Jon Jones studying Bader ‘like a spy’
“When you watch someone’s interviews, you can tell where they’re at mentally,” said Jones. “There’s certain words people use, keywords…
“When you watch someone’s interviews, you can tell where they’re at mentally,” said Jones. “There’s certain words people use, keywords that show their level of confidence. Like, if I win this fight. Or, I hope. I might be able to do this. For instance, when [Bader] says, ‘When Jon does that spinning back elbow he has his back open for a split second and maybe I can take his back.’ Just the fact that he mentioned that in a Q&A tells me that’s on his mind and that’s a move that frustrates him, that’s bothering him, so I should work on it and make it even faster and harder for him to see coming. People give a lot away in everything they say.”
It’s not just what they say, either. Jones admitted that he also pays close attention to Bader’s Twitter, as well as the Twitters of Bader’s friends and training partners – anyone the Arizona-based fighter spends a considerable amount of time with – on the off chance that they might “give something up.”
“I have one fight, one individual to pay attention to in order to get me one step closer to my dream,” said Jones. “Why not just get totally immersed in the things that he says, the things he tweets, the people he’s around? …I just like to know every angle. I use the internet to know every little thing I can, kind of like a spy. I just think, if I was Ryan Bader, how would I beat Jon Jones? I think about the ways I could lose the fight first instead of thinking how I can beat him.”
