Jon Jones More Focused Than 1st UFC Stint, Claims Manager Malki Kawa
Jon Jones is more focused than ever and is training hard ahead of a return to the UFC, according to his manager, Malki Kawa.
The 28-year-old's suspension was lifted last week, and he has been cleared to return to competition as soon as he wants.
While Jones has yet to book a fight to open his second UFC stint following his six-month absence, he is already in training. For Kawa, that represents a significant change in attitude from the former light heavyweight champion, per MMA Hour (via Yahoo Sports' Ryan McKinnell):
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"The only word that can really describe Jon right now is "focused." I've never seen him this focused. He's super focused. He’s focused more than he’s ever been before.
Listen, everybody's got their opinions – he did this, he did that, whatever – that's all fine and dandy. He's still the greatest fighter we've ever seen, right. I’ve watched him through many different camps and the coaches have told me how he’s done certain things in different camps…this is the first time that he doesn't have a fight scheduled, he's in Albuquerque, and he's actually training.
Most of the time when Jon doesn't have a fight, he doesn't train at all. There's no weightlifting, there's no jiu-jitsu practice, there's no boxing, there isn't anything. So, this is the first time we can sit here, all of us, and we can say he's actually putting in some work. And he's really putting in some work.
"
Widely regarded as one of the all-time greats, Jones was handed an indefinite suspension and was stripped of his light heavyweight title back in April following his involvement in a hit-and-run accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that resulted in injuries to a pregnant woman.
The decision to end his suspension came following his sentencing to up to 18 months of supervised probation, per Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie.
Jones was clearly delighted with being reinstated, and he posted a video of himself dancing in celebration on his Instagram account:
He has seemingly now stopped dancing and got down to the serious business of training ahead of his return.
It now only needs to be decided whom he will fight and where.
Per McKinnell, his opponent upon returning to the Octagon will undoubtedly be current light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, as UFC President Dana White told Jim Rome in the summer that Jones would be granted an "immediate title shot" upon his return.
Jones' final fight before his suspension was a unanimous-decision victory over Cormier in January, thus it will be a good barometer as to his condition should the pair meet again.
The where is a more intriguing proposition. Per MMA Hour (via McKinnell), Kawa indicated the ideal scenario for the Ithaca-born Jones' return would be an April 23 clash at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Jones making his return in front of a home crowd would indeed be a mouth-watering prospect.
However, MMA remains illegal in the state of New York, thus major changes will need to be made if Jones is to return in that fashion.
McKinnell suggests that an alternative option would be for Jones-Cormier II to take place at UFC 200 in July.
Whatever happens, it is likely to be an electric occasion, and Jones is clearly making sure he is in the best shape possible when he finally returns to the cage.
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