Coach: 'I don't think Jon Jones will ever take a short-notice fight again'
Jon Jones stepped up and took on sixth-ranked light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux in the main event of UFC 197 after original opponent Daniel Cormier withdrew due to injury three weeks out from fight night.
Jones said he wanted to make things right for what happened at UFC 151, but according to the interim light heavyweight champion's wrestling coach, Israel Martinez, he'll probably never do that again.
"We were okay with him taking the fight but I don't think Jon Jones will ever take a short-notice fight again because there are too many variables that we didn't prepare for." Martinez told Brian Stann on his SiriusXM radio show Toe-to-Toe. "When you're so focused on one person, and then you get a different person, you know it's tough."
Martinez would go on to explain the difficulties in the switch to Saint Preux, who fights southpaw.
"We were anticipating an orthodox fighter with Daniel Cormier. Then all of a sudden with three weeks left we're going for a southpaw fighter. Then when we get to the fight, OSP's fighting us in orthodox! So I think that played a little bit of a factor with Jon because Jon was so focused on preparing for orthodox Cormier to a southpaw, then all of a sudden [Saint Preux] is coming out orthodox."
Getting a new opponent is tough at any stage of the game. And while some were disappointed in Jones' performance at UFC 197, he still was able to blank the sixth-best light heavyweight in the world despite a 15-month layoff. Martinez, though, wouldn't even advise the best fighter in the world to keep taking fights on three-weeks notice.
"Even though he's the best fighter in the world, still that's not what we are programmed to do." Martinez said. "We're programmed to literally have a great team around us, dissect this guy, and really break it down so when we're out there we've been through every possible scenario, every possible reach advantage or submission hold or grappling takedown. We've gone through all of those protocols. And it was unfortunate because we only had three weeks to do that."
What Martinez is saying makes sense. Different camps prepare in different ways, and while some fighters boast anytime, anyplace, others prefer meticulous preparation. Jones has never truly lost in 23 professional fights, so his method seems to be working so far.
