Jon Jones is grateful to Henry Cejudo for allowing him to train at his gym.
Jon Jones is getting ready to return to the UFC Octagon after a three-year absence. Throughout his many years in the UFC light heavyweight division, Jones was among the best. He ruled the 205 division for years but is now making a change. Jones decided to make the transition to the heavyweight division and has been putting in the hard work. Jones made a move from his longtime training gym Jackson/Wink in New Mexico to join the team at Fight Ready in Arizona, headed up by former two-division champion Henry Cejudo.
When Jones left the UFC and relinquished the light heavyweight title he was not necessarily in a good place. His long-time coach Mike Winkeljohn spoke publically at the time about not welcoming Jones back to the gym until he stopped drinking. This led to a falling out and for a while, Jones was only training at home.
Jon Jones is grateful to have found the Fight Ready camp and Henry Cejudo
Jones was able to link up with Cejudo who had recently retired from the UFC. Since his retirement, Cejudo has been training with some of the best fighters in the MMA including Weili Zhang, Deiveson Figueiredo, Walt Harris, and Demetrious Johnson. Once he added Jones to the mix the team was really put on the map. In a recent YouTube video released by the team, Jones expressed his gratitude to have such great people helping him in his journey.
“I want to say thank you to you guys for opening the doors to me at Fight Ready,” he said. “I had a little time where obviously my team stuck with me but I had a little time where I was in a limbo when it wasn’t cool to be associated with me. You guys were some of the first people to open the door and let me know that I always had a home in Arizona and sincerely that means a lot to me. I’ll never forget it I want to say thank you guys so much for that.”
He will be returning to a UFC heavyweight title fight on March 4 against Ciryl Gane. Cejudo gave Jones some words of encouragement just a few weeks out from the fight.
“You look f–king sharp, and you’ve got the best looks. Just go back to that competitor that you are,” he said. “Remember, you’re a better competitor than you are a fighter. You’re a winner. You know what I’m saying? And now, we stick to that, and go back to that, with all the gifts that you have.”
Cejudo will be returning to the UFC himself later this year. He will be taking on bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling for the belt. That fight is not yet official but is being targeted for May.
