Jon Jones appears to be indifferent about regaining his position as the number one pound-for-pound fighter.
This Saturday, Jones returns to the octagon for the first time in three years, when he faces Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285. Should he win, Jones will become the eighth multi-division champion in UFC history, and in the eyes of many, reclaim his spot as the best fighter in the sport. According to the UFC, that honor currently resides with featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, despite his recent loss to Islam Makhachev, and Jones is happy enough to keep it that way.
“I’m honored to still be here,” Jones said at the UFC 285 Media Day. “It’s great to still be here. I’ve been inactive over the last three years when it comes to the UFC space…
“Volkanovski has been very active, and I do believe that he deserves to be the top fighter in the world, him and Islam. I think Volkanovski kept that title after a loss. He deserves it. He’s refreshing, he speaks well, his country loves him, he represents the sport well… I’m fighting to be the greatest fighter ever, not to be the pound-for-pound best right now. We have two different motivations, and I think there’s room for both of us at the top.”
Jones is already widely considered the greatest light heavyweight of all time and on the short list for greatest fighters to ever grace the cage. He currently holds the record for most wins in UFC title fight history with 14, and for much of his run, Jones has been viewed as the top fighter in MMA. That’s a nearly 10-year run atop the sport and at 35-years-old, and as he begins this new chapter of his career, up a weight class, Jones recognizes that he’s now the old man in the room.
“The MMA game is wild,” Jones said. “I have young men coming up to me and they’re like, ‘Dude, I started watching you when I was 10-years-old. Today I’m 22 years-old. I’ve been around for a long time, dude. I’ve got all these gray hairs in my beard. It’s wild.”
But come Saturday, Jones expects to continue delivering inside the cage, the same as he’s always done.
“I’m ready for whatever,” Jones said. “I’m ready to dominate. But if I don’t dominate and the fight goes five rounds, I’m ready to press forward, I’m ready for a dog fight, I’m ready to bleed and sweat and leave my heart out there. I’m ready for however it goes. I feel pretty prepared for victory.”
