Dominant UFC heavyweight star Jon Jones has admitted he nearly came unstuck during an impromptu sparring session during his recent trip to Thailand. Jones, who holds a portion of the promotion’s heavyweight belt, is currently in the shadow of the current interim heavyweight kingpin, Tom Aspinall.
Sidelined since November of last year after a KO win against the retiring Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, Jones seems to be living the high life amid his recent continued trip to Asia, where he has featured in multiple seminars in Thailand to boot.
But while he has fallen short in his admittance of a potential retirement from combat sports, Jones seems to be still training during his Asia visit at least. However, during a recent impromptu wrestling session in a living room, the undisputed heavyweight champion was very nearly taken down by a member of his Asia entourage.
Commenting on their exchange, Alfredo Auditore admitted Jones was his most difficult foe to take down — albeit admitting he knew the Rochester star wasn’t trying very hard.
“My fight with Jon Jones, the strongest fighter in history. (Jon, I know you weren’t serious),” Auditore wrote on his Instagram account.
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Commenting on that post, Jones admitted he was nearly taken down. “Almost had me, I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t expecting that,” Jones wrote.
Notably, only two people before Auditore have managed to get the New Yorker on their back.
Jon Jones’ stunning takedown record in UFC
Never shying away from his grappling ability, look-see-do fighter, Jones has found his own success in that realm himself despite his striking prowess. During his stunning Octagon run, Jones has never been knocked down. But he has been put on his backside twice via takedowns. And just twice for as active as he once was is quite the feat.
Jones found himself on the floor during his first bout with Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 162 in 2013 and then again by arch-rival Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 two years later.
However, to his credit, Jones won both the fights. He even managed to dominate Cormier on the floor, despite the Lafayette native being a two-time Olympian himself.
Cormier would later admit that while he could beat just about any mixed martial artist in an amateur wrestling match. But he also knew that fighting inside the cage came with its own set of challenges. The kind of challenges Jones was far too adept at presenting.
However, Jones did come nearly undone by Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos during his light heavyweight swansong. He also nearly succumbed to an armbar against Vitor Belfort in their heated 2012 light heavyweight title fight.
It will be interesting to see, however, how he performs against the interim champion Aspinall. The British fighter is simply too agile and moves too fast for anyone in the division. Jones has had heavyweight wins against Ciryl Gane and Miocic. But he has looked visibly slower than he used to be at 205 lbs. Of course, he would first have to accept the fight.
