It feels like making things personal gives Jon Jones as edge in his fights. The heavyweight champion definitely made things personal when he called Tom Aspinall an ‘a-hole’, despite the Englishman’s respectful callouts – which Aspinall should have the right to do. In the lead up to the bout with Stipe Miocic, Jones has chosen to take make things personal with the former heavyweight champion because Miocic made comments about Jones’ kids not respecting him, and also referring to him as a ‘b—h’ in the countdown promo. Trash talk is an integral part of the game, and the firefighter simply created intrigue around the fight. But ‘Bones’ was definitely not content with the perceived disrespect even refused to shake Miocic’s hand as they faced off against each other at the UFC 309 presser. However, reminiscent to him changing his tune on Tom Aspinall, things seemed to have changed within 24 hours.

Jones ended up shaking his opponent’s hand during the ceremonial weigh-ins making the fight community wonder about what was going on in the heavyweight champion’s mind. Right after the weigh-ins, a reporter asked ‘Bones’ about the change in his attitude and the answer left the entire fighting community surprised.

Jones claimed, “I felt like forgiveness is the right thing to do. I made it very clear that I was disappointed in the way that he made me feel. I know that he knows what he said. And at the end of the day, I wanted to show forgiveness.” His answer didn’t change when a media member asked him if something happened in the past 24 hours that changed his heart. All ‘Bones’ had to say was, “It’s just the right thing to do. It is what I represent and I thought it would be a good time to practice it.” 

Furthermore, Jones was asked if forgiving Miocic made the fight less personal. But that wasn’t the case for Jon Jones with him replying. “It’s going to be very personal. At the end of the day, fighting is a personal thing. He has a massive legacy. I have a pretty great reputation as well, in the Octagon. And at the end of the day, he’s trying to take something away from me, my fans, my family, and my coaches, my team, and I can’t let him do it. So it’s personal.” 

Right after Stipe Miocic directed the slur towards Jones in the UFC 309: Countdown episode, the HW champ took no time to express how hurt he was. Accepting his mistake, ‘Stone Cold’ publicly apologized to Jones, claiming that it happened in the heat of the moment. However, ‘Bones’ believed that it was an ‘insincere apology’, even though he accepted it. With the heat from Aspinall fans, media members and the anticipated bout upon him at fight week, you can tell that Jon Jones has a lot to get off his shoulder which we may witness in the form of violence in the Octagon on November 16th.

Jon Jones planning to go all ‘Cobra Kai’ on Stipe Miocic at UFC 309

Just like Cobra Kai’s motto, “No Mercy”, from the age-old Karate Kid movies and the ongoing Netflix series, ‘Bones’ pointed out that Miocic would receive no mercy from him. Talking to Jon Bernard about Miocic’s apology, the champion revealed that he had a lot of respect for ‘Stone Cold’. After all, he is a firefighter and a paramedic with an impressive MMA record. But after the disrespect from Stipe Miocic, Jon Jones tapped into his inner Johnny Lawrence. 

When it comes to fighting inside the Octagon, Jones doesn’t feel the need to feel consideration or respect for his opponents – “I have no reason to have any sort of mercy, or sympathy, or play it classy. It’s all out the window now. I fight out of love; I really love what I do. And I believe I get my energy and my power from a place of love. I will remember what he said when I’m punching him in the face though”. For his part, ‘Bones’ definitely didn’t show mercy towards Daniel Cormier in their second outing, where he scored a TKO finish after throwing a head-kick that was heard around the world. Similarly, when Alexander Gustafsson went on an all-out offensive accusing Jones of taking PED’s, the heavyweight champion dismantled him with punches in the third round at UFC 232.

Nevertheless, Jones seemed to reconcile with his anger towards Miocic and finally accepted the 42-year-old’s handshake, leaving the animosity behind. But with the coals not having fully cooled, the entropy of the fight fans has been increasing. It will be interesting to see if Jon Jones uses the same talking points if he gets booked in a title unification bout against Tom Aspinall. However, for now, we’ve got a massive heavyweight fight on our hands at the famed Madison Square Garden on November 16th.

Will Jones’ forgiveness end up causing his defeat at UFC 309? Or is his forgiveness just a ruse to throw Miocic off his A-game? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.