Manager: Jones Is Still The Greatest Fighter We’ve Ever Seen
Judging by his recent training videos on Instagram, it seems as if former long-time UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones is hungrier than ever to make his return, and regain his title.
Jones was scheduled to defend that title last May against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, but after being arrested on hit-and-run charges in April he was stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely by the promotion.
However, “Bones” recently avoided jail time, and has since been reinstated by the UFC. Appearing on today’s (October 26, 2015) edition of the MMA Hour, Jones’ manager, Malki Kawa, outlined the ideal scenario for his client’s highly-anticipated return:
“In a perfect world, New York State gets approved and he makes a comeback in Madison Square Garden,” Kawa said.
Whether or not the sport will be legalized in New York is still up in the air, but Jones is a true New Yorker and that would undoubtedly be a monumental ground for his comeback fight. However, reigning champion Daniel Cormier, who “Bones” is expected to face, has said that he won’t fight the ex-champ in New York which could be an issue.
As far as Jones’ situation goes, Kawa was never worried about his fighter being reinstated. The only thing the manager questioned was whether or not Jones actually wanted to fight:
“At some point, they were going to reinstate him,” Kawa said. “The only thing I never knew for sure was whether or not he wanted to fight. We talked about a lot of different things, about whether or not he wanted to fight, so I always wondered, does he really, really want to do this?”
“I always knew there would be a day where he said ‘yeah, I definitely want to do this,'” Kawa continued. “But I didn’t know if it was right when he suspension got lifted, if it would be a year from now, if it would be UFC 200, if Madison Square Garden would be enough. I didn’t know if he’d say yeah I want to do this. He really was frustrated, you know what I mean? He just needed the time away, and now that he’s had that been able to reflect and see what’s important to him.”
As it turns out, Jones indeed wants to fight, but Kawa did admit that the time away was much needed, as the pressures seemed to have caught up with the long-time champion:
“As he really had time to himself, he really started to reflect and figure out what he really wanted,” Kawa said. “And what he really wanted was to fight. It came into question, he was under a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, a lot of expectations. Some of this is stuff he put on himself. … Before that last fight, he wanted a break, he wanted a long break, and every fight kept on presenting itself, and every time the UFC wanted him to fight, he just didn’t say no. It mounted up and he got the time away. Once he got the time away, and had time to really think about what he wanted, at the end of the day it ended up he wanted to fight.”
The effects of the break, although it was clearly a detrimental situation, have been quite beneficial to Jones. Kawa spoke on “Bones’” new found focus, and dedication, noting that he’s still the best fighter of all-time, but he has now ramped it up to another level:
“The only word that can really describe Jon right now is ‘focused,'” Kawa said. “I’ve never seen him this focused. He’s super focused. He’s more focused than he’s ever been before. Everybody’s got their opinions. He did this, he did that, whatever. That’s all fine and dandy. He’s still the greatest fighter we’ve ever seen, right. I’m watching him through many different camps, and the coaches have told me how he does many different things through many different camps. This is the first time that he doesn’t have a fight scheduled, he’s in Albuquerque, and he’s actually training. Most of the time when he doesn’t have a fight, he doesn’t train at all. There’s no weightlifting, there’s no jiu-jitsu practice, there’s no boxing, there isn’t anything. So, this is the first time we can sit here, all of us, and say he’s actually putting in some work. And he’s really putting in some work.”
In closing, Kawa once again spoke on the possibility of a return in New York and just how very massive that would be:
“New York would have to get approved, and in my opinion, the stars align for everyone, the UFC, the state of New York, Jon makes his comeback and wins his belt, his home crowd, that would be pretty cool,” Kawa said.
Are you excited to see the former pound-for-pound king back in action?
