Jon Jones has an amazing record of 27 wins with just one loss, and seven of those wins came via submission. So, it might surprise you that the two-weight UFC champion and Dana White’s all-time pound-for-pound greatest fighter is not a black belt in jiu-jitsu. Shocked?

‘Bones’ moved to Albuquerque from New York after his UFC 182 victory over Daniel Cormier to focus on getting his BJJ black belt. That was in 2015, nearly 10 years ago! So why is he not a black belt? And what is his current level?

Why hasn’t Jon Jones been promoted in BJJ? Which belt does he own?

Jon Jones has a rich arsenal of MMA weapons and he refers to himself as the look-see-do fighter. At 6”4,’ he towers over everyone and has long arms that are approximately 85 inches. His body proportions were the reason his high school coach named him ‘Bones’.

However, when it comes to BJJ he only owns a purple belt. But wait, because his coach has an answer for it.  According to a Portuguese-language interview with Alencar, that was later translated into BJJ Doc, Gracie Barra’s federation guidelines following the balance between Gi and No-gi jiu-jitsu might have been the culprit.

He has been training in BJJ since 2013 at Gracie Barra New Mexico under professor Roberto ‘Tussa’ Alencar. He was promoted to purple belt in 2019. His coach was asked why he did not get promoted to a higher belt in BJJ. He said, “I think he trusts my work and the questions I bring to him, which is the understanding of Jiu-Jitsu itself. In a philosophical way. Let’s say, using the lessons of Jiu-Jitsu in life, not only MMA but in his personal life as well.”

There is also the case of basing the promotion on the rules of the CBJJ federation. Because there are other fighters like Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Tom Aspinall, who have got their BJJ black belts ahead of someone as skilled as Jones.

Here the rules require you to train two times a week, in a kimono, and you can progress in the ranks.  However a UFC star does not have that time so even if Jones is better than a purple-belt BJJ fighter, he does not get the official accolade.  

Where does Jon Jones train BJJ? Gym and coach

‘Bones’ trains for BJJ at Gracie Barra under Roberto Alencar. He, also known as ‘Tussa’, is a Brazilian BJJ black belt under Carlinhos Gracie from the Gracie Barra Academy. He is even a World No Gi and Pan American champion. Tussa has a whopping record of 51 wins in his martial arts career with 17 submission wins.

If this is Jones’ coach, it is evident why he would be the best in pound for pound. Jones is so good at MMA that he once even almost knocked out his wrestling coach Gable Steveson. Jones uploaded three videos where he was sparring with his coach and the third video is where Jones almost knocked the daylights out of Steveson.

The UFC star had his instincts rush in and he almost knocked his training partner for the day with a flying knee. So what do you think will happen at UFC 309 when Jones faces Stipe Miocic with this kind of a skill set? Share your thoughts in the comments below.