Chandler Jones, brother of Jon Jones, revealed on Quinton Jackson’s podcast that Jon had a difficult time preparing for his 2011 title defense against Jackson due to being a fan of Jackson’s, and even their father was conflicted as he was a big fan of Jackson.
Jon Jones’ 2011 title defense against Quinton Jackson wasn’t a walk in the park. His younger brother, Chandler Jones, spilled the beans on Jackson’s podcast, JAXXON PODCAST. He revealed how tough the preparation for Jon’s first UFC title defense was.
Chandler said, “I’m Jon’s little brother, so I know who he fanboys over.” He continued, “Before y’all’s fight, he couldn’t sleep. He was a fan of you before he became a UFC fighter. We were picking you in the UFC game. I just want to let you know that.”
In 2011, Jon Jones made history. He became the youngest UFC champion ever at age 23, after defeating Mauricio Rua. That year, he also stopped Ryan Bader and defended his title against Jackson and Lyoto Machida. But, it was the Jackson fight that had the Jones family on edge. Jackson confirmed that their worry was justified.
Jackson said, “That fight, he beat the best me ever. I was in the best shape. I trained my ass off. I was overly confident. And he kicked the s*** out of me. But he’s the dirtiest fighter in MMA, bro. The eye pokes, man. The kicking the knee back.”
Chandler defended his brother, saying, “I don’t think he does it on purpose. That’s how we all have our hands up. Captain Insano shows no mercy.” Jackson responded with a laugh, “Hey, with them long ass fingers, I couldn’t even do the Three Stooges [defense]. Those fingers still go through that s***.”
Jon Jones has admitted that the Jackson matchup was mentally challenging. He had nightmares about Jackson knocking him out in the first round. This fear led him to open the fight in a crawling stance, which he believed would prevent his knockout.
Jackson confessed that Jones’ crawling stance threw him off. It played a significant role in Jones winning the mental game. Jones eventually defeated “Rampage” with a fourth-round rear-naked choke at UFC 135.
Chandler revealed that even their family was torn. He said, “My dad, man, he’s the biggest ‘Rampage’ fan. So you’ve got to think, if you call your dad — my dad is the most spiritual person in the world. He’s a pastor of a church, he’s a spiritual gangster, he’s a spiritual savage.”
He continued, “And I remember one time, I think Jon reached out to my dad to kind of get that spiritual calling, and [my dad] was just calling [on behalf of] ‘Rampage.’ He was calling ‘Rampage.’ What do you do? What do you do when your spiritual leader is being a fanboy? Maybe that’s why you got the best Jon. Seriously.”