Jon 'Bones' Jones: Aiming to take back his crown at UFC 197

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  • Jon Jones.

    Jon Jones is just a month away from trying to regain everything he has lost. After a hit-and-run accident cost him his UFC belt, his international acclaim and almost his career, arguably MMA’s greatest of all time returns to the Octagon looking to bookend a story of redemption.

    On April 23 at UFC 197 in Las Vegas, the pound-for-pound No1 fighter bids to rip back the belt that was taken, but never in defeat, as he reignites a bitter feud with the current light-heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier. For Jones, though, this clash doesn’t just represent a physical battle, it’s also a test of his mental fortitude.

    Twelve months ago the 28-year-old crashed into the car of a pregnant woman before fleeing on foot. He would eventually turn himself in and plead guilty to various charges, while the UFC stripped him of his title and suspended him indefinitely.

    This was his personal nadir. After testing positive for cocaine in 2014 and crashing his Bentley while under the influence two years prior to that, this seemed like the last straw.

    Here was a fighter who redefined what it meant to be an extraordinary athlete in MMA.

    Fans loved him for his skill and dominance, yet problems outside the Octagon darkened his image. And Cormier, after claiming the vacant belt with a win over Anthony Johnson,  bluntly surmised what every fan was thinking.  “I have a message for one man, Jon Jones, get your s*** together, I’m waiting for you,” he barked.

    Well, he has, and now Jones aims to settle a rivalry that began in his last outing when he successfully defended the title by beating Cormier at UFC 182 in January 2015.

    It was quite apt that when he returned to work earlier this month, it was at the UFC’s ‘Unstoppable’ press conference, and it was there the psychological warfare resumed as he brought a belt on stage.

    “I knew Daniel Cormier would have the belt and unfortunately I took myself out of the game to allow him to take my position,” he tells Sport360. “But I feel like a champion that never lost a fight. That’s why I brought my own belt, to let him know of my confidence and my mindset right now.

    “I was so grateful of the way the fans received me and I think they’re really happy to have me back. That’s definitely something really motivating me to go out there and put on a great performance.”

    Jones beat Cormier having tested positive for cocaine in a pre-fight test. It transpired that his training for the fight was minimal but even with the below-par preparation, Jones dominated in a unanimous five-round decision. And no matter how many top light-heavyweights are placed in his path, the result is always the same – a Jones win.

    Indeed, the only thing preventing Jones from being one of the biggest stars, not just in the UFC, but in world sport, is himself.

    There’s a saying in MMA, though, that you learn from your losses more than you ever do from your victories. His defeat came outside the Octagon but it’s providing him with the necessary lessons to turn his life around – something he believes his fans recognise.

    “I think me and my fans are ready to begin a second chapter in my career, a better chapter,” the New Yorker says. “Right now, I represent a comeback and I’m representing redemption. As much as people like to see people fall, they really draw strength from seeing someone get back on their feet.

    “I’m fighting to motivate others and give people strength and I feel like I’m doing that by proving to people I’m back on my feet and getting my life back together.

    “I think that’s why people are rooting for me because they want to see me do the right things and go on to live up to my potential.”

    That potential could see him one day move up to challenge for the heavyweight belt. Jones says he wants to regain his title, rematch and beat Alexander Gustafsson, beat Anthony Johnson and then move up a division. And it’s a route that has been given added credence after a dedicated powerlifting regime saw him undergo a transformation from a slender physique to a hulking muscular frame. But should fans be concerned by the added muscle?

    “I feel it will make some differences,” he adds.  “I feel like a much stronger athlete, I’m able to muscle through a lot of positions that before I was just too weak to finish.

    “I feel it’s made a positive impact on my game and I feel like I punch harder and kick harder. When you gain a lot of muscle your cardio isn’t the same and that’s something we’re very aware of.

    “I actually do a lot of extra cardio now to make sure that doesn’t happen to me so I feel as if the advantages that come with power lifting are actually in place and that the disadvantages we’re taking very seriously.”

    Jones is a big man with equally big visions. After taking care of business at light-heavyweight, he wants explore superfight options and before that is by no means opposed to a slot on the biggest MMA card of all time – July 9’s UFC 200.

    “I haven’t really talked to Dana White (UFC president) about that at all. It’s really hard to look into the future when you have a fight coming up but it’s definitely not something I’m opposed to,” he says.

    When it comes to superfights, though, there are two opponents that come to mind.

    Cormier’s two stablemates at Team AKA could be set for a collision course with Jones down the line. Middleweight champ Luke Rockhold stated his ambition to one day move up to 205lbs at a Q&A in London earlier this month. There’s also former heavyweight king Cain Velasquez should Jones decide to mix it with the big men.

    “It’s a total possibility,” he says when asked if he could add another two AKA members to his résumé. “I’m just extremely confident in my own ability, the people I have training with me and supporting me, I just don’t see myself losing.

    “As long as I keep doing the right things, listening to my trainers and giving my absolute best effort I believe I could beat anybody in the sport. If Luke Rockhold wants to have a superfight I’m more than willing to welcome him to the light-heavyweight division with a devastating loss. Same thing goes for a superfight with Cain. Me and Cain have been saying things back and forth for years now and I think now more than ever would be a great time for me to beat him.”

    Despite his past misdemeanours, Jones has the potential to transcend into the mainstream – something he came close to achieving in 2011, aged 23, when he defeated Mauricio Rua to become the UFC’s youngest ever champion. He still believes that can happen.

    “I think that’s definitely a possibility for me. At some points in my career I felt really close to that and then I had my setbacks,” he says. “But fighters like Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, they show how possible it is. I had that time in the limelight, I’m in a rebuilding process but that time will come again.”

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