Three times Jon Jones almost lost - from horrific toe injury to waiting for his arm to break
Jon Jones has been close to perfect during his 15-year MMA career.
Besides being controversially disqualified for landing an illegal elbow while battering Matt Hamill in 2009 Jones is unbeaten – but he’s had a few scares over the course of 28 professional fights.
Vitor Belfort
By 2012, Jones had already made history by becoming the youngest-ever UFC champion when he beat Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at just 23 years old.
The now-35-year-old went on to run through MMA legends Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Lyoto Machida, and Rashad Evans before being matched against Belfort.
Following a famous knockout loss to Anderson Silva, ‘The Phenom’ got in career-best shape and picked up two stoppage wins over Yoshihiro Akiyama and Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson to earn himself a title shot.
Many expected Jones to easily deal with yet another former UFC champion but Belfort almost sprung a monumental upset when he locked up an armbar submission in the first round.
‘Bones’ refused to tap out and ultimately escaped from the clutches of Belfort before going on to secure a fourth-round submission of his own that brought an end to the fight.
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During his post-fight interview, Jones admitted his arm ‘popped’ and he was waiting for it to break rather than submit, he said: "I've never had my arm popped like that before. I was waiting for it to break. I was not going to tap out. I've never felt that before.”
Chael Sonnen (GRAPHIC IMAGERY WARNING)
Jones did break a bone in his very next fight and it almost led to him losing his UFC light-heavyweight title in the cruellest way imaginable.
The UFC Hall of Famer was matched up against Chael Sonnen in April 2013 after they’d spent months winding each other up as opposing coaches while filming The Ultimate Fighter’s 17th season.
Jones looked at his blistering best as he ruthlessly stopped ‘The American Gangster’ with just 27 seconds remaining of the very first round that seemingly went according to plan.
However, during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Jones noticed that his toe was badly broken and he quickly went from celebrating his win to looking like he might collapse.
The toe was so damaged that if Sonnen had survived until the end of the first frame a UFC doctor would have stepped in to wave off the fight.
Sonnen would’ve been awarded the win by default and taken home a UFC belt following two failed cracks at the middleweight title.
Alexander Gustafsson
Next up, Jones fought Gustafsson in a fight many expected to be a routine title defence but it ended up being the hardest of his career and the one that got him inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
The Swedish light-heavyweight shocked the world as he raced into an early lead against Jones who struggled with his sheer size, striking ability, and surprise wrestling attacks.
Jones rallied in the championship rounds and was ultimately awarded a unanimous decision win that remains hotly contested 10 years later.
Battered and bruised, Jones ended up leaving the arena on a stretcher before later admitting that he was doing a lot of drinking and partying ahead of the fight.
In 2018, Gustafsson finally got his rematch with Jones but he was past his prime and easily dealt with by the light-heavyweight GOAT who stopped him inside three rounds.
Both men got inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2021 for their first fight which is still regarded as one of the best title fights of all time a decade later.
Jones hasn’t fought since defending his 205lb crown with a unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020.
Since then, he’s relinquished his belt and bulked up for a move to heavyweight after years of talk about him testing himself against the biggest and best MMA fighters on the planet.
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This weekend, Jones will make his heavyweight debut when he takes on former interim champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The undisputed UFC heavyweight title recently made vacant when Francis Ngannou left MMA’s premier promotion will be on the line and Jones could become a two-weight champion and cement his best-ever status.
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