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UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones once again addresses his eye poking during fights.
Jon Jones’ accidental eye poking has apparently been a problem among his opponents. Upcoming challenger Dominick Reyes even says he plans to warn the referee about it when they fight for the title this weekend at UFC 247.
“Bones” is aware that his challenger is also one of those concerned about his eye pokes, which he says would be a non-factor on the fight itself.
“In my last (Alexander) Gustafsson fight, the referee kept saying, ‘Watch your fingers, Jon!’” Jones told MMA Fighting during a fight week conference call. “My fingers weren’t even out, and he kept yelling at me, which was a major distraction.
“I know Dominick has a problem with the finger stuff, too, and he’s talking about talking to the referee before the fight. None of that stuff’s gonna matter, dude. I feel like the game made a rule that was singlehandedly based around me, and I won’t let that type of stuff matter.”
Criticisms on Jones’ style is his habit of keeping the fingers of his lead hand out while fighting. It’s something he’s practices for years, and he’s not planning to change a thing.
“I fight how I fight,” Jones said. “I grab for hands a lot, and over the years, I’ve coincidentally landed a few eyepokes. But if you guys think I trained poking people in the eyes, think about how ridiculous that is. We fight with our fingers open, and I can be a very reachy fighter sometimes, and it happens.
”I haven’t changed anything about my training style,” he added. “I train very hard, and I don’t train to poke people in the eyes. But it’s good when people are thinking on that type of stuff. That’s good for me.
“If people are thinking, ‘I’m getting poked and (he’s) getting a free point,’ that type of stuff is good for me. I don’t think about that type of stuff.”
UFC 247 takes place on Saturday, February 8th at the Honda Center in Houston, Texas.