When it comes to drastic falls from grace, in the sporting world it’s hard to get bigger than former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.
The once pound-for-pound king used to have it all. Blue chip endorsements, an unblemished title reign, and the support of all the executives at the UFC. They once even bought him a brand new Bentley!
Well times, they have changed, and so has the life of Jon Jones. If it wasn’t for bad luck he’d have none. The former undisputed champion is currently serving what’s left of his latest suspension, and promised fans a new and improved version of himself once he’s free to compete again.
Jones explained,
“The time off has been great. I think you don’t really appreciate what you have until you don’t have it anymore. This last year has given me a lot of time to realize how great my life was and how bad I want it back. Since I’ve been gone, I really had the opportunity to look at my career from a fan’s perspective almost instead of being in it. I just realized just how special of a career that I have had, and how incredibly hard of a career that I’ve had. I think my resume – I’ve beaten some of the toughest guys in our sport’s history,” he added.
“All the endorsements that I’ve had, and all the things that I’ve lost, it really hits you when you don’t have a lot of this stuff. Not only does it make you realize how much work you put in to get that, it makes you realize how hard it’s going to be to get that stuff back. I just realized that I had a lot, and it hurts to not have it. And I know how much work it’s going to take to get it back. I’m just more grateful now for the things that I’ve been able to accomplish than when I was back when I was accomplishing them.”
