Jon Jones Speaks On His Training, Fighting James Toney and Matyushenko
Reported by:Patrick Boucher of MMAinsiders.com - 0000-00-00 00:00:00
- Jon Jones spoke after his UFC on Versus 2 victory, here are the highlights…
On Being Fundamentally Sound': "I had (coach) Mike Winklejohn really help me with my foundation, keeping my hands up, punching harder, kicking harder, blocking properly. But Phil Nurse really exercises my creativity to make sure I'm not becoming too fundamentally sound. It's just a great combination."
On Studying Matyushenko: "I watched his fights, and a lot of times when a guy has wrestling credentials, he gets respected to a level where it's like, 'Oh, I can't take it there because he's that wrestler, and I better worry about my takedown defense,'" said Jones, who ultimately used a takedown and the crucifix position to unload a barrage of fight-ending elbow strikes. "(That's) instead of worrying, 'Hmm, what would happen if I took him down?' Greg Jackson, he's like, 'Jon, I see a very easy place for us to win this fight, and that's you taking him down. That's the spot. Since everyone is considering you a striker, I bet he's probably working his takedowns and his striking instead of working his actual takedown defense.'"
On Joining Greg Jackson's Gym: "Greg's a great strategist," Jones said. "He's always two steps ahead of everyone, and it worked. The reason why I joined this team is because every coach in my team, in my opinion, are masterminds," he said. "They're putting all that energy and all that brilliance into one athlete. ... I want to be their best student ever. That's my goal, and I'm going to keep working toward it."