During a recent conversation with fellow UFC fighter Joaquin Buckley, the 38-year-old Jones is asked about talk of him wrestling DC in the RAF promotion, at which point he reveals a well-hidden secret – that he struggles with severe arthritis.
“Bro, I have severe arthritis,” Jones told Buckley, apparently unaware that he was being filmed. “And most people don’t know that.”
“My left hip is covered in arthritis. I actually already qualified for a hip replacement. [During] my last training camp, I went to bed in so much pain.”
With that in mind, Jones appears to have ruled out the idea of continuing his long-running rivalry with Cormier by competing against him on the wrestling mats.
“I have a three-year-old baby boy,” Jones said. “And I wanna use what I’ve got left of my hips to play with [him].”
Some initially suggested that was just a way to duck out of a match-up that may favor DC, given his higher-level wrestling credentials.
However, beyond that it also left a big doubt as to whether Jones will ever fight in MMA again too, even though he’s been pushing hard to be allowed to compete on the upcoming UFC: White House card in June.
Jones has now addressed the whole situation in a new interview, revealing that he didn’t actually realize he was on camera when he spoke out for the first time about his arthritis.
“Looks like a private conversation I had at DBX 5 in Houston made its way out into the wild,” Jones told TMZ Sports. “It happens. Like most fighters, we deal with injuries quietly sometimes and like in my case, for years. A lot of us walk around limping most days, paying the ultimate price for our health.”
Jones went on to confirm he does have arthritis, and suggests that’s the real reason he hasn’t fought much in recent years.
“If you’re wondering whether it’s true, it is. I’m grateful for all my battle scars, and if I could do it all over again, I absolutely would without hesitation. It’s been what I wake up for in my career everyday.
“Even after becoming one of the most accomplished fighters in the history of the sport, my critics still give me grief about slowing down over the past few years. That’s called living to fight another day taking the lessons learned and applying them to business instead of the Octagon. It’s called evolution.”
Jones then stated that he does still want one last fight in the Octagon, but only on the condition that it’s at the UFC: White House show.
“The UFC knows the extent of my arthritis,” Jones revealed. “They also know that if I were to put it all on the line one last time and endure that level of pain, the reward would have to be something special and something more than a fat payday. For me, that was and is still the White House.”
It’s well known at this stage that Dana White has repeatedly ruled out the idea of Jones competing at that event due to not trusting him after repeated issues with the star over the years.
Whether Jones does eventually get his wish or not though, he concluded the interview with a defiant message about his legacy.
“Whether that fight happens or not, my career has been one for the ages and nothing short of legendary. I left a big part of myself in that Octagon, and I’m grateful for every bit of it.
“And don’t get it twisted, I’ll still kick 99% of your asses out there. Still putting up big numbers under the squat rack. Still training. Still outworking most of you … just maybe after a proper warm-up and a good stretch.”
We shouldn’t have too much longer to wait to find out if Jones will be on the card as White claimed in January that the matchmakers were aiming to draw up the entire UFC: White House event line-up by the middle of this month.
