Jon Jones Reveals Toe Injury From Chael Sonnen That Delayed UFC 285 Fight Is Still One of the Chinks in His Armor

A few hours ago, the UFC Octagon was on fire when Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane fought for the vacant heavyweight title. Jones made his submission victory against Gane seem effortless. Within 2 minutes and 4 seconds into the bout, ‘Bones’ skillfully trapped the Frenchman in an inescapable guillotine choke. The #1 heavyweight was left with no choice but to tap out for his life. However, there were some moments before the bout that made the fans feel that ‘Bones’ was not going to make it.

Before entering the octagon, Jones had to undergo an awkward moment which, according to some fans, was longer than the fight. The official stopped ‘Bones’ from entering the octagon and insisted that he remove the tape from his toes. The officials later made him cut the tapes that bound his toes and foot. This could have even led to disqualification before Jones could even reach his opponent. However, in a post-fight interview with ESPN MMA, Jones explained why he taped his foot.

The tape around Jon Jones’ foot

Fans who have followed UFC fights for a long time would remember Jones‘ light heavyweight title defense bout against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159. During the fight, ‘Bones’ broke his big toe. Nonetheless, he never realized the injury he suffered during the gruesome fight until UFC color commentator Joe Rogan pointed it out in the post-fight interview. The injury happened in April 2013, and it still haunts the current heavyweight champion. During the post-fight interview with ESPN MMA, Jones explained why he put tape on his toe.

He said, “I broke my toe when fought Chael Sonnen years ago, and ever since then, every day at practice I tape my toe just to ensure that it doesn’t pop out.”

Talking further on the subject, he detailed, “The toe is totally fine but every once in a while, if I pivoted on it too hard, it sends the most excruciating pain up my body. And I just never want to compete without my toe taped again.”

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“But you know, I knew being a world champion, being in my position, nothing is supposed to be easy, right? And so you know Baltimore Ravens, my brother Arthur taught me that you got to have skin like an armadillo… I said screw it, who cares? Nothing is going to stop me. I want to be in there. It’s time for me to fight. So they cut the rest of the tape off my foot, and it was awesome.“

The bout that caused the toe injury

UFC 159 proves the zeal for fighting that Jones carries in his veins. Due to the adrenaline rush, Jones failed to notice the huge injury he had suffered. The current heavyweight champion made sure that he won the fight within 4 minutes and 33 seconds of its beginning. The retired UFC legend Chael Sonnen was unable to bear the strikes of the champion. It is believed that the toe injury happened during the takedown attempt around the 2:40 mark.

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