Anthony Johnson Doubts Jon Jones Will Train Year-Round

Jon Jones is currently in the process of moving his family from their residence in Ithaca, New York to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The reason for the move is that Jackson’s MMA, the gym at which Jones prepares for his fights, is located in Albuquerque, and Jones (21-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) believes that proximity to the gym will allow him to ready himself more effectively ahead of contests. Previously, Jones had travelled from New York to New Mexico for each camp and returned to his family in Ithaca after the fights. The move, Jones says, will allow him to train year-round rather than simply training when he is preparing for a fight and that his next opponent is going to “have their hands full”.

That next opponent is Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Johnson (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is on an incredible nine-fight win streak and is fresh off a knockout victory over top contender Alexander Gustafsson in January. “Rumble”, though, isn’t convinced that Jones will train year-round despite what he says.

“People say that all the time,” Johnson told MMAjunkie. “I said it. Hell, I don’t do it, but it’s just what we say.”

Uprooting an entire family and moving 2000 miles would suggest Jones is serious, but Johnson feels that Jones’ notions of training full-time are unrealistic.

“Sometimes, you just don’t want to go to training for a week,” he said. “You would just rather sit on your ass and watch TV, go somewhere else instead of train. It happens.”

Johnson made it clear that he didn’t suspect Jones was lying when he spoke of his motives to train throughout the year, just that these things don’t always transpire as planned.

“I think the mindset is do it, and the intentions are of doing it, but it just doesn’t work out that way,” he said.

Johnson’s comments, perhaps, raise more questions about his commitment to training than they do about Jones’, but who’s going to argue with the methods of a man destroying everyone in his path? It’s possible that “Rumble” has found the perfect balance between training and relaxation.

“I don’t think you want to think about training every single day and getting punched in the mouth and kicked around and wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” Johnson said. “When we want a break, we’re definitely going to get that break.”

Jones and Johnson are set to square off on May 23 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The event’s main card airs live on pay-per-view after prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.