UFC 197’s Jon Jones says he was “completely wasting talent” due to past transgressions

“The moment I realized I had to change, honestly the big moment for me was the night Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier fought for my Light Heavyweight Championship and I saw DC walk away with it. In my mind, I beat both of those guys. I was at home with my wife and I thought to myself ‘here I am, I’m possibly one of the best fighters to ever play this sport and I’m here at my house without a belt, without a sponsor, just completely wasting talent. I should be at this arena in front of thousands of people, in front of millions of people at home but I’m sitting here in my kitchen watching this fight by myself with my family.’ … That night really is what made me realize ‘Jon, you are ruining something very special and it’s time for you to pull your head out of your ass and do things right and really ace the rest of this story, the rest of this book.’ So that’s what I’m going to do.”

-Jon Jones talked about his rock bottom moment after his hit and run accident during the UFC 197 open workouts this week (transcribed by FoxSports.com).

Penick’s Analysis: Jones has always been his own biggest opponent. No fighter has been able to figure out how to beat him in the cage, and all of the adversity in his career to date has been self-imposed. If he can curb that, and truly move past the types of decisions that got him into those situations in the first place, he can add to a legacy that may already have him as the greatest to ever compete in the sport, rather than there being room to wonder what could have been for him. The redemption tour kicks off in earnest tonight.

[Photo (c) Mark J. Rebilas via USA Today Sports]

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