(Photo via Jon Jones’ Twitter page)
Jon Jones recently tweeted a “before” photo of himself as he begins training for his September 21st UFC 165 title defense against Alexander Gustafsson. It wasn’t pretty.
Listen, we know that Jones is coming off of a brutal ass-kicking and nasty injury at the hands of Chael Sonnen, but while Jon needs his toe to balance himself and pivot, he doesn’t need it to do a crunch or to put down the tray of hoagies he’s evidently eating for every meal. Any serious athlete knows that when you’re laid up with an injury, you have to be even more careful with your diet so as not to get all soft, nasty and well, Jones-like.
Seriously though, we’d hate to see one of the most gifted and best young fighters in history be brought down by his own unwillingness to do what is needed in the off season: Staying disciplined, improving himself and thus being better prepared for his next battle. Champions like Georges St. Pierre, Randy Couture and Bernard Hopkins stay in shape year-round, and improve their skills in the off-season so that during training camps they can concentrate on tactics, strategy and sharpening their swords.
Their results and longevity speak for themselves. Champions like Ricky Hatton and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, on the other hand, are world-class talents who get fat in between fights and use their training camps as extreme weight-loss science experiments.
Given the lofty terms with which Jones has always used to speak of his own ambition and professional dreams, we assumed he was willing to do the basic level maintenance work of not looking like your uncle Freddy — or his brother Arthur — in between fights. Increasingly, however, it has become clear that Jones might not be too concerned with staying in shape between fights.
Not to beat a dead horse, but we know the guy likes to party between fights, and now we also know he is probably chasing those drinks with a good deal of frosting. What are the chances that Alexander Gustafsson is fat and out of shape right now, eight weeks before his world title fight with Jones? Jon has a bulls-eye on his back, and it is getting wider by the minute.
