04 September 2023 , 18:44
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Two-weight UFC champion Jon Jones has revealed three fights that defined his legendary career in the octagon.
Jones, 36, is widely considered as the greatest UFC fighter of all time by many fans and he cemented this spot by winning the heavyweight title in March. 'Bones' was returning after a three-year absence but he showed no signs of rust by tapping out former interim champion Ciryl Gane in less than two minutes.
With a title defence against Stipe Miocic lined up in November, Jones will likely retire after the fight if things go his way. Reflecting on the achievements of his 15-year UFC career, Jones said his first career-defining moment came in his promotional debut when he was just 21 years old.
"The first was against Andre Gusmao. I fought him at UFC 87, that was my debut. Andre was trained under the Gracies in jiu-jitsu and was a black belt in capoeira, which is rare in our country. I believe he trained with Roger or Jeff Mayweather for a while, Jones told Kanpai Pandas. "I was intimidated about it because I was training on a farm at the time, whilst this guy had all the glitz and glam. I looked at myself as this punka*** kid from upstate New York, but I had just beat a real UFC fighter."
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The second-best moment for Jones came in his very next fight against The Ultimate Fighter hero Stephan Bonnar, as he said: "That opened my eyes and the next big moment for me was beating Stephan Bonnar, he was the first famous person I had ever competed against. I had to deal with competing against someone that everyone had heard of.
"I had to get comfortable with hearing 'You're going to get knocked the f*** out' so mentally I had to teach myself I could do things above the norm I grew up around. I got into the law of attraction and focused on confidence, the power of the mind. Beating Stephan made me realise I could beat a famous person.
Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history when he won the light-heavyweight belt at the age of 23. He listed this as the third career-defining moment by adding: "I remember being in the cage [after beating Bonnar] and Shogun's brother was holding the gold belt up.
"It was as if I was in some poor village and someone put a big steak up in the air, it was the ticket to change my life. You do not put the meat right in front of a hungry lion whose never had steak before and that's what they did by showing my that belt. I won that fight and dominated that fight.