"He intimidated me" - When Jon Jones recollected having nightmares ahead of 'Rampage' Jackson fight
Jon Jones dominated the UFC's light heavyweight division for the better part of a decade. In his early twenties, Jones seemed invincible as he walked through the likes of Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort.
However, Jon Jones recently revealed that he was petrified going into his fight against 'Rampage' Jackson. Jones believes this might have been due to the fact that he had idolized Jackson when he was younger. 'Bones' told the media during a media luncheon at the Palm Restaurant in Downtown LA:
"The last time I had major doubt going into a fight, I'll have to say it was my fight with 'Rampage' Jackson. I had a lot of nightmares leading up to that fight, things not going my way. And for some reason he just intimidated me, he really did. I don't know what it was, you know, I think it has something to do with just being a young black kid 'Rampage' is one of those guys you just... he's the guy you know? And he howls and he is the big goal with the big old chain and everything is like you know, you kind of look upto him and idolize him. So even though I knew I was a better martial artist there was almost a 'Big Brother' complex somewhere in a weird way."
Catch Jones Jones talking about 'Rampage' Jackson below:
When Jon Jones fought Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson
Jon Jones became the youngest UFC champion after dethroning Mauricio Rua at UFC 128 in March 2011. Later that year, Jones made his first successful title defense against Quinton Jackson at UFC 135.
Jones made excellent use of his range to keep Jackson at a distance. 'Rampage' was visibly frustrated as he failed to land anything substantial while Jones picked him apart. Jon Jones submitted Quinton Jackson with a rear-naked choke early in round four.
Quinton Jackson later accused Jon Jones of fighting dirty. According to 'Rampage', Jones would utilize an oblique kick, a push kick to the knee of an advancing opponent, which he believes should be deemed illegal. Jackson said during an appearance on Calabasas Fight Companion:
"He’s the dirtiest fighter, too. They had to change the rules because of him. When I fought him, whenever I was, like, have any type of advantage, he would put his fingers in my eye. Your eyeball is your weakest thing in your body, right? So when I was fighting him, he was like this [outstretched arm and fingers] the whole time. It’s hard to train for this, too. He’d poke me in the eye, and then when you come in and advance, he’d kick your knee backwards. They should make that illegal."
Watch Quinton Jackson's interview on Calabasas Fight Companion below: