“He Had a Big Barn…”: 15 Years After His Promotional Debut, Jon Jones Reveals How He Trained at His “Buddy’s Farm” Ahead of His First UFC Fight

Jon Jones is considered by many to be the best mixed martial artist of all time. And it is easy to see why. He has never been beaten by any fighter, the only loss on his record being a controversial disqualification against Matt Hamill in 2009.

‘Bones’ dominated UFC’s light heavyweight division for twelve years from 2008 to 2020 until he moved up to the heavyweight division following a three-year hiatus. He dealt with Ciryl Gane in the first round in his heavyweight debut and has one of the highest fight IQs combined with an ability to adapt rapidly and counter creatively. And although he is at the top of the pyramid today, things were very different before his UFC debut.

Jon Jones reveals he used to train in a barn prior to UFC debut

In an interview with ‘The Overdogs Podcast’, Jon Jones revealed he was unnerved at the prospect of facing Andre Gusmao in his UFC debut as the latter had a black belt in Capoeira and had trained with the Mayweathers.

“Andre was trained under the Gracies in jiu-jitsu and was a black belt in Capoeira which was rare in our country. I believe he also trained with Roger or Jeff Mayweather for a while and he had all these credentials, I was really intimidated by it.”

He told the hosts that he used to train in one of his friend’s barns and he was very much the underdog going into the fight. He felt he was Rocky while Gusmao was Ivan Drago. But, beating the undefeated fighter was a huge confidence boost for the American and gave him a lot of confidence.

“At the time I was training in my buddy’s farm, he had a big barn at the back of his farm and I was training literally on the farm for my UFC debut. This guy had all the glitz and glamour, it was like Rocky vs Drago, this guy was Drago and he had it all. I was able to beat him by unanimous decision and I looked at myself as just this punk a** kid from Upstate New York.”

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“But I had just beat, like, a real UFC fighter in my first fight and that made me realize ‘Woah, I just won a fight in the UFC, I’m officially a professional athlete’. That opened my eyes that little old me from bumf*** wherever could go do something really cool.”

Jon Jones to fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 295

In his first heavyweight title defense, Jon Jones will face former champion Stipe Miocic in the main event for UFC 295 at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York on November 11. While Gane proved to be no match for Jones, Miocic is an entirely different kettle of tea. Known for his excellent wrestling skills, which helped him defeat fighters like Daniel Cormier, Miocic may prove to be a menace on the ground.

But, the fighter fans want Jones to face the most is Francis Ngannou, who was the UFC heavyweight champion when he left the promotion over contract issues. The Cameroonian signed with rival promotion PFL a few months after his UFC departure. And ‘Bones’ recently signed an eight-fight contract with the UFC, almost ensuring he will end his illustrious MMA career in the promotion. This might mean we never see the two fight each other, which would be an absolute shame and perhaps the biggest what-if fight in MMA history.

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