For the past year — or a little bit longer — Jon Jones has made headlines primarily for his exploits inside the Octagon rather than the issues outside of it.
On Saturday, the Jackson-Wink MMA standout will step into the cage for the fourth time since December 2018 when he faces Dominick Reyes in the UFC 247 main event. Prior to regaining the light heavyweight belt with a stoppage of Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232, Jones’ recent years had been marred by a myriad of well-documented issues that led to him being stripped of the belt and suspended on more than one occasion.
As he heads into his first appearance of 2020, “Bones” believes he has put those troubles in the rearview mirror.
“I do feel like the storm is behind me,” Jones told ESPN. “It has been an interesting journey and I’ve learned so much. I’m just grateful. I’m grateful to have had all the lessons that I’ve been able to learn. I’m grateful that God has kept me through all of it and allow me to grow so much through it all. Yeah, I think my best days are still ahead of me. I feel like I’m just now really getting into a nice groove about what it means to be a father and a professional athlete and a person with great responsibility, and I’m excited about this and I feel like I’m stepping into it well.”
Before Jones ran into trouble in his career beginning in 2015 with a well-documented hit-and-run case, he was already regarded by many as the greatest light heavyweight of all-time and one of the sport’s best fighters, period. Now 32 years old, Jones claims to have matured after wasting some of his prime years.
“I just feel like I was maybe at a place where I felt like I was throwing a lot of greatness away and I believe that talent and when you have opportunity, it’s a terrible thing to waste,” Jones said. “So I feel like these days I take more accountability for my actions and my emotions and my circle and behaviors and things like that. I think that’s been the major difference, just more accountability.”
Even though Jones expects to the focus to be on his fighting career and other positive aspects of his life in the coming years, he also points out that the future is always uncertain. .
“You can never promise anything in life,” Jones said. “You just never know what twists and turns life is going throw at you. But I do feel like I’m on a great track and I’m excited to just continue to elevate and just be the best person that I can be and try to help as many people as I can help. I’ve never been more excited for my future. I’m really excited for my future. I see nothing but great things coming in my future.”