coming back to show myself that I can be great, that being away from the sport three years I can challenge men that are massive and have the success that I had at light heavyweight. I'm coming back to show my kids that they can do anything they put their mind to. And I'm coming back to show the world that success isn't a coincidence. It belongs to those who earn it. Yeah, I'm coming back to get what's mine. I have an obligation to greatness to leave my body out there, to leave my talent out there for the world to see. And that's what I'm going to do.”
UFC 285: Jones vs Gane took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 4, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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