UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has established himself as perhaps the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. With a staggering 27-1 record and championships across two divisions, Jones has conquered every challenge the UFC has presented. But at 37, what continues to fuel his competitive fire?
The answer, surprisingly, comes from outside the octagon.
Speaking with celebrity barber VicBlends on “DeepCut,” Jones revealed that his greatest influences aren’t fellow MMA legends but rather icons from various sports disciplines—particularly basketball superstars.
“I try to grab motivation from people outside of my field. Because in this MMA space, I’ve become a member of a lot of people’s Mount Everest, right?” Jones explained. “In my own space, I try to be inspired by the people who are better than me in categories.”
This approach has led Jones to study legends like Tom Brady, LeBron James, Michael Phelps, and Michael Jordan – athletes who, like him, redefined their respective sports through innovation and mental fortitude.
But Jones doesn’t just look to other athletes for inspiration. He draws motivation from unexpected sources that shape his competitive mindset.
“The two things that I really enjoy outside of fighting that I feel helps my mentality. I love studying military groups and I love studying the male lion,” Jones shared. “The male lion I’ve watched for many years. I have photos of male lions all throughout my house. They’re territorial, they can lounge around and appear almost lazy until it’s actually time to work. They’re just the king and I like what they represent.”
This fascination with lions speaks to Jones’s understanding of his own abilities and limitations.
“They’re not the biggest, but they have the mentality and they’re ferocious… I’ve watched hours of lions just attacking things that are so much bigger than them and through their persistence and grit, eventually, they get that bull to the floor. I carry that same mentality.”
Jones’s admiration for NBA stars creates an intriguing contrast within his own training camp. His grappling coach, Gordon Ryan—widely considered the greatest no-gi jiu-jitsu competitor of all time—has become notorious for his public criticism of basketball, often dismissing the sport due to political disagreements with its players and league.
Ryan, who trained Jones for his heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic, has repeatedly taken aim at the NBA on social media, once calling basketball a “gay sport” while mocking LeBron James for what he perceived as theatrical behavior during games. The jiu-jitsu champion has made no secret of his disdain for what he views as the “softness” of modern basketball.
Yet here is Jones, the fighter Ryan helped prepare for one of the biggest fights of his career, openly crediting those same NBA legends as major influences on his championship mindset. It’s a fascinating dynamic that highlights the complexity of relationships within elite athletics—where personal philosophies don’t always align, but professional respect and results speak louder than individual opinions.
While acknowledging talents within his own sport – noting Conor McGregor’s microphone skills as an example – Jones remains focused on continuous improvement across all aspects of his career, both in and out of competition.
“There’s fighters that do things better than I do… So I become inspired by my peers… How can I become closer to him in this category?”
This mindset of constant evolution has defined Jones’s fighting style. Rather than relying solely on what’s worked in the past, he continues to adapt and expand his arsenal, creating a versatile approach that makes him unpredictable and dangerous in any situation.
The fact that Jones can extract valuable lessons from basketball legends while working alongside a coach who openly disparages the sport speaks to his maturity as both an athlete and a student of competition. It demonstrates an ability to separate personal biases from professional development—a quality that has undoubtedly contributed to his sustained success at the highest levels of MMA.
