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Jon Jones was a recent guest on the DeepCut podcast and took the opportunity to express his gratitude toward MMA as a sport. Jones claims to feel indebted to MMA, which is ironic given his adversarial dynamic with the sport's fandom as of late.
When asked by the interviewer if he still loves MMA, Jones didn't hesitate to assert that he does. He described how the sport has improved his quality of life, as well as given him a place in history as one of the greatest fighters of all time. Perhaps the greatest fighter ever. 'Bones' said:
"Do I love the game? I'll always love MMA. Somehow, the universe made me one of the best at it, so I'll always love it. I'll always love it. It will always will be there. It changed my life. It gave me an opportunity to change my branch in my family tree, and so I'll always be greatly indebted to the sport."
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Check out Jon Jones' comments below (1:15:34):
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Despite Jones' claims, he has not behaved in a manner that reflects them. He is currently holding the UFC heavyweight title hostage, seemingly with no intention of defending it against interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, though his reasons have varied over time.
Initially, Jones was dismissive because he believed Aspinall to be a fighter of little renown outside of the U.K. Then, it evolved into Jones claiming that it does nothing for his legacy. However, that excuse didn't hold up either. Eventually, Jones asserted that he would not fight Aspinall due to his intense dislike of him.
Jon Jones hasn't decided if he'll fight again
Jon Jones has been teasing fans about his MMA future since defending his heavyweight title against fellow all-time great Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. Recently, when asked if he was retired, Jones said the following:
"I don't know if I wanna call it retired, I feel like I'll always have an ability to pop out and show em. I've had many breaks throughout my career, my identity outside of fighting is well intact. I'm genuinely enjoying life, I'm growing in differen ways."
Check out Jon Jones' comments below:
