Jon Jones reveals the incredible training regime behind his UFC heavyweight move
After holding the Light Heavyweight title on and off for almost a decade, Jon Jones relinquished the belt earlier this year, and announced his decision to move up to Heavyweight.
Ever since, 'Bones' has been training tooth and nail to not only gain the muscle mass for Heavyweight, but also change his mindset and fighting style.
Jon Jones shared a few images of his training on his Instagram account in November. At that point, he was already at 240 pounds, according to his caption. He has five more pounds to go before he starts his next fight camp, whenever that is.
While training with an iron-clad determination at his home gym with strength and conditioning coach Jordan Chavez, Jon Jones spoke to ESPN's Marc Raimondi and detailed his training regime for the move up to Heavyweight.
The Heavyweight training regime for Jon Jones
Marc Raimondi wrote that Jon Jones started with a 405-pound Anderson squat and ended it with 500 pounds.
One of the areas Jon Jones is focusing more on is his legs, which have been the target of many jokes over the years for being too skinny.
"When I was 205, I always had a hard time getting down low. Or hated getting low, with [single-leg takedowns] and stuff like that. Almost as if my knees were killing me to do it.
"Now that I've been working on my legs so much and they've gotten thicker ... I think that's going to translate into me shooting high-crotches and shooting double-legs. I think it'll make those muscles a lot faster. I predict that my shooting ability and my wrestling is going to just be faster. There's just more power, and my a** has gotten a lot bigger. I think my double-legs are going to be one of the biggest differences in my game that people are going to notice."
But putting on pounds is not everything, Jordan Chavez pointed out. Jones' team consists of coaches like Steve Horwath and Lawrence Herrera as well, who focus on maintaining the speed, endurance, and power despite the enhanced body mass.
Jones follows a diet which is obviously protein-rich, but has adequate amounts of good carbs and fat as well.
Jon Jones: I have to commit my whole life to this project
Jon Jones might have taken physical training for granted in the past, letting himself gain weight in between fights. But the move up to Heavyweight is not something he is taking lightly.
Jon Jones understands there are fighters bigger and heavier than him in this division, and he is committed to train as much as it takes to see them eye to eye inside the Octagon.
"I would never really train in between fights. I would allow myself to get fat. To train now with no fight scheduled, it's different. It shows maturity and it shows how much I really want to do this.
"I'm trying to change my whole makeup. There are some guys that are way bigger than me up there. I'm just constantly pushing ... I have to commit my whole life to this project. I'm committed."
Brandon Gibson, Jon Jones' striking coach who has trained him for over ten years, said that the UFC Heavyweight division has not seen a fighter like Jon Jones before.
"Jon has a very unique skill set for heavyweight. You don't see that many kickers at heavyweight. You don't see that many grapplers of Jon's caliber at heavyweight. You don't see that many well-versed strikers with such an arsenal like Jon has. You see a lot of boxer-wrestlers. I think Jon has the skill set to really exploit a lot of these heavyweights. As long as we can carry over the stamina, the skill set and the speed, I think Jon is going to look great. And he's only 33. In heavyweight years, he's still relatively young."
Jon Jones' focus right now is not on any particular opponent or a date. It is solely on himself and taking himself to the level where he can be as formidable a foe at Heavyweight as he used to be at Light Heavyweight.