A seven-second clip made the rounds on social media this past week of Jon Jones and Walt Harris sparring. Jones, who up until this point only fought at the light heavyweight limit of 205 pounds, tripped his training partner with a hard leg kick and used that momentum to slam him against the mat with just his left hand.
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Keep in mind Harris is 6 feet 5 and 264 pounds. The UFC veteran has fought a bevy of top heavyweights in his 20-year professional career, including former champions Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdium and Andrei Arlovski. And he’s being rag dolled.
Except this is Jones, after all. Arguably the greatest mixed martial artist ever, someone who boasts 11 light heavyweight title defenses and an unblemished record (no, we’re not counting that disqualification against Matt Hamill in 2009 as a loss). The 35-year-old has beaten a who’s who of MMA legends over the years and is quite possibly the most talented striker in the sport’s history.
But again, we’re talking about a big heavyweight in Harris being thrown to the mat with ease. Though there’s only so much to gain from one short video — particularly something put out by Jones’ team — it at least offers a glimpse into the unknown: What exactly will Jones look like when he moves up a division to face Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285 on Saturday?
“Everyone talks about Ciryl Gane being so fast, and I’m excited to let them know that he’s not the only one out there,” Jones told The Athletic this week. “I’ve shown very little footage to the public. No one has seen my jiu-jitsu, no one has seen the explosiveness in my takedowns, no one has seen my kicking. I’m excited to let people know that Ciryl really isn’t that special. There’s more than just him out there, that being myself.”
Jon Jones has not lost a bout since a disqualification in 2009. (Thomas Shea / USA Today)Jones dominated the light heavyweight division from the moment he first stepped in the cage in 2008. He began his career 12-1 — the lone loss to Hammil on a disqualification for illegal elbows — before becoming the youngest UFC champion ever at 23 years of age by defeating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua via third-round TKO in 2011. He then went on a tear, beating the likes of Ryan Bader, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Chael Sonnen and his rivals Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier twice.
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And these largely weren’t just eked-out victories — he destroyed them. Take his win over Machida in 2011, for example. The Brazilian was a star until he met Jones. Then he was dropped like a sack of potatoes after being choked unconscious in a standing guillotine.
The only person who seemingly could ever stop his rise has been himself. Jones was arrested on felony hit-and-run charges in 2015, suspended and stripped of his belt multiple times for the use of banned substances and has a history of partying the week of fights. Those problems forced him to miss prime years of his career and face major criticism from the public.
Jones says those days are behind him, and to his credit in recent years has mostly stayed out of the headlines. He says his entire focus now is on moving up to the heavyweight division (he vacated his light heavyweight belt in August 2020) and cementing his legacy as the best ever.
“I feel more focused than I ever have been,” he said. “I really have invested in my team. I’ve spent more on training partners and nutrition. I’m at a place now where I can take care of people better, and that feels good. I’m really investing in myself in a way that I haven’t in the past. I’m not taking any shortcuts, grinding and giving every day my all.”
Brandon Gibson, Jones’ longtime striking coach, said they worked to create an environment in Albuquerque like the Detroit-based Kronk Boxing Gym back in the 1980s. Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, at the time, built a stable of talent that worked together to help prepare Thomas Hearns for Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Durán and Marvin Hagler. Jones brought in Walt Harris, Maurice Green, Mike Rodriguez and Yorgan De Castro — all tall heavyweights with a lot of professional experience — to help mimic what he might see Saturday night against his French opponent.
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Preparing for Gane won’t be easy. At 6 feet 4 and 247 pounds, he’s built like a heavyweight but moves like a welterweight. The Frenchman has knockout power in his fists but is best known for his agility and lateral movement. He’s constantly bouncing around, looking for angles to land a devastating shot. Gane (11-1) is coming off an exceptional third-round finish of Tai Tuivasa in September.
Jones says he isn’t overly impressed.
“I’ve watched hours and hours of Ciryl Gane footage and I’d be willing to put a 205-pound Thiago Santos against Ciryl Gane, and I can’t confidently say Gane wins that fight,” he told The Athletic. “If you look at Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa, if you look at most of his opponents, he hasn’t quite fought a well-rounded fighter yet. Francis Ngannou is the first person to take him down and he was able to keep him down. Francis didn’t even attempt a ground-and-pound.
“It’s easy to get impressed with a guy like Ciryl Gane when there’s not someone at a high caliber that can truly push him. I’m not trying to disrespect any of the other heavyweights. but I do not feel like I move like Francis or Tai or any of these guys that you’re used to seeing him against. The MMA fan base will notice immediately that Ciryl has met his match and then some when it comes to fight IQ, mobility, versatility. All those things he has over everyone else, I have over him.”
Ciryl Gane is 11-1 entering his UFC heavyweight bout against Jon Jones on Saturday night. (Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC)Jones’ experience, especially in big bouts, will no doubt play a factor Saturday. He has more UFC title fights under his belt than total fights for his opponent. Gane, though, doesn’t believe it’ll be a major factor in their matchup. He counters by simply asking how much time Jones has fought at the top weight class. The answer: zero.
“This is not something new for me,” Gane told members of the media this week. “This is going to be new for him. I’m sure he’s done a lot of sparring with some heavy guys. (But) even if he’s done that, I have more experience than him.”
Another aspect that could be on Gane’s side is potential ring rust for Jones, who has not competed in over three years. Gibson immediately shot that notion down.
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“Sometimes the time off and time away has been good for Jon,” he said. “It lights that fire in him and gives him that hunger to want to compete. Any time we’ve had a break, he’s gone out and shined even brighter than ever before, and we saw that in the Gustafsson rematch and the Cormier rematch specifically.
“Time away has been great for Jon and it’s not an easy or quick transformation to go from light heavyweight to heavyweight properly. This isn’t 10 pounds at a lower weight class. This is a big transformation for his body and that takes time to do it right. It wasn’t something we wanted to rush.”
UFC 285’s main event is among the most intriguing fights in history because of what’s at stake. On one side, you have a legend challenging himself by moving up to face the biggest and baddest the promotion can offer. On the other, a rising star with attributes rarely seen before at his size out to prove there’s a new star in the making.
Asked about how much he has left in the tank, Jones didn’t want to think past this weekend. Once he has gold wrapped around his waist again, he said, he’ll decide what’s next.
“I try not to think too far into the future at this point,” he said. “I’m just enjoying this moment. I’m living in this moment. Saturday is a big, big thing. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about, praying about for a long time. We’re finally here and this moment deserves its own time and its own energy.”
(Top photo: Amy Kaplan / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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