The UFC’s heavyweight champion only has one loss on his record which was caused by a disqualification.
Though many fans have made the case for why Dominick Reyes should have got his hand raised against Jon Jones, the simple fact of the matter is that he didn’t.
‘Bones’ hasn’t been bested inside the Octagon and you can see truly how competitive he is in the way that Jones responds to Reyes to this very day.
Despite this, some question whether Jones is more vulnerable than ever before amidst talks of a potential clash with Tom Aspinall that would see the heavyweight titles finally get unified.
A man that trained with the consensus greatest of all time throughout his career believes that what separates him from the rest is his ability to show up on the night, stating that he wasn’t always dominant in the gym.
Keith Jardine says Rashad Evans would beat Jon Jones up in the gym but it was a different story when they fought
When it comes to both natural talent and championship experience, there are very few that can hold a candle to Jon Jones with what he has achieved in his career.
‘Bones’ became the youngest champion of all time after he replaced his injured teammate Rashad Evans to face Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua for the light heavyweight title at UFC 128.
After this, a rivalry between Jones and his former training partner at Jackson’s started to develop with the new champion’s first title defense lined up to be against Evans.
The fight didn’t happen for over a year for several reasons with Jones submitting both Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida in the meantime before it was time to settle the feud with Evans at UFC 135.
Jones did just that after emerging victorious in a one-sided fight but Keith Jardine, who regularly spent time in the same training room as both men, recently revealed that it didn’t always go this way.
Jardine spoke on the JAXXON Podcast about how Jones was very inexperienced when he first started training with them but by the time the fight with Evans had come around, it was clear that he was a different fighter when competing under the bright lights.
“Jon’s a weird cat man. He came into Jackson’s only watching YouTube videos, no real coaching and all that and he was dusting up (Stephan) Bonnar and people like that and then shortly after, Hall of Famers. His grappling’s just okay, his wrestling’s pretty good and his kickboxing is just like natural right. Rashad used to beat him up in the ring, every time I saw it, but you saw what happened when they fought.
“He just turns a switch on man. Like I spar with him all the time, I win some, he wins some, whatever, but in the fight, this sounds weird but I really think when he gets in the zone, he experiences time different than us. I think everything’s moving a little bit slower for him.”
Keith Jardine says Jon Jones’ focus is why he looked vulnerable at light heavyweight
Whilst Keith Jardine believes that Jon Jones has an incredibly ability to be completely in the moment when he’s inside the Octagon, he believes that not having that is what made him look vulnerable during his final fights at light heavyweight.
Before Jones vacated the title, his last defense was against Dominick Reyes in the fight that people still point to when looking at the champion’s weaknesses.
Jardine said that because ‘Bones’ wasn’t motivated during his last few title defenses where he was facing opponents that everyone expected him to beat, he wasn’t able to enter that zone of focus like he did earlier in his career.
“I think that’s why he started to lose it a little bit there at light heavyweight when he’s fighting these people and he has no idea who they are and they’re just people that are fighting him like, ‘I’m going to be the one that beats Jon Jones,’ and he’s just like (shrugs). I don’t think he’s getting in the zone as much because he’s not afraid. So, when he goes to heavyweight, he’s got that again.”
