Hoopla got to Jones, corner was real scared after round 2
Throughout the bout, Jon Jones seemed to go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and Shogun Rua seemed helpless to…
Throughout the bout, Jon Jones seemed to go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and Shogun Rua seemed helpless to stop him. However, Jones’ striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn, had a different view from the fighter’s corner.
There was a turning point after the second round where we were real scared, because [Jones] was tired. He had pressed all day long. Well, s–t, the whole last two weeks, [cameras] following him around 24-7. I think all that hoopla got to him, and the pressure got to him a little bit. He was tired after the second round, and I was worried.
But you know what he did? He pushed through it, and that is a champion. That is a veteran. At 23 years old, that is incredible. All of a sudden, in the third round, he just decided, ‘Yeah, I’m going to win this thing,’ and he just went to another gear.
I have to think about (Jones’ upcoming title defense against Rashad Evans). I have a dilemma in that Rashad kind of left our camp a couple of fights back, and I wasn’t in his corner in his last two fights because he was really training up in Denver. Jon Jones came in and I started working with Jon, so it’s kind of tough. I’ll have to figure that one out, said Winkeljohn. I love Rashad to death. I think he’s much better than people even know. He could be scary for Jon. He has the tools to beat Jon Jones. So I’m not sure yet. I have to think about it.