NEW YORK CITY – Jon Jones’ performance against Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197 didn’t meet the expectations of many and has been dissected every which way. It now appears there was much more going on than anyone realized.
Jones’ (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) outside-the-cage struggles leading into his return fight with Saint Preux (19-8 MMA, 7-3 UFC), which he won by unanimous decision to claim the interim light-heavyweight title, were well-documented. From his long layoff (due to a suspension for his April 2015 hit-and-run arrest) to another arrest less than a month before fight night to a short-notice change in opponent, “Bones” had plenty of reasons to justify an underwhelming performance at UFC 197.
Ads by ZINC
However, at today’s UFC 200 press conference in New York City, which Jones attended to promote his July 9 title-unification bout with Daniel Cormier (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), he revealed his issues heading into the fight stemmed much deeper than anyone had known.
“In my last fight, you know, I had a lot of stuff stacked up against me,” Jones said. “A lot of you guys don’t really realize what’s been going on in my personal life. My mom is in a real bad position. She’s really losing a fight to diabetes right now. She got her leg cut off the same week of my fight. So that really messed with me a lot. I was in jail the same month of my fight. Just going through a lot of stuff, man.”
After the event, Jones elaborated on his mother’s health (via Twitter):
https://twitter.com/JonnyBones/status/725404916093702144
Jones is no stranger to family tragedy. He lost an older sister to brain cancer when she was just 17.
At UFC 197 Jones, 28, entered the octagon after a more than yearlong layoff and still had his way with Saint Preux for the entirety of the 25-minute bout. At first Jones was critical of how he competed against “OSP,” but after giving himself a few days to reflect and take everything that happened leading into the fight into account, he said it wasn’t all that bad.
Additionally, Jones said fans should expect him to look infinitely better when he meets Cormier this summer in UFC 200’s pay-pay-view headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“I hadn’t fought in over 15 months,” Jones said. “Everyone’s talking about my performance being so bad. I got punched twice. I won by unanimous decision. So it’s like, if that’s a bad performance, then look at the level people expect from me. It’s really not a bad problem to have. I went out there, I didn’t feel comfortable in the octagon, and I still absolutely dominated that fight.
“I believe everything happens for a reason. I got that ring rust off of me, and I got right back to the strategy and the game plan I already had. I believe I’m going to annihilate ‘DC.'”