Issue 043

November 2008

Only 21 years old, Jon Jones started training and fighting in MMA in April of this year. With five wins in three months, the UFC came knocking. Meet the wrestling stud that is lighting up MMA.  

The light heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has been turned upside down since Forrest Griffin took the title, and the undefeated Rashad Evans KO’d the once-unbeatable Chuck Liddell. The UFC 205lb class is wide-open for new contenders. Enter Jon Jones, the UFC’s new young hope for the future.

“I thought wrestling was my passion. I used to live, sleep and breathe wrestling, but I was looking for another form of wrestling, where I could throw a few licks on some people, and MMA was the closest thing to it,” Jones said.

His Octagon debut took place against Andre Gusmao at UFC 87, a heavily anticipated pay per view thanks to dynamite match-ups like Kenny Florian vs Roger Huerta, and Brock Lesnar vs Heath Herring. Even with incredible fighters like Ken-Flo and Georges St-Pierre running around that night, everyone felt there was something special about the young wrestler they called “Jonny Bones” from Endicott, New York.  

Jones was an All-American high school athlete and an undefeated wrestler for two seasons at Iowa Central Community College, but shortly after getting his degree he looked to make a living away from an office and in a different environment – the ring of combat.

He literally decimated the New England area’s top 205lb fighters in a matter of three months with the most amazing start of any rookie in recent memory. Jones skipped amateur competition and took his first three fights just days apart, going 3-0 in just 23 days with wins by two KOs and a guillotine.

“I wasn’t really expecting to get a KO in my first fight, because I never considered myself a powerful guy,” Jones said. “ I always had to use skill and technique to be successful. To be honest, I was predicting a win by submission, being a wrestler, but the guy had his head down and I had the better position at the time.”

When he wasn’t busy knocking opponents flat on their faces, Jones was flipping them upside down with his signature salto toss, a move which served him well on the wrestling mats. This wrestler is anything but one-dimensional, as he’s constantly looking to add new and exciting moves to his arsenal of weapons.

His fight style has been called ‘Look-See-Do’, because Jones has been a fan of MMA much longer than a participant. Before joining Team Bombsquad, the extent of his training was limited to his experience as a wrestler and endless hours on Youtube.  

“I used to love to watch Wanderlei Silva fights. He throws these wild kicks and isn’t afraid to mix it up,” he said. “I wonder what his work ethic would be and what an incredible mind state he must have to not fear anyone at his age? I would like to have a similar story to him ... and who knows, we are in the same weight class so eventually I may even fight him one day. I just hope to be at his level when the time comes.”