Jon Jones may be a physical freak, but he's just like most fighters who have to wrestle with the mental side of the game before and during the fight.
The 6-foot-4, 220 pounder has a huge task in front of him in facing MMA legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The former PRIDE middleweight and current UFC light heavyweight champ has been in there with some of the top fighters of all time. Jones' top opponents include former Ultimate Fighter contestants Matt Hamill and Ryan Bader.
A quick look at the credentials of both fighters could be pretty intimidating. That's where's Jones' trainer Greg Jackson comes in.
"I was actually getting a little anxiety about being in the title fight," Jones told The Daily. "He said 'Jon listen it's just another fight. "No fight is a big fight. Forget what his name is.'That's the mindset I have now. He really humanized Shogun big time, because I've been a fan of him myself."
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Jackson said the most important thing is Jones willingness to listen.
"Jon is a student of the game," Jackson said. "Inspiration is a fighter's most precious commodity. For Jon, knowledge and enlightenment seems to be what inspires him, so I'm always quoting strategy books or Eastern philosophy as how it relates to combat."
Jackson is known around the sport as a guru of the MMA mind game. When Jones arrived at his camp in Albuqueque he was a hot shot prospect who wowed with his explosiveness. Jackson has slowly re-programmed Jones' approach in the cage.
"He's getting very good at finishing fights now," said Jackson. "Before he would throw you over the head or do a spinning elbow and he'd be in wars with these guys. Now it's pretty much domination because he's coming into his own natural style."
This is a nice piece from The Daily. One of the most interesting quotes from the video didn't make the story. We've heard a lot about Rashad Evans, a Jones teammate at Jackson's being perturbed with "Bones" for taking the title shot.
Jones tells story (0:40 mark) that Evans was actually the guy who told him to have a big night at UFC 126 and seize the opportunity if it comes. He said Rashad "basically" gave him his blessing. We're guessing this was taped well before some of the verbal drama that has gone down before the last few weeks.
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