Dana White believes Jon Jones suffered from ring rust at against Ovince Saint Preux and says it’s a good thing he didn’t fight Daniel Cormier.
Jon Jones‘ return to the Octagon at UFC 197 was somewhat anti-climatic. The pound-for-pound #1, who was stripped off the light heavyweight championship last year for hit-and-run, looked tentative and hesitant to pull the trigger against Ovince Saint Preux in the main event. ‘Bones’ was notably disappointed in the post-fight interview, explaining to the fans that he struggled to find form in the Octagon.
Regardless, the Jackson-Wink standout cruised to a unanimous decision win and captured the interim 205-pound title, and will look to reclaim his original title against Daniel Cormier at an upcoming PPV.
Jones was originally scheduled to rematch ‘DC’ at UFC 197, but a leg injury forced the former Olympian out of the fight. UFC president Dana White, who was in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, says it’s a good thing Jones had a tune-up fight against OSP instead jumping into deep waters against Cormier.
“I’m a firm believer in ring rust,” White said to Megan Olivi shortly after the bout (h/t Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting). “Jon Jones looked rusty tonight and it was a really good thing for him that it was OSP tonight, the sixth-ranked guy, and not Cormier, because he was able to get some rounds under his belt, get in there and feel himself out. Now he knows what he has to do when he gets back in the gym.”
Although the focus has been on Jones’ lacklustre performance, White reminded fans that he still got the win at the post-fight press conference.
“Did Jon look like a world-beater?” White said at the post-fight press conference. “Did he look like the Jon Jones who many say is possibly the greatest ever? No, but he won tonight.”
Jones moves to 22-1 in his MMA career, with the lone loss coming via disqualification (illegal elbows) against Matt Hamill in 2009.