Add Jon Jones to the list of fighters that believe supernatural forces are empowering them to win in the cage.
Everyone had a good laugh when Jiri Prochazka suggested Alex Pereira was channeling magic forces in his fights, but Jon Jones would like you to know that stuff is ‘very real.’
“Bones” was recently surpassed by Pereira in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings. In the past when that happened — for example, in 2020 when Khabib Nurmagomedov claimed the top spot — Jones went on a full blown Twitter (now X) rant over the injustice.
Now he’s older and wiser, and is instead endorsing the MMA magic theory.
“There has been a lot of talk about spirit channeling and magic in MMA lately,” Jon tweeted. “This stuff is all very real. I felt all types of weird energies walking into those arenas. Looking certain opponents in the eyes. I want to let you all know that Jesus Christ is king, he is and always will be undefeated. Every knee shall bow.”
Jones hopes to feel those same energies when he enters the cage against Stipe Miocic for their long-awaited scrap. When will that happen? According to Jones, it will take place at the upcoming UFC event in New York City in Madison Square Garden.
“The red corner, my office. #Nov9th,” he wrote in a new Instagram post.
Will Jones retire after that, or stick around and unify the heavyweight titles? “Bones” recently suggested there were ‘crazy’ options that might keep him around for another fight. Given his longstanding disinterest in facing interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall, we think he may be referring to the most feared ‘Magic Man’ in the UFC, Alex Pereira.
Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka met at the airport after their fight at #UFC303
“Happy for the fight. Tell [Jiri] our religion is different. I believe in God. It’s important to say so people don’t take it for evil, let’s not do that.”
YT / @AlexPereiraUFC #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/Deof3QIcAN
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 3, 2024
And while Prochazka seemed to be accusing Pereira of channeling the magic of his Pataxó tribe, “Poatan” later clarified that he’s on the same tip as Jones.
“I never touched witchcraft in my life,” Pereira told Prochazka through his interpreter during an airport run-in. “I’m a man of God the same way as you are so do not get it twisted.”
Which makes us all the more intrigued to know who would win if Jones and Pereira fought.