Embattled but Still Fighting, Jon Jones Has High Hopes Entering UFC 309

The elbows swung wildly, left-to-right, then right-to-left, the big bones of the man on top colliding violently with the smaller bones of the man below. But while Jon Jones had dominated this fight against Matt Hamill, he would be declared the loser by disqualification.

All those devastatingly effective elbows that opened up Hamill’s face, turning it into something akin to a fire hydrant squirting red? They were illegal. The UFC might not have a thick rule book, but at the time, anyway, there was a rule against “12–6 elbows,” and Jones had broken it, much as he had broken Hamill’s face.

That was in December 2009. It didn’t seem especially historic at the time, just a fight ending strangely, as happens a lot in mixed martial arts. But it would stand as the lone loss on Jon Jones’s record. In a sport where no one goes undefeated is an organizing principle, here was Jones’s lone defeat. And it was self-dealt.

In the years since, Jones has put together a career that has been … well, what exactly? Profoundly transcendent and profoundly disappointing. In some ways, he’s been unrivaled, winning in a variety of ways and at a variety of weight classes.

It’s also been a career dense with self-sabotage—in ways more serious than disobeying 12–6 elbow rules. Jones’s missteps and arrests and legal troubles have been well-chronicled; they’re on Wikipedia for all to see; they have resulted in long layoffs. Jones is 37 now and he is, at once, a UFC GOAT candidate and the UFC’s great “What if?” of all time.

And, for now anyway, he’s still at it. Still trying to add wins, still trying to shape “my legacy,” a phrase he uses a lot, well aware that, at some level, history remains up for grabs. Jones hasn’t fought in more than 20 months—this time, a pectoral injury is to blame—but headlines Saturday’s UFC 309 card at Madison Square Garden. His heavyweight title bout opponent: Stipe Miocic.

While Miocic is 42, and, likely, fighting for the final time, it’s entirely possible on Saturday night that two fighters will place their gloves on the mat, the MMA gesture of retirement. Jones winning yet another sensational knockout and saying that’s all for me, folks? It’s well within the striking distance of possibility.

Meanwhile, in advance of this fight, he spoke at length with Sports Illustrated. A conversation lightly edited for brevity and clarity:

Sports Illustrated: How are you feeling?

Jon Jones: Really great. I’m excited for [Saturday.] I am doing all the work that’s necessary. Actually more than necessary. I’m really pushing myself very hard. I’m working just as hard as I was when I was lighter and younger.

SI: It’s been like a year and a half plus [since you last fought; a win over Cyril Gane]. What’s the hardest thing about a layoff?

JJ: The biggest challenge about a layoff is just questioning if you still got it. But the way you answer those questions is by simulating the fight and training.

I’ve had some pretty long layoffs. You know, I was out for three years and I think that was the time that I should have questioned myself most. And I remember heading to the arena after three years off, and I had this supreme confidence, like I had been there before.

SI: Now?

JJ: That lets me know that I’m going to be O.K. at Madison Square Garden. If I can compete the way I did against Ciryl Gane after three years off, then fighting Stipe with only one year off, I’m pretty sure I’ll feel right at home.

SI: What’s your level of beef? Are you O.K. not having personal friction with the opponent?

JJ: I’m O.K. not having personal friction with my opponents. Stipe is a pretty honorable man. He’s a great father, appears to be a great husband. I would imagine he’s a great friend to his peers at the fire station. I really have nothing bad to say about the man. But at the same time, you know, I’m ready to beat him as badly as I can.

SI: The last time you actually fought and did not win was in 2009. You have particular recollections of that?

JJ: Very much. I was so young in the sport, I made it in the UFC after only nine months of training. I was so busy learning the ins and outs of fighting, I never really got set down and explained all the rules. I knew that you can’t hit the guy in the groin. You can’t fish hook him. You can’t attack his eyeballs. But outside of that, I didn’t know the difference between a 12–6 elbow and a round elbow. I just simply didn’t know. And my ignorance cost me my undefeated record. It just is what it is. We had certain rules set back then for a reason. And I broke the rules.

SI: You made peace with that?

JJ: The night of that night I remember crying. I had dreams of being an undefeated cage fighter and I failed myself. There’s a side of me that knows it is what it is. There’s another that would love one day to see that ruling overturned. And to give me that perfect record.

SI: Is that just wishful thinking or have you looked into it?

JJ: I haven’t looked into that. But I have heard multiple times that Dana [White] has attempted and we haven’t gotten anywhere. But the rules have changed and the 12–6 elbow is legal.

SI: You’ve had a bunch of fights in New Jersey, but I don’t think you’ve ever done the Garden, right?

JJ: I won a championship at Newark, New Jersey, back in 2011. But that’s the closest I’ve got.

SI: Wait, was that the time, the day of the fight, you broke up a robbery—

JJ: Yeah, I was heading to a park with my coaches to get a meditation in before the fight on fight day. And when we parked in the parking lot, we saw an older couple distraught and we walked up and asked, were they O.K.? And they were just seconds away from being robbed. They pointed in which direction they were heading and we just took off without asking questions. I’m the first person to see the guy. I kicked him in the feet and slammed into the floor. Me and Greg Jackson held him down until the police came. One of the best fights I ever had.

SI: You won two fights that day. That sounds like a better one.

JJ: Got the two-for-one. Great vibrations through the air on that day. I didn’t realize a person could feel so happy in the day.

SI: Do you have thoughts on what happened [on Election Day]? The UFC’s role, politics, Dana. I’m curious how you processed the day and the UFC’s role in that. But I know not everybody wants to talk politics—

JJ: Yeah, I’m not going to get into politics too much. What I will say: I’m part of a sport where our president respects it so much. You know, you don’t see a bunch of NFL players or a bunch of basketball players or hockey players, being the president’s right hand man, between Joe Rogan and Dana being so close to our president. It just makes me have a higher sense of pride in our sport.

SI: If you were gonna tell people something about you that maybe they don’t understand, what would that be?

JJ: I have a lot of love inside. I genuinely care about people. I haven’t always shown that in some of my immature actions growing up. But my love for people hasn’t ever changed and I don’t think some of the people who’ve decided not to like me realize that if I was their neighbor, I would be one of the best friends they ever had.

SI: You’re a good neighbor.

JJ: I’m a really good neighbor. State Farm.

SI: What are you happiest with these days?

JJ: I’m happy with my children and they’ve grown up to be loving, young adults. My kids are in sports and they’re not bullies. I believe they all have a great future ahead of them. And that’s my biggest pride right now. The UFC career has been great. But, if people were to spend time with my children, they’d be like, those are some really good human beings I’ve raised.

SI: Game over. How are you as a sports dad?

JJ: I make it to the majority of their travel games. I’ve been all over the country and some of the most random states supporting them with volleyball. And I’m also the head of the cheerleading squad. So, I know a lot of chants and I’m not ashamed or embarrassed to be the loudest person in that damn gym. At times I feel like I embarrass my kids with the cheering, but the other parents love it. So, I’m one of the younger dads. I try to use that, uh, exuberance and that youth to put it to use and just be extremely joyful.

SI: Where are your daughters going to be Saturday?

JJ: My daughters will be home here in Albuquerque, with my mother-in-law. They’ve never seen me compete live. Fighting is just so unpredictable. Right. My last fight was the first time they actually watched it on TV live. But it’s such a brutal sport. And the fans with all the alcohol and all the screaming and yelling. I just, I try to protect them from that side of it. They’ll be praying for me and they’ll be at home watching.

SI: How do you envision Saturday night going?

JJ: Oh, you’ll see me coming out into the arena with a big smile on my face, slapping hands with the fans and just embracing all the energy. You’re going to see me kneel and say my little prayer before stepping into that cage. And you’re going to see me letting go and just having fun and just doing what I love to do most. And I believe that I’ll be the first person to submit Stipe Miocic.