UFC 145: Separating fact from fiction
Next weekend, I will be in Atlanta to defend my UFC light heavyweight championship for the third time in the main event of UFC 145. My opponent is someone I have a lot of history with, and I am very much looking forward to fighting, defeating and moving on from.
You all know who I am talking about. The guy who has been talking about me ever since I became champion last March, the guy who has branded me "arrogant" and "cocky" because that's what he fears he is and he wants to reflect that back on me.
As a matter of fact, Jonathan Jones is a guy who loves his family and is just a skinny kid chasing his dream. "Bones" Jones is the guy who has to be a little cocky, has to believe in himself 100 percent and has to be somewhat of a bad dude because intimidating your opponent and future opponents is a big part of this game. How I am fight week is different to the guy I am when I am watching TV with my kids, and I think everyone except my opponent on April 21 gets that.
The truth is, now that I've seen the way he's been this past year, I look at my opponent as fake, self-centered and arrogant, and he tries to reflect all of what he is on me. Matt Hughes was the first to call him out for being cocky, for being arrogant, way back on the Ultimate Fighter II back in 2005. That's a Hall of Famer in Matt Hughes, a man who is greatly respected by everyone in the sport, and he was the first guy to sniff out what my opponent really is.
Then the guy wins the belt and shows up to press conferences — indoor press conferences in the middle of winter — wearing sunglasses. He's the guy who kissed his hand and rubbed his crotch during a UFC world title fight. He's the guy who gyrates and dances in the Octagon after he knocks someone out.
I have no sympathy for my opponent. He is the one who has the problem. He is the one who decided to leave the gym at which we used to train together to build a team that completely focuses on him and his own needs.
I'm just getting started as a champion in the UFC. I've not done what guys like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz have done as light heavyweight champion, but I feel that 2011 — beating four great fighters, three of them UFC champions at some point — was a good start.
You may have seen FUEL TV this week. My opponent was arrogant to say I wasn't the champion because I hadn't beaten him. He lost this belt years ago, and it has changed hands twice since then ... But I'm not the champion? His reign ended in his very first defense — by knockout. I stopped the guy who stopped the guy who stopped him ... But I'm not the champion?
My opponent struggled with his long, boring fight with Rampage Jackson where he nearly got finished in the last round. I finished Rampage ... But I'm not the champion? My opponent was knocked silly, did the stanky leg in the center of the Octagon, when he fought Lyoto Machida. I finished Machida ... But I'm not the champion?
He's crazy, and he's telling himself all these things to try to gain confidence before next Saturday. I've never been so confident. I feel I am working harder, working better than ever before. But I am not complacent. My opponent has a huge right hand he can knock anyone out with, and he has great wrestling. Those are the two ways he can win: hit me with that right hand or wrestle me and hold me down for five rounds like he did Phil Davis in January.
I know I have weaknesses and that I can lose this fight. I know everyone in every weight division — no matter if he's the champion, if he's a contender or some kid in his very first UFC fight — all of us are one mistake away from a loss in the Octagon. That's one of the things that makes this sport so great and one of the reasons I love this sport so much.
I'm not naive to my own weaknesses. I know how I can lose, but I have trained — like a madman, l promise you — to make those weakness as small as I can.
I am younger than my opponent and — unlike when I was 21, 22 years old — I am probably stronger than him now. I'm also a great wrestler, too. He should realize that. And my striking is way, way sharper and is getting better and better. My opponent doesn't know what he has gotten into on April 21.
I'm the present and the future of the UFC light heavyweight division. My opponent is the past. And soon all the talk will be over and I will finally be able prove that in the middle of the Octagon.
I love hearing from you guys, tweet me @JonnyBones
UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans is live on pay-per-view, Sat., April 21, with prelim bouts on FX
