Many claim Jon Jones to be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. At the age of 23, Jon Jones became the youngest light heavyweight champion of the world at UFC 128. Fast forward to UFC 285, the fighter has come a long way in his professional and personal life. He has headlined 16 UFC PPVs and has sold above 500k PPVs on average.
At the recently concluded UFC 285, Jon Jones broke another record. His fight inside the T-Mobile Arena generated a revenue of $12.15 million, which is the highest for any heavyweight fight in MMA. Not just in terms of business, but Jon Jones also delivered one of the best performances of his career against Ciryl Gane. He walked through Gane’s defense and submitted him with a guillotine choke within 2:04 minutes of the bout.
The sweetest sound you'll hear all weekend 🔊 #UFC285 pic.twitter.com/n2MOjU1b4Y
— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2023
It just showed the disparity of grappling skills between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane. Ahead of the fight, Jones warned everyone that Gane did not have the wrestling skills to tackle him. Many thought he was just playing mind games with the French fighter. However, it seems like Jon was right, as Gane capitulated under Jon’s wrestling. However, many fans may not know that his father played a big role in Jon’s success.
Jon Jones credits his father Arthur Jones for his successful career
Jon Jones was born in 1987, on July 19. His parents are Arthur Jones and Camille Jones. Jonny Bones also has two other brothers, Arthur Jones Jr, and Chandler Jones. While his two other brothers Arthur and Chandler went on to pursue careers in the world of the National Football League (NFL), Jon Jones fell in love with wrestling and became an MMA fighter eventually.
The 35-year-old’s talent in wrestling became evident when he won a state title for Union-Endicott High School. He later went on to win another NJCAA national championship during his time at Iowa Central Morrisville State College. However, none of it would have been possible without the help of his father Arthur Jones, Arthur, who was a pastor, played a pivotal role in building up the Jones’ fighting character.
During the fourth episode of the UFC 285 Embedded Series, Jon revealed, “We were wrestling for hours. My dad ended up getting us – he found a big old piece of sponge somewhere. It wasn’t actually a wrestling mat, it was just a big piece of sponge that he put down in our basement, and everyday after school we would go down there and we would wrestle each other for hours.”
“Eventually, that sponge had so much bacteria on it. It was so disgusting. It had blood stained into it. We became real tough little homies down there, and then we’d get out and we’d compete against other kids and there was just something different about us three. We had a lot of a** kicking time put in on that d**n wrestling mat down there,” said Jones. (h/t via Hindustan Times)
After his history-making win against Ciryl Gane, Jon thanked his fiance Jessie Moses and gave a shoutout to his youngest daughter, Olivia Jones. But he also had both his brothers and his father inside the Octagon with him as well.
Celebrating with the people who helped get him here ❤️ #UFC285 pic.twitter.com/PFY99WTGQa
— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2023
Jon gave his father a warm hug after the win and shared his gratefulness. After going through so much trouble with the law and drug-testing protocols, fans were happy to see Jon smiling again with his family beside him.
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