- Bodybuilding coach Greg Doucette explained why Jon Jones can naturally grow muscles
- Doucette is certain Jones will not have a disadvantage in the heavyweight division
Jon Jones has been bulking up as he prepares for his long-awaited heavyweight debut. Despite Jones being evidently swole, bodybuilding coach, and Guinness World Record-Holding Powerlifter, Greg Doucette said there’s nothing to worry about the former UFC light heavyweight champ’s performance.
Why going up to 240 pounds is not a problem for Jones
In a recent interview with Chael Sonnen, Doucette detailed why Jones could naturally build muscles without the need to take any performance-enhancing drugs.
According to Doucette, Jones, who used to be a light heavyweight, has not exhausted his “natural genetic limits” yet. With that in mind, his body can easily gain muscle and reach up to 240 pounds just by doing normal workouts. However, “Bones” might have to take some “steroids” if he wants to go beyond the aforementioned weight.
“Jon Jones I believe would have been training less intensely in terms of his goal to build muscle more so focusing on cardio and so as he’s gotten older he’s saying ‘no and I want to add muscle’,” Doucette explained. “So to me, he would have ‘newbie gains’ and it that first few years of growth, it’s a lot easier to put on muscle because he hasn’t really focused on building muscle. Those newbie gains they don’t go away, they’re present even though he’s been training his whole life. He hasn’t really surpassed his natural genetic limits so until he gets there, he has the ability to get muscle.”
“What I like to say is when an elastic, the further you go and stretch the elastic, the harder it is to gain muscle, so when he was a lighter guy [at] 218 [pounds], it wasn’t stretched too far because his body naturally could probably go up in weight as he’s getting to 240,” he continued. “If he wanted to go 260, he’d probably need to take steroids at that point but at 240, not really.”
“Bones” doesn’t need fat
Doucette also emphasized that Jones doesn’t need to gain fat in order to bulk up as his body is still naturally capable of what he calls “main gaining.”
“The answer actually is no,” Doucette said if Jones need to gain fat as well. “What he’s doing, I kind of call it ‘main gaining.’ [It’s] being able to build muscle while remaining at a set body fat percentage.”
It’s a fair game
Aware that Jones is likely to compete against the best heavyweight fighters in the sport, Sonnen quizzed Doucette to confess if the significant change in weight and regimen will affect the former 205-pound king’s conditioning.
Surprisingly, Doucette simply said it’s not gonna be a concern as Jones’ opponents in the heavyweight division are also not used to conditioning as a light heavyweight.
“Comparing Jon Jones at 205 versus Jon Jones as a heavyweight, he’s not gonna have the same conditioning as he had,” he admitted. “However, he’s fighting against guys who also don’t have the conditioning he had at 205.”
UFC president Dana White had previously said that if reigning heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will be out longer than expected due to injury, Jones could step in and compete for the interim title.
