by Emmit Hamilton, jacksons.tv
jacksons.tv: Other than wrestling, did you participate in any other sports while growing up in New York?
Jon Jones: Yeah, growing up I started off wrestling and played football, but I was never any good at football. So the wrestling made it an easy transition to Mixed Martial Arts.
jacksons.tv: When you first started competing in MMA, what were the goals you set for yourself(end up in UFC)?
Jon Jones: My goals in MMA were just try to be the best and make it really far. Originally it was about providing for my family. My girlfriend and I were expecting a child and I needed to provide for our family and I knew I was going to work hard to support my family.
jacksons.tv: Have those goals changed today?
Jon Jones: The goals have changed a lot. Now my goals are to be considered the best in the world and be the most dominate in my weight class. I know it’s going to take lots of hard work and I am ready to work for that.
jacksons.tv: Are there any other fighters or athletes in general, from the past/present that have influenced you in your career?
Jon Jones: Yeah, Anderson Silva inspires me a lot. His style is just so amazing and he’s so creative. Right now I also look up to Jose Aldo a ton.
jacksons.tv: Before you come out to start a training camp w/Greg and the team, do personally set goals for the camp, or do you and Greg get together and set goals.
Jon Jones: I do set my own personal goals for a training camp and then me and Greg, Coach Winkeljohn, and Phil Nurse come together and set up strategies. A lot of it is in the fighters hands. Like this training camp for example I’ve been work on my leg power and my shoulders. I do a lot of studying and I do my homework and the coaches help me out as well.
jacksons.tv: How do you evaluate the effectiveness or success of a training camp?
Jon Jones: The way I try to evaluate is just in how I progress in the rounds I spar. For example in this training camp I’ve been going through I haven’t lost a round in sparring in about 3 weeks, which is really good because when I’m not losing rounds that means I’m on my game and I am in my zone. And the same thing with the intensity of my workouts, when I’m on fire and Coach Winkeljohn holds pad for me, he goes at such a freaking high pace and if I can go 3 five minute rounds with Coach Winkeljohn that tells me that I’m in shape. Coach Winkeljohn is really a high intensity and if you are not in shape you are not gonna hang with him. I also do Tabithas which is something that Greg has us do on the treadmill and is basically a recovery drill and if you can get through that then that is also a good sign you’re in shape. And considering we are at a high altitude during camp, that helps out a lot.
jacksons.tv: Before you started in MMA you had plans to pursue a Criminal Justice degree? What was your interest in that field?
Jon Jones: I just always thought police officers were really cool. This is really lame but in high school all the kids would go up to them because they were the cool guys there. It was cool to me to be friends with the cops and that made me want to be a cop. Plus my parents always raised me to do the right thing, so I am big into world peace and people treating your brother with respect and love. Ultimately the good officers are out there to protect us and out there for our best interest and I’ve always been about helping people so getting paid to help people seemed like a real cool career for me.
jacksons.tv: How did your brother Arthur do in the NFL Combine a few weeks ago?
Jon Jones: He only did the interview portion of the combine. He had lots of different coaches asking him about his personal life and his work ethic. He hasn’t actually done the physical portion of the testing but he is in great shape so he is going to do his speed and strength testing at the Syracuse Pro Day.
jacksons.tv: This is your second training camp at Jackson’s Winkeljohn’s MMA. How have the people of Albuquerque treated you during your stays here?
Jon Jones: It’s been really cool. What I like the most is that a lot of people here don’t treat UFC fighters like they’re this big thing. They are so used to seeing UFC fighters out at restaurants and other places. They are so used to seeing guys like Rashad and Georges and Keith, so they are not really star-struck or anything like that. Albuquerque is such an MMA town and they respect MMA fighters and they promote us and they just have so much pride in Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn’s gym and they also have a lot of pride in their local professional athletes. That is kinda the reason I'm thinking about moving here. The locals really support us 100 percent.
jacksons.tv: Rumor has it you are a fantastic shower singer? What are you favorite tunes?
Jon Jones: Ahhhhh, I love singing the National Anthem, I like to sing a lot of RnB too. RnB always relaxes me in the shower.
jacksons.tv: Would you like to give any shout-outs to supporters etc.
Jon Jones: I’d just like to thank Silver Star for being such a great company and investing in me. I encourage people to check out my website, jonnybones.com. Or check me out on Twitter, it’s twitter.com/jonnybones. Thanks everybody.
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