Jon Jones will finally make good on his desire to fight at heavyweight at UFC 285 next month when he takes on Ciryl Gane for the interim title, and now he’s revealed the reasons behind a move up that’s been three years in the making.
In an interview with former UFC color commentator Jimmy Smith, Jones claims that a lack of fear when facing opponents like Dominick Reyes, Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith in the latter stages of his light-heavyweight title reign had left him jaded and demotivated.
“I stopped studying footage as much,” Jones admits on Smith’s ‘Unlocking The Cage’ show. “I started just looking forward to another day at the office. The fear was gone. I didn’t really fear these guys, and I wasn’t happy with my pay, either.
“I was starting to fight guys like (Dominick) Reyes, who had been dreaming of fighting me probably since college, and he was just relatively unknown to the general public.
“So I just wanted more. I wanted to be nervous again. I wanted to have fear again. I think fear is healthy, and now we’re in this position. The heavyweight division has never been scarier, and I’m glad to be right in the middle of it.”
