Jon Jones was so beaten up after his 2013 title fight against Alexander Gustafsson that he couldn't "wipe his own a**".
Jones, 35, makes his UFC return on Saturday after a three-year layoff as he faces Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title in Las Vegas. The UFC legend has been preparing for his heavyweight debut since controversially making the last defence of his light-heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes in February 2020, with 'Bones' expected to weigh 40lb heavier than he did for his last fight.
In arguably the toughest fight of his UFC career, Jones scraped past Gustafsson in their first fight which was later inducted into the UFC's Hall of Fame. The pair would go on to fight again five years later with Jones decisively winning by knocking out Gustafsson in the second round.
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Things weren't as one-sided in their first meeting as fellow UFC legend Michael Bisping said on his YouTube channel: "Jon Jones’ coach had to wipe his own a** after he fought Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165. It was a sensational fight. Both men went back and forth, one of the best fights of that year. "Apparently though, Jones said, he didn’t even train for that fight. Apparently, he was partying.
"He showed up because he was so complacent, he was so used to winning, so used to just going through all the competition that he never really trained and he still went out there and put on a performance of his life. Some of the stuff that fighters have to endure like being so beaten up in a fight that you can’t even wipe your own a**. Shoutout to his coach for that one, because I’ll tell you what, I ain’t wiping another man’s a**hole. No way, I don’t care how much you pay me!”
Jones has questioned the resilience of Gane ahead of their title clash and isn't confident he will be able to show the same grit that the likes of Gustafsson did against him. The consensus greatest fighter of all-time thinks "being a dog" isn't something that can be taught and was surprised that Gane's coach focused on improving that aspect of his game for his last fight.
"It's hard to say whether it will be the toughest challenge or not," Jones said. "My first Gustafsson fight I wasn't expecting him to put on the fight he did and that was an absolute war. I am ready to dominate but if I don't dominate and the fight goes five rounds then I'm ready for a dogfight. To bleed, sweat and leave my heart out there. I'm ready for however it goes."
