Jon Jones Talks Training,
Machida, Bruce Lee and Much More
Jon Jones is rapidly gaining steam as one of
the most popular up and coming fighters in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship. With a perfect
9-0 professional record, three of which have
come inside the UFC, Jones is looking to
establish himself as one of the elite fighters
of the stacked 205lb division. Though he is busy
training for his next fight, which has yet to be
made official, Jones took some time out of his
schedule to talk with us about his training, his
last fight, and some of the biggest names in the
light heavyweight division and what he thinks
about them
SK: You have only been fighting professionally for about a year and a half now. Are you surprised to find yourself with three wins in the UFC so early into your career?
JJ: Well, yeah, it’s definitely pretty surprising how fast things have gone. Everything I do in life I try to do wholeheartedly and put my all into it. I can’t say that I’m surprised about my success because of how hard I train, but I am surprised at how much success I’ve achieved in such a short amount of time.
SK: A lot of people call you an unorthodox fighter. I don’t know if it’s because of the crazy strikes or the Greco-Roman base, but do you consider yourself to be unorthodox and do you think that has helped you?
JJ: Yeah, definitely. I don’t necessarily consider myself unorthodox. I’m more into Bruce Lee’s line of thinking; the best way is to have no way, and while I’m out there I try to keep that in mind, so I can’t really say that I’m a boxer or a Thai fighter—I try to use techniques from every style of fighting and I think that helps a lot. When a guy is in a training camp for me he has a lot to think about—spinning back kicks and elbows, Tae Kwon Do kicks, the throws—so yeah I just really try to incorporate the thought of having no way, and it’s really helped me out tremendously.
SK: You mentioned Bruce Lee. Do you have any other experience—besides Greco-Roman wrestling—in traditional martial arts?
JJ: No I don’t. Wrestling was my passion, but since I’ve become a martial artist I’ve been trying to take it all in and understand it to the fullest. Bruce Lee being one of my idols, it’s taught me a lot.
SK: You used a lot of Greco-Roman throws against Stephan Bonnar, something you seemed to shy away from against Jake O’Brien. Is that because O’Brien came from a wrestling base too or did you just have an entirely different game plan going into that fight for other reasons?
JJ: I wanted to have a different game plan for that fight. I believe that fighting is like a chess game, so it’s about making the right moves and moving the right pieces. If—on paper—Stephan Bonnar was a guy not known for his wrestling, so obviously that was the area I wanted to attack most—his main weakness. With Jake O’Brien—known for having better than average wrestling—I didn’t want to even give him that chance with me. It was kind of like Frank Mir vs. Nogueira, you know, everyone thought it was going to be this great Jiu-Jitsu match and Frank Mir didn’t even take it there to give Nogueira the opportunity to use his number one strength. That was a big part of my game plan.
SK: Looking at the first round, it looked a little close to me. I know he hit you a few times in the face, you hit him with some jabs and leg kicks, but what did you think about the first round?
JJ: Yeah he was definitely able to hit me in the face a lot more than I thought he could, so I’ve recently been trying to let that go and not beat myself up about it too much because it is a fight and obviously you are going to get hit in the face throughout your career. It was a learning experience. I think—by far—he had the best boxing combinations that I’ve fought against. I think the first round was definitely close. Back stage I didn’t really warm up the way that I wanted to—the nerves of UFC 100, the big stage and all of the celebrities. I was ready to fight but my body definitely wasn’t as awake as my mind was. The second round I felt so much better. My body was awake, I actually had a sweat going, and I really feel like round one could have looked a lot like round 2 if I had warmed up properly
SK: You mentioned that you have been trying not to beat yourself up about the performance. Regardless of what you thought, he was the first person you have finished in the UFC, so was this your biggest win because of that or do you think the performance was still not up to par?
JJ: I don’t think it was up to par at all. I have high expectations for myself and I try to compare myself to the best guys in the world—the Machidas and the Silvas and the St-Pierres—I don’t even think I’m in that category but if I keep that mindset it can only elevate me higher. In the Stephan Bonnar fight he really didn’t hit me at all—maybe five or six times in the third round—but that’s the name of the game and I really don’t want to end up like one of these boxers, stuttering. I want to end my career with a good head on my shoulders, so I take pride in not getting hit and that’s why the Bonnar fight was much better than the Jake O’Brien fight.
SK: You just mentioned Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and St-Pierre. I was actually going to ask you about all three of them. Focusing on Silva and Machida, they are both considered to be some of the most dominant fighters in the sport right now. Why do you think they have been unbeatable up to this point?
JJ: I think they’re so dominant because of the years of experience they have. Anderson Silva has been fighting in Muay Thai championships and boxing championships since he was a kid. Now he’s in his mid-thirties and he’s out there fighting comfortable, unlike myself, who is kind of a baby in this sport. Guys like us have to be more careful. We can’t just go out there and be completely comfortable and let all of our moves flow because Silva and Machida have been in all of these competitions since they were babies basically. It’s going to take a long time for us young fighters to get like that, but I think when you can be completely comfortable, that’s when you can just go out there and pull the trigger left and right, really let all of your techniques flow. That’s where I’m trying to get to.
SK: Some of the critics of Silva and Machida have pointed to the faulty game plans of their opponents—Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans specifically—is it more the skill they possess or the faulty game plans of their opponents?
JJ: I think it’s more a matter of skill. Having recently joined Greg Jackson’s camp, I know he is an absolute mastermind when it comes to game planning in this sport. You can have a phenomenal game plan, but you have to be able to execute the game plan. Those guys are on a different page right now, but everyone can be beaten, everyone has a chin, so I try not to right anyone’s coattails too much because I have to fight these guys in the future. I’m not really looking at how invincible they appear to be. No one is invincible.
SK: How did the decision to move to Greg Jackson’s camp come about and are you still affiliated with the Bomb Squad in New York or are you done with that team? Are you going to move your camp to New Mexico?
JJ: As of right now I’m just there for one week every month and when I accept my next fight I’m going to move there for a few months, along with Tri-Star Gym in Montreal to work with Georges and Firas. I’m totally still associated with Bomb Squad though, those guys are still my home and they taught me all of the basics and I owe them a lot. But everyone starts somewhere and the guys that stick with their original teams usually don’t get as far. It was just a necessary move to seek out better training and better training partners.
SK: Have you officially become a part of the Tri-Star Gym as well because I had originally heard you were going to be moving there to train with Georges St-Pierre and his team?
JJ: I have been going to Montreal and Albuquerque. Montreal is a lot closer to my house so I have been trying to spend one week in Montreal and one week in Albuquerque every month. Before my next fight I’m going to be seeing Firas, Jackson, and Phil Nurse.
SK: They are going to be your corner men probably?
JJ: Yes.
SK: Have you been able to spar with St-Pierre yet because I know he was nursing that groin injury as of last week?
JJ: No, I haven’t sparred with him yet. We have gone out to dinner several times and we have just been working on the biggest part of our relationship right now, which is the friendship. We have been spending a lot of time together and I’ve been working with his training partners and coaches. We’ll be going at it as soon as he’s ready to go.
SK: If you’re eventually moving your camp to New Mexico does that mean you’re going to be spending less time in Montreal and more at Jackson’s?
JJ: I haven’t really decided yet where I want to spend the bulk of my time. I have learned so much about fighting in both camps, so both places are pretty much equal right now. Either way we are all affiliated with one another so we’re all one big program. If I’m learning something in Montreal with Firas, he tells Greg so Greg knows exactly what I’m learning and visa versa.
SK: Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine both train at Greg Jaskson’s camp and they are obviously top fighters in your weight class. Have you trained with them and do you know how that relationship is going to work?
JJ: I trained with Keith briefly before the Thiago Silva fight and it was great. We have a really great bond and relationship. As far as us fighting against each other in competition, you will never, ever see it. It just won’t happen.
SK: There has been a lot of that going around lately. Silva and Machida is probably the biggest example going back and forth with the UFC, but there is probably going to be one fight down the road that is going to make this teammate vs. teammate issue come to a head. You’re saying that there is no way?
JJ: We have a policy at Jackson’s. The number one policy is friends come before business. Friendship is way more valuable than money. It’s all about morals over business. I’m really not worried about that right now though and I don’t want to start any drama.
SK: There was a rumor going around that you were going to be fighting Mark Coleman before he was matched up against Tito Ortiz. Were you ever approached about that?
JJ: I was not approached about that but I heard lots of rumors about it. I don’t think I would have accepted that fight. Mark’s a little older and—
SK: You don’t really have much to gain from that, you think?
JJ: Yeah, it would just be that I beat up the old guy, you know? It would be wrestler vs. wrestler, not a very good match up for Mark I don’t think. It’s not a good match up for me either because it doesn’t improve me too much. I mean no disrespect to Mark, he is a great warrior with a ton of fight left in him but I don’t think it would have been a good match up for either of us.
SK: Do you have any idea who you’ll be fighting next? Anyone you want to fight next or even a timeframe for your next fight?
JJ: I’ve never called out a fighter in my career and I don’t plan on doing it, but I would like to fight in November or early December.
SK: There are a bunch of cards going on around that time, but you haven’t been approached about anything officially?
JJ: No.
SK: Forrest Griffin and Thiago Silva seem to be two names that would be possible. Silva is coming off of a huge win while Griffin is coming off of a huge loss. How would you feel about either one of those match ups?
JJ: I came into this sport to fight the best guys in the world, and I take a lot of pride in that, so I would feel great about either one of those opponents. I haven’t lost and I’m always learning new techniques so I have no reason to doubt myself against anyone. I would take a fight against pretty much anyone they gave me right now.
SK: How do you see your future in the division. You’re obviously going for the title but is that your sole focus or are you taking it fight by fight?
JJ: The belt is really my reason for getting up in the morning and meditating and fighting. It’s the reason I train, stay focused, and stay hungry. But I do take it fight by fight because that’s what it is, one fight at a time. I see the belt around my house though, I picture it every day and I’m trying to bring it into existence. I’ve been living a pretty clean life up to now, you know, so the belt is my long-term goal and my short-term goal. It’s what I’m living for right now.
SK: You’ve mentioned some people you respect and look up to, like Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, and Lyoto Machida—
JJ: No, I don’t look up to Machida.
SK: Oh, you don’t? JJ: No, not at all.
SK: Any specific reason?
JJ: I think people are putting him on a pedestal where he is just unbeatable and he hasn’t even defended his belt yet. He has so many fans, which is fine but it sickens me to see so many other fighters put him on such a pedestal to the point where mentally he’s already beaten half of the division.
SK: Well the reason I brought them up—people like St-Pierre and Machida, and you mentioned Bruce Lee—there doesn’t seem to be too many fighters who really treat this as martial arts. If you go to certain MMA gyms they really don’t respect traditional martial arts whereas guys like Keith Jardine, Georges St-Pierre and others like them really seem to treat this as a sport about martial arts and not a blood sport or a tough man competition.
JJ: Absolutely. If you’re going to be something you should be it wholeheartedly, and I think the mental aspect is a big part of fighting. You need to control your mind and know how to use your mind to think like a warrior, then you can perform like a warrior. I think people who think about it as a tough man contest can only go so far.
SK: There is an MMA team around me—Boston—and they have something called the Wall of Shame, which is a collection of pictures of traditional martial arts techniques that they say don’t work in real situations. What do you think about that attitude?
JJ: Wow. I think that’s really sad. I don’t think their coach is much of a martial artist if he believes that. Any technique, no matter how silly it seems can work if you practice it. You just have to believe in it and make it your own. I’m willing to take a stab and say that this school probably doesn’t have too many champions.
A lot of people were concerned about me training with Greg Jackson because they thought that he would change my style of throwing weird things, but he encourages me to throw whatever I want. He has just helped to give me a base to pull from. The best coaches allow their fighters to flow.
SK: Before I let you go, do you think you have any specific weaknesses that you’re working on right now?
JJ: As of right now I’m working on my awareness. I got hit too many times against Jake O’Brien so I’ve been working on that big time. I’ve realized that since I’ve been so focused on offense I haven’t really built up my basic defense. My Jiu-Jitsu has also improved tremendously. Getting a submission under my belt in the UFC has really inspired me. I’m excited about it, like a kid with a brand new toy.
SK: Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me today, we really appreciate it.
JJ: No problem man. Great talking with you.
Meet Jon Jones a.k.a. ‘Bones’
By Dave Carpinello
At the young age of 21, Jon Jones has made the most of his opportunities so far in the mixed martial arts world. Compiling a 7 – 0 record, he will be making his second appearance in the UFC on January 31st, 2009 against Stephan Bonnar. Jon took some time recently to talk with PDG about his rise to the UFC, his background and what drives him to be the best.
PDG: Let's start with how did you first get involved in mixed martial arts?
Jones: I was in a State Champion wrestler in high school and a National Champion in college. My college wrestling career came to an end when I found out that my girlfriend of four years was pregnant. So I decided to end school for a little bit and start working for a living so that I could be the best provider possible for my family. I consider myself a very athletic guy and mixed martial arts was the path for me to take. I thought it would be a great way to make quick money.
PDG: Your first seven fights came in 2008; when did you first start training mixed martial arts?
Jones: I honestly started training about this same time last year. Before that the only experience that I had was as a high school and college wrestler. I have dedicated myself very hard each and every day to my training and here I am getting ready for my second UFC fight.
PDG: What have been the biggest differences you have seen going from the smaller organizations last year straight up to the UFC?
Jones: The biggest difference has obviously been the step up each time in the caliber of opponents that I have faced. The increased publicity has also been a big factor since now I am part of the UFC I have to make sure that I watch what I do and not put myself or the company in a bad situation. As a company to work for the UFC is very organized and they plan every detail down to making sure that we are eating healthy and have plenty of amenities. They pay for you and your corner to travel there and your hotel and everyone in the organization treats the fighters with respect.
PDG: At UFC 94 you are facing the veteran Stephan Bonnar; what do you know about your opponent?
Jones:Stephan Bonnar is an old fart and I am going to take it to him [laughs]. In all seriousness, I have a great deal of respect for him but at the same time I know that I have to get the job done. He was one of the poster boys for the sport and I know that he is a very strong fighter on his feet and on the ground. So basically I am coming into this fight as the underdog and a lot of people aren't going to be expecting a lot out of me. My main goal is to shock the world and show the UFC that I can be a contender.
PDG: So you basically just started training and fighting about a year ago. Now you are on the main card fighting in the same event as Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn; how excited are you about this opportunity?
Jones: It feels absolutely wonderful and I think that my story is a great one for people who have aspirations about a career in mixed martial arts. With God, all things are possible and you should always chase your dreams and never say never. A lot of people were playing me down when I told them I was going to start MMA, they were telling me that I was going to get hurt and that there was no money to be made in the sport. I refused to listen to those people and I pushed myself harder and harder twice a day at practice. It just goes to show that you if you have the dedication and your willing to put in the hard work, then anything is possible.
PDG: So far, early in your career; what do you think your greatest strengths are?
Jones: Wrestling is obviously my biggest strength. You don't learn great takedown defense in training camps, it is something that takes years to perfect and I believe that I have put in the work ever since I was a kid. When I was wrestling though I was more of a standup wrestler. I loved to take my opponents down and then let them up and take them down again. I was never really the guy who won a lot of matches via pin as I usually relied on outscoring my opponent with takedowns. I have taken that approach to mixed martial arts and so I am very comfortable standing and fighting. I am definitely getting more familiar with jui-jitsu but I enjoy the creativeness that a fighter can attain with his kicks and punches.
PDG: What advantages do you see for you going into your fight against Bonnar?
Jones: I think I am going to have phenomenal cardio going into this fight so that would definitely be an advantage. Even though I am inexperienced, I am going to use my youth and aggressiveness to be explosive and all over him for 15 straight minutes. I also have world-class wrestling that is learned over years and not taught in training camps. So to sum it up I think that my wrestling and my unorthodox methods of striking are also going to be an advantage in this fight. As of right now he has one fight of mine that he can watch and so I think he is going to have trouble finding sparring partners to mimic my style.
PDG: Where did you train to prepare for this fight and who were your primary training partners?
Jones: I train with Team Bombsquad and my training partners are Mike Massenzio and the ‘Barncat’ Tamdan McCrory. I represent Team Bombsquad but I also travel to train with many other gyms including Massenzio’s IronHorse gym.
PDG: Just about two weeks out from your fight. What is your training schedule like right now?
Jones: I wake up every morning at 5 a.m. and run 4 miles. I have been trying to run it faster and faster each time because it is no longer a challenge to run the 4 miles. In the afternoon I do either a cardio session in the pool or a cardio strength training with my personal trainer. At night, I practice some form of mixed martial arts, whether it be wrestling with the guys at Cornell University or Ithaca College or training jiu-jitsu in Syracuse or working with my Muay Thai coach in Buffalo who is a Native American named Stonehorse. If I'm not at one of those three places than I am at Team Bombsquad incorporating all the different aspects of mixed martial arts into my training.
PDG: Out of the seven fights you have had so far; which one did you enjoy the most?
Jones: My most impressive fight and the one that I have enjoyed the most so far was against Ryan Verrett. I knocked him out very early in the fight and I think that it was the hardest I have ever hit anyone. The feeling of getting such a devastating knockout was such a great feeling that I will cherish it for the rest of my career.
PDG: That was a pretty sick knockout! So what do you do when you are not training or fighting?
Jones: I have a four-month-old daughter and I am a first-time dad. I absolutely love being a dad and I am learning every day how I can be a better parent. I go to church every Sunday and I try to spend as much time with my family as I can outside of fighting. I am also an assistant wrestling coach at Ithaca College in New York. Not much more than that other than just trying to be the best provider for my family that I can.
PDG: Do you play any video games in your free time?
Jones: Oh yeah! I love Call of Duty 4, Madden 2008 and 2009 and I love Halo. My favorite game above all has to be COD 4 though and I have an Online Playstation 3 account if anyone wants to hit me up and test your skills.
PDG: What console you prefer; the XBOX 360 or the PS3?
Jones: I would have to say the PlayStation 3 and then my brothers will come over and bring their Xbox 360 and we will play Halo 3 for hours.
PDG: Cool. Back to fighting; given health considerations how many times would you like to fight in 2009?
Jones: God willing I would honestly like to fight in every UFC event this year. I would fight twice a month if I could but I understand all of the scheduling and the matchmaking and everything that goes into making an event, so I will fight every time that the UFC he asks me to. I am used to competing every week as a wrestler and so it is going to take a little bit of a different mindset to not be fighting as many times a year as I would prefer.
PDG: Who are some of the fighters that you looked up to before you started competing?
Jones: Before I started fighting I looked up to Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Fedor Emelianenko. But now that I have been in the sport and have been studying different fight styles, I am absolutely obsessed with the way that Anderson Silva fights. I go to a website that has literally every single fight of his on video and I watch them over and over again and try to imitate his unique style.
PDG: So how did you come up with the nickname ‘Bones’?
Jones: I was always the guy in the gym working out as hard as I could and no matter how big my upper body got I always had skinny little chicken legs. In high school I had big feet, big shoulders and a big head. So the football coach gave me a giant helmet and defensive linemen shoulder pads but then I had just normal leg pads. So I was quite the site when I walked onto the football field and so my teammates always were calling me bony and it eventually turned into ‘Bones’ and I kept it as a tribute to my home town.
PDG: Thanks again for your time and good luck at UFC 94. Is there anything else that you wanted to add?
Jones: I wanted to thank all of my sponsors including PunchDrunkGamer and thank Christ as I am a Christian and that is where I get all of my power and inner-strength from.
New UFC fighter Jon Jones (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) stopped by Pro MMA Radio to talk with host Larry Pepe about his new found fame, his victory over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94, and how he incorporates his wrestling backround into his MMA game.
Here are some highlights of their discussion:
Jon Jones is a Jr. College wrestling national champion, is undefeated in MMA, and is fresh off his victory over tough UFC veteran Stephan Bonnar (11-5 MMA, 5-4 UFC) and oh yeah, he is only 21.
Jones talked to host Lary Pepe about his fight with Bonnar and how he thought that the fight was definitly a defining point in his young career, “The fight with Stephan was definitly ya know something I had to prove to myself and prove to the UFC ya know that I was able to beat him and I’m able to be here in the UFC. I was kinda under the impression that they gave Stephan the fight against me to ya know give him a decent fight, a good comeback fight. Fighting a guy who is unexperienced, but I didn’t want to be anyone’s stepping stone. I just decided to reach out and grab this opportunity and ya know make Stephan Bonnar my stepping stone ya know. I had a great gameplain going into the fight but I guess I wasn’t expecting it to go as well as it did,” Jones said.
Jones is very young in his MMA career, he made his pro debut in April of 2008 and his UFC debut 4 months later in August. An achievement very few have come to realize so early in their MMA careers.
With a fight as important to the career of Jones as the fight with Bonnar, some are skeptical of the small camp in which he trains out of, “Ya it definitly gave me an extra sense of motivation. I knew beating Stephan Bonnar would be gigantic for my career and uh maybe he wasn’t even taking me serious, I dunno but I believe you really don’t need the biggest coaches in order to be successful. I’m out here in a little small town in upstate New York and ya know no one in my coaching staff has ever heard of them, but ya know we know how to work hard and how to push ourselves and ya know we proved it. We don’t need big names to be successful,” Jones said.
Jones believes that you should stick with your roots and believes that fighters like Josh Koscheck have only struggled when they didn’t execute their basics, such the case when Koscheck was out wrestled by George St. Pierre.
He also believes that his ground game is developing quickly and if he had to rank himself he would probably say either a brown or blue belt.
Though Jones is very confident in his skills he is not ignorant to the point of thinking he is perfect, “Oh absolutely, I was really dissapointed with my cardio. I had worked really hard on my cardio and I just hired a new fitness guy who works with doctors and older people and maybe he wasn’t pushing me as hard as he should have as far as me being an MMA fighter and not just some old guy trying to get in shape and uh I was dissapointed…,” Jones said.
While Jones has no idea who his next opponent will be, the young man has a great work ethic and a ton of potential in the very strong UFC light heavyweight division.
Jon Jones a Future UFC Superstar
Above is Dana White's video blog for UFC 94, and the conversation at the 11:05 mark gives me a good opportunity to bring up just what an amazing performance we got on Saturday from Jon Jones, who defeated Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision, improving his pro MMA record to 8-0.
First, let's not forget that just beating Bonnar is an impressive accomplishment. Until Saturday, the only people who had beaten Bonnar were current UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, previous UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, and the man I believe will be the next UFC light heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida. For Jones -- at age 21 -- to add his name to that list is incredible.
And then let's consider the way Jones beat Bonnar. Jones secured an incredible nine takedowns against Bonnar, which that statistical analysts at CompuStrike say is the most takedowns they've ever tabulated in any MMA fight. Jones (who was an excellent junior college wrestler and has two brothers who are defensive linemen at Syracuse) looked incredibly strong and athletic against Bonnar, and I think he's the kind of guy who represents the next generation of MMA fighters -- great all-around athletes who could excel in a number of sports and choose to focus on MMA.
White's video blog shows a conversation between Jones and UFC announcer Joe Rogan backstage at the MGM Grand after the show.
"You've got some of the best throws in MMA," Rogan told him. "Your timing on those throws is sick. ... Big victory tonight. Stephan Bonnar is legit."
Jones rubbed some people the wrong way by getting in Bonnar's face at Friday's weigh-in, but he came across as quiet and humble on Saturday night, both in his post-fight interview in the Octagon and in the above video, where he sheepishly replies to Rogan's prase by saying, "I've been putting a lot of time in at freestyle and Greco."
After that, we see White trying to cheer Bonnar up by telling him there's no shame in his loss because Jones "that kid's f***ing young, he's f***ing fast, he's explosive, he's strong." I agree with that; it's not that Bonnar fought badly, it's just that he walked into a buzz saw when he walked into the Octagon against Jones.
The nine takedowns were the story of the fight, but Jones isn't just a wrestler. He also had some good punches, kicks and knees against Bonnar, and his spinning back elbow was probably the single coolest move any fighter executed at UFC 94. This young man has future star written all over him. I can't wait to see what he does next.
