Jon Jones 'couldn't sleep' ahead of fight with UFC legend who he and NFL star brothers 'fanboyed over'
12/24/2024 06:59 AM
Jon Jones was so star-struck heading into one of his biggest fights to date the he struggled to sleep before getting in the octagon.
Before becoming a legend and winning world titles in two weight divisions, Jones was pursuing the title of youngest champion in UFC history as a light-heavyweight. He achieved that in March of 2011, and had to defend against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.
And his brother Chandler Jones has told of how he and his sibling would watch Jackson before the fight, struggling to make sense of how to beat him. However, the New Yorker managed to get it done with a submission in the fourth and continue a winning streak that has lasted to this day.
Jon Jones admits he had nightmares before Rampage Jakson fight
It is no secret that Jon Jones found the Rampage Jackson fight to be one of the most stressful in his career. He admitted to Steve-O during an episode of his Wild Ride podcast that he even made a change to his opening fight tactic in order to avoid what had happened in his nightmares.
"I kept having these nightmares before fighting Rampage Jackson that I would get knocked out,” he told the famous TV stuntman and prankster. “No matter how the fight played out I would get knocked out in the first 30 seconds.
“One scenario he ran at me threw an overhand right, the other was a right uppercut and another dream was a left hook. I couldn't avoid this inevitable knockout that I was going to experience. On fight night, I felt like I was going to get knocked out.
“So I had this super deep prayer and touched my body from my head to my toes. As I was praying and touching myself, I noticed looking at myself that I was covered in white feathers.
“It was very real to me, there were like small feathers in between my fingers and they came up to my neck. I felt I was this fighting thing that wasn't earthly. I was able to hang on to this feeling and illusion of myself all the way through my walk to the cage.
“I felt like I walked into that Rampage Jackson fight as the featherman for the first time. My idea to crawl towards him was the only thing that hadn't happened in my nightmares because every fight starts on the feet.”
Chandler Jones recalls how frightened his brother was of Rampage Jackson
And the depth of Jones’ fear was revealed years later when his brother Chandler detailed exactly how bad the build-up got. Appearing on Jackon’s own podcast, he explained that the nightmares were making his brother miss a lot of sleep.
"I'm Jon's little brother, so I know who he fanboys over," the youger Jones told Jackson during his interview. "And before y'all's fight, he couldn't sleep. And I don't give a f*** who, I'm looking you in your eyes, I'm not blinking.
“I don't give a f*** who he fought, who with a bigger name, whatever, I'm talking about to this day, that he could not sleep. We all had been a fan of you before him. Before he became a UFC fighter, we were picking you in the UFC game. I just want to let you know that."
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