Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has faced off against Alexander Gustafsson once before. With the former title holder now set to throw down with “The Mauler” once again, Jones’ coach has come forward to claim that the fighter hardly trained for their first match up.
Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson first faced off back at UFC 165. The fight went the distance, with “Bones” Jones ultimately earning a unanimous decision victory over his opponent. Now Gustafsson and Jones are set to throw down for the UFC light heavyweight title within the main event of UFC 232.
The event will take place Dec. 29, live on pay-per-view. Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Jon Jones’ coach Mike Winkeljohn has since come forward to admit that the former champion did not take his training camp for his first fight against Alexander Gustafsson quite as seriously as he could have.
“Oh yeah, there’s no doubt about it. You know what, Jon won the last fight [and] he definitely didn’t train hard for that fight. His mind was elsewhere, I think he took it a little light. Kinda real fascinating how stupid that was because Gustafsson can fight.”
“He’s the real deal and definitely a different look for Jon with his height. This time we’re gonna try to make it a lot easier. I wasn’t doubting he’d beat him, but I knew we were gonna be in for a war.”
“I’m always a believer in Jon Jones’ heart and ability to figure sh*t out and come out on top. I figured it was gonna be one of those rough ones and it was, there’s no doubt about it.
“It was just we had to find a way as a team to help him conserve his energy here and there because he wasn’t in quite the shape he should’ve been in, which played out huge throughout the fight.”
