Jon Jones may not have been satisfied with his win over Ovince Saint Preux, but between his legal issues and a 15-month layoff, he had plenty of obstacles to overcome to make it to UFC 197. However, none of those obstacles were more significant than the one that struck close to home just days before Jones made his UFC return.
"In my last fight, I had a lot of stuff stacked up against me," Jones said Wednesday at a UFC 200 press conference in New York. "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. I hadn't fought in over 15 months, and everybody is talking about my performance being so bad. I got punched twice. I won by unanimous decision. So if that's a bad performance with the level that people expect from me, it's really not a bad problem to have. I went out there and I didn't feel comfortable in the Octagon and I still absolutely dominated that fight."
Jones has rarely talked about his mother, Camille Jones, and her struggle with diabetes. Last year, Indianapolis beat writer Bob Kravitz reported that diabetic retinopathy had caused Camille Jones to lose a majority of her vision. The amputation of her leg during UFC 197 fight week marks the latest tragic development in her battle for her health.
While the situation was hard, Jones persevered to pick up the win he desperately needed at UFC 197 against Saint Preux. Jones was critical of his performance after the fight, as it lacked much of the flash and spectacular feats fans have grown accustomed to seeing from the pound-for-pound great. However after reflecting on everything he has gone through, and the fact that a win without injury would land him in the headlining spot at UFC 200 opposite Daniel Cormier, Jones is content with how things played out.
"After the fight, I sat there in the Octagon and I was so critical of my performance," Jones said. "Then I went home and watched it and I realized, really, the guy punched twice in 25 minutes. That was it. He never landed anything. He never hurt me. Two punches in 25 minutes and I'm sitting here... I have such a high expectation of myself, I'm beating myself over a fight where I clearly dominated the fight. So, I feel really good about the fight.
"Some fights, you want to be really, really impressive and you really want to do these awesome moves for the fans. But that fight was a smart fight. I fought really smart. Really smart. And now I'm here today with no injuries getting ready to turn around and fight for you guys at UFC 200, so that was a win in every way.
"There's different levels to being a high-level fighter," Jones added. "Sometimes it's the mature move. The fans were booing in the arena wanting to see a knockout, but I did the mature move. I fought real smooth, especially with 15 months off. I got punched only twice. So I think that was an extraordinary performance when I look back on it, and you guys will see a real can of whoop-ass when I do what I was planning on doing against DC."
Jones is now slated to challenge Cormier for the undisputed light heavyweight title on July 9 at the UFC's historic show in Las Vegas. The fight is a rematch of a Jan. 2015 bout which Jones won via unanimous decision, and Jones expects history to repeat itself the second time around.
"I believe that everything happens for a reason," Jones said. "I got that rung rust off of me, and I got right back to the strategy of the gameplan that I originally had. I believe I'm going to annihilate DC. So far it's all I've ever done, to pretty much every opponent. Alexander Gustafsson is the only person who had a competitive fight with me, so when I sit here and tell you I'm going to annihilate DC, the people who don't believe me, just wait and see."