Jon Jones is on the road back to the Octagon and looks to be in great shape after squatting 525 pounds earlier this week.
Fight fans were hoping to see more of Jones at the heavyweight level, but after defeating Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to win the title “Bones” suffered a torn pectoral and has been sidelined ever since. While it’s been more than a year since Jones competed inside of the Octagon fight fans won’t have to wait much longer.
With rumors swirling that Jones will return to action sometime this fall he has begun to amp up his training. This includes some deadlifting and squats that have already turned Jones from a skinny light heavyweight champion to a strong heavyweight fighter. Despite his recent pectoral injury it seems Jones’ strength is returning to normal.
“Today we worked on the top part of my squat,” wrote Jones via Instagram (shown above). “I finished up at 525 pounds for a set of three. It’s awesome to feel my strength coming back, while shredding pounds at the same time. I got 18 weeks and three days to improve, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Progress equals happiness, sacrifice today, smile tomorrow. Find your personal love for self improvement. That’s a @youngla T-shirt by the way.”
Jones, 36, has never really fell victim to lengthy layoffs in his career outside of the three years he took off to move from 205 pounds to heavyweight. For the most part, “Bones” has remained healthy. It has yet to be seen if this recent setback will change anything inside of the cage, but Jones appears to be back in full health leading up to his return.