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Old Rival Explains Underrated Reason Why Jon Jones Is so Dominant in the UFC

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Mathew Riddle | Last updated Nov 28, 2024 9:36 PM ET

Career controversies aside, there isn't much disputing Jon Jones' status as one of, if not the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

Jones is a four-time UFC champion with 12 title defenses across his reigns. He hasn't lost, at least not technically, only dropping a disqualification by brutal illegal elbows against Matt Hamill in 2009.

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Aside from his freakish 7' arm-span and being head and shoulders above most of his competition, Jones has one other attribute which contributes to his success, which his former rival Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson was keen to discuss in a recent episode of the Ariel Helwani Show.

"I think the reason why Jon Jones has been so successful in MMA and been dominating for so long is because his mind is super strong, you know," Jackson explained. " ... I heavily underestimated him ... i see the stuff that he does, he was doing [things] that nobody was doing.

"... I've been telling people for years I think MMA is 95 percent mental. ... He's figured out a way to bypass those doubts, I'm convinced he has a real good sports psychologist."

Quinton Jackson Gave Jon Jones Nightmares

Ironically, Jackson was one of the main causes for Jones' iconic Octagon crawl. 'Bones' told Steve-O that he had nightmares of Jackson

"I kept having these nightmares... I would always get knocked out [in the first 30 seconds of the fight], Jones said. "... I couldn't avoid this inevitable knockout that I was going to experience in the first round..

"... My idea to crawl towards him [Jackson] was the only thing that hadn't happened in all my nightmares... And then automatically the dream voids itself."