Jon Jones was so underwhelmed by one of his biggest fights to date that he struggled to sleep before hitting the octagon.
Before becoming a legend and winning world titles in two weight divisions, Jones sought the title of youngest champion in UFC history as a light heavyweight. He achieved that in March 2011 and had to defend against Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson.
And his brother Chandler Jones has told how he and his sibling watched Jackson before the fight as he struggled to understand how to beat him. However, the New Yorker managed to do it with a submission in the fourth, continuing a winning streak that continues to this day.
Jon Jones admits he had nightmares before Rampage fought Jakson
It's no secret that Jon Jones found the Rampage Jackson fight to be one of the most stressful of his career. He admitted to Steve-O during an episode of his Wild Ride podcast that he even changed his opening battle tactics to avoid what happened in his nightmares.
“Before I fought Rampage Jackson, I kept having nightmares that I was going to get knocked out,” he told the famed TV stuntman and prankster. “No matter how the fight went, I was going to be knocked out within the first 30 seconds.
“One scenario he ran at me, threw an overhand right, another was a right uppercut and another dream was a left hook. I couldn't avoid this inevitable knockout I was about to experience. On fight night I felt like I was going to be knocked out.
“So I had a super deep prayer and touched my body from my head to my toes. While I was praying and touching myself, I noticed that as I looked at myself, I was covered in white feathers.
“It was very real for me, there were little feathers between my fingers and they went up to my neck. I felt that I was a fighting thing that was not earthly. I was able to maintain this feeling and illusion of myself throughout the entire walk to the cage.
“I felt like I was getting into that Rampage Jackson fight for the first time as a ferryman. My idea of crawling to him was the only thing that hadn't happened in my nightmares, because every fight starts with the feet.
Chandler Jones remembers how scared his brother was of Rampage Jackson
And the depth of Jones' fear was revealed years later when his brother Chandler detailed exactly how bad the buildup had gotten. Appearing on Jackon's own podcast, he explained that his brother was missing a lot of sleep due to the nightmares.
“I'm Jon's little brother, so I know who he fanboys about,” the younger Jones told Jackson during his interview. “And before you had a fight, he couldn't sleep. And I don't care who, I look you in the eyes, I don't blink.
“I don't care who he fought, who he had a bigger name for, whatever, I still talk about it to this day, that he couldn't sleep. We were all fans of you before him. Before he became a UFC fighter, we picked you in the UFC game. I just wanted to let you know.”
Related posts
Comments