Jon Jones discusses how life has changed for him since March, when he became the youngest champion in UFC history when he snagged the belt from Mauricio Shogun Rua via TKO.
At first there was a lot more media, a lot more interviews and publicity things, and now that that’s over, training camp’s the same, the team chemistry’s the same, and the only thing that’s changed is my work ethic, said Jones. Before, I was training to be a champion, and now that I am a champion, I think I’ve taken my work ethic to a different level. Sometimes I feel as if I’m overtraining. My coaches really have to encourage me to go sit down somewhere. So the only thing that I can honestly see that’s changed is the amount of people who know my name, and sincerely, my work ethic has changed so much.
I did feel the hate. Me being a young guy and a guy who wanted to be liked, at first it hurt me a lot. But what I learned very fast is that I need to take my emotions out of my work sometimes, especially when it comes to other people’s opinions. I’m a positive being, that’s my nature, so I’m not a person who ever tweets swear words or ever tries to purposely try to put someone down or hurt them. I’m not a person of ill will. I genuinely try to share knowledge on self-confidence and religion and treating your neighbor right and believing in yourself and working hard and loving your family. And I know in my heart that I’m not doing the wrong thing, so if I’m just trying to help, and people are misconstruing it, I’ve learned not to worry about what I can’t control anymore. And I think in the long run, the people who get my message and get what I’m trying to share, which is nothing but positivity, those are the people that appreciate it.
I was talking to Brian Stann and he said ‘hey man, you think you get hate messages, I get called a murderer, people think I’m an advocate of war, and I get a lot of hate. And the thing is, the people who actually love you Jon, they’re probably gonna read your interview or watch your youtube video, and think ‘wow, what a great guy.’ Most of the people who write those messages, they’re people with nothing else to do but to bring somebody else down. Only people that are below you can pull you down.’ That stuck with me. So I learned that as long as I know that I have good intentions, I don’t allow people to misconstrue my words and pull me down.
I don’t think it’s harder to defend a title than win it. I think every fight’s just another fight. It’s not necessarily a bigger fight than the last one, or even my very first fight, or my UFC debut. They’re all big fights and I think it’s really important to just focus on loving the journey instead of focusing on the destination. Being a champion, I don’t really feel as if I’ve crossed the finish line. There is no finish line, and I’m really enjoying that journey. Rampage is just a part of that. So I don’t think there’s a difference between winning the belt and keeping it. Each and every fight is a completely different experience than the other one, and I’m just enjoying the journey and working as if it’s just another fight.
When it comes to Rampage, he would love to be the world champion again, but I don’t think he really lives the lifestyle to become the world champion again. I think he wants it handed to him, and I’m at a stage in my career where if I get hit in practice, I go home and I’m slightly depressed about it. I don’t like to get hit at all, and now we’re talking about actually losing a whole fight? That’s just not where I’m at right now mentally.
“I respect Rampage a lot, he’s got awesome knockout power, and I think he’s really banking on a big hit to win this fight. But I’m gonna make sure I break him down very early in the fight to take that punching power away from him right away. And I couldn’t imagine giving my belt away to someone who’s half-passionate about doing what it takes to get the belt.
I know I’m a good person. but as an athlete, I do have a chip on my shoulder, I do have a big ego as an athlete, and I do believe that I’m the best and I do want to be the best. That’s something I can’t control, and I really can’t hide my pride in the Octagon because I work my butt off to be the best. I’m not ashamed of it anymore.
