SUMMARY
- In an episode of Quinton Jackson's podcast, he talked about Jon Jones.
- A former UFC Champion labeled Jon Jones as the dirtiest fighter in MMA.
Jon Jones has time and again been hailed as one of the best fighters to have ever walked the planet. Despite the ever-dynamic nature of the sport, Jon’s reputation has withstood the test of time. With that said, he is still respected by his former foes.
In a recent episode of his podcast, Quinton Jackson told Jon’s youngest brother, Chandler Jones, “Imma say this about your brother, I respect him but he’s the dirtiest fighter in MMA. The eye pokes man…” Immediately, Chandler broke into laughter, responding, “I don’t think he’d do them on purpose, we all have our hands like that, that’s why we all have our hands over here. Captain has said, ‘Show no mercy.'”
Thus, whilst ‘Rampage‘ respected Jon a lot, he couldn’t help but label him as the dirtiest fighter he had ever faced. Notably, across his 20-year career, Jackson had fought some of the best names in the sport. As such, names like Fedor Emelianenko, Chael Sonnen, Chuck Liddell, Rashad Evans, Glover Teixeira, and many more appear on his resume. Judging by his statements, Quinton puts Jones a little above the rest.
“Rampage” Jackson speaks on his fight against Jon Jones
For those unaware, Quinton Jackson took on Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 135, all the way back in 2011. At the time, a young Jones had just claimed the title from Mauricio Rua. Thus, Jon made his first title defense against Jackson and managed to submit his opponent via rear naked choke in Round 4.
Speaking about the fight, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion reveals why he holds Jones in such high regard. “He beat the best me ever. Nobody ever faced me like that.” Further, the 45-year-old added, “I was in the best shape, I trained in Denver a couple of months, I was running seven miles when I normally just run three miles. My first time taking supplements every day, and I trained my a** off”.
At the time, Jones was only 24 years old, taking on a prime Jackson who had just beaten Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill. Whilst Jackson was very confident, the young champion, Jon, was having sleepless nights before the fight. As for the fight itself, Jones was largely dominant, making good use of his 11-inch reach advantage by kicking away at his opponent. Eventually, he was able to get Rampage down and sink in the choke to close it out.
Chandler Jones reveals the backstory behind his brother Jon Jones’ nickname
During the podcast, Quinton Jackson and his guest, Chandler Jones, touched on a number of topics. From the topic of Jackson fighting Jon Jones, spotting UFOs, custody battles, and more, the duo had a very interesting conversation. Amidst all this, Chandler also revealed that his father and the rest of the family were big fans of “Rampage” in his heydays.
Notably, during the episode, Chandler also revealed how his elder brother got the renowned moniker of ‘Bones’. “The way Jon got the name Bones was ’cause of how skinny he was. He always looked like a bag of bones in his pads, whatever he was wearing it was always baggy. He was bones, he was bones.” Often, Jon Jones has been labeled a physical specimen, owing to his 6 feet 4-inch height and 84.5-inch reach.
All things considered, it was his physical qualities and his world-class wrestling and grappling that made him such a feared opponent. Notably, all his traits have allowed him to successfully transition to heavyweight, where he went on to win the title at UFC 285. Thus, considering all these things and his achievements in his 15-year-long career, it is understandable why even his opponents hold him in such high regard.