Jon
Jones said he spent his camp for UFC 309 in pain. |
Getty/UFC
Jon
Jones didn’t know he was being recorded when he
revealed that “severe arthritis” would prevent him from
considering a wrestling match against Daniel
Cormier at a future Real American Freestyle event.
“I have severe arthritis,” Jones said in a video via Home of Fight.
“Most people don’t know that. My left hip is covered in arthritis.
I actually already qualified for hip replacement. My last training
camp I went to bed in so much pain.”
Since that video became a hot topic of conversation in the MMA
community, Jones addressed his condition in an interview with
TMZ Sports.
“Looks like a private conversation I had at DBX 5 in Houston made
its way out into the wild,” Jones said. “It happens. Like most
fighters, we deal with injuries quietly sometimes and like in my
case, for years. A lot of us walk around limping most days, paying
the ultimate price for our health.”
While Jones’ admission was unwittingly captured on camera, the
former
UFC two-division champion confirmed that he has battled
arthritis in the later stages of his career.
“If you’re wondering whether it’s true, it is. I’m grateful for all
my battle scars, and if I could do it all over again, I absolutely
would without hesitation. It’s been what I wake up for in my career
everyday,” Jones said.
“Even after becoming one of the most accomplished fighters in the
history of the sport, my critics still give me grief about slowing
down over the past few years. That’s called living to fight another
day taking the lessons learned and applying them to business
instead of the Octagon. It’s called evolution.”
Not a Secret
Jones hasn’t competed since November 2024, when he defeated
Stipe
Miocic via third-round TKO in the UFC 309 headliner. After
turning down a Tom
Aspinall fight and a brief retirement, “Bones” re-entered the
drug testing pool in hopes of competing at the UFC White House
event. That’s something, despite his apparent physical limitations,
that Jones still hopes to achieve.
“The UFC knows the extent of my arthritis,” Jones said. They also
know that if I were to put it all on the line one last time and
endure that level of pain, the reward would have to be something
special and something more than a fat payday. For me, that was and
is still the White House.
“Whether that fight happens or not, my career has been one for the
ages and nothing short of legendary,” Jones added. “I left a big
part of myself in that Octagon, and I’m grateful for every bit of
it. And don’t get it twisted, I’ll still kick 99% of your asses out
there. Still putting up big numbers under the squat rack. Still
training. Still outworking most of you … just maybe after a
proper warm-up and a good stretch.”