“I Was Starting to Fight Guys Like Reyes…”: Jon Jones Opens Up on Motivation Behind Heavyweight Move

Once a UFC fighter proves that he is the best and unbeatable in his division, he can consequently become fearless. The UFC’s two-time heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, was in a similar situation recently. Jones, with a record of 26 victories and one loss, became one of the scariest fighters in the history of the promotion. The only time the American fighter had to face failure was during his fight against Matt Hamill at the Ultimate Fighter 10 finale. The loss happened as he was disqualified from the match due to the illegal elbow move in round one.

When everyone started fearing Bones, he became more fearless. Additionally, he himself admitted that he lost the motivation to work more on himself because he feared none. According to Bones, this is the only reason he decided to move up from the light heavyweight division to the heavyweight division.

Jon Jones desires to fear again

In a recent post of MMA on SiriusXM, Jones explained his reason to aim for belts in two divisions in an interview on Unlocking the Cage with Jimmy Smith. Jones stated, “I stopped studying footage as much, I started just looking forward to another day at the office. The fear was gone, I didn’t really fear these guys. I wasn’t happy with my pay, either.” He continued,  “I was starting to fight guys like Reyes who had been dreaming of fighting me since college and he was just relatively unknown to the general public.“

During the further conversation, Jones admitted that, after achieving a number of remarkable victories, he was just dying to feel fear again. Bones confessed, “I just wanted more. I wanted to be nervous again, I wanted to have fear again. I think fear is healthy and now we’re in this position.”

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Nonetheless, the UFC legend is now happy with his return to the UFC Octagon, as more challenges are waiting for him. In his recent Instagram posts Bones is seen adding more size to his body. He definitely doesn’t want to fall weak against the former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Ciryl Gane. The two will come face to face to set the octagon on fire on 5th March at UFC 285. The winner of the bout can fill the vacant heavyweight champion position and reign from then on.

The journey of the younger UFC champion

Long ago, Jones proved that he came to the UFC to rule when he won the belt against Shogun Rua. The victory made the American MMA star the youngest champion in the history of the sport. In the coming years, he became highly successful in destroying each and every opponent that came his way.

Bones defended his title from 2011 to 2015. From 2018 to 2020, he once again sat on the throne of the UFC light heavyweight division. The upcoming match between Jones and Gane is surely going to make the fans bite their nails. Let’s wait and watch what unfolds.

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