According to Jon Jones’ coach Mike Winkeljohn the UFC light-heavyweight champion had to endure through the pain in his classic battle with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 last night after badly injuring his foot early in the fight.
“Jon Jones showed true grit tonight fighting through a badly injured foot, possibly shattered.. early on in the fight,” Winkeljohn wrote on Facebook. “It may have slowed him down but he stayed the course. Congratulations Mr. Jones!”
If that’s the case he certainly did well to disguise it during the five round encounter, repeatedly throwing an array of kicks throughout the fight – and indeed they were a large part of what helped win him the fight in addtion to spinning elbows, with Gustafsson appearing to having a significant edge when it came to punches.
It became clearly evident that Jones was hurt after his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan though as he hobbled out of the cage in pain under the assistance of two members of his team.
Dana White revealed later that Jones had immediately been taken to hospital afer leaving the arena where he was later joined by Gustafsson who also required medical treatment after one of the most gruelling title fights in the history of the sport.
This is the second fight in a row that Jones has suffered a foot injury, having badly broken his toe against Chael Sonnen earlier in the year.
Jones didn’t make any mention of his latest injuries (which also included a deep cut above his right eye that Dana White claimed almost resulted in the doctor’s calling an end to the fight inbetween the fourth and fight rounds) during a post-fight message to his fans, but he did vow to come back stronger.
“Thank you for everyone support,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “I felt a little off my game tonight but I learned alot about myself and I promise to come back better.
