Jon Jones has suggested that he went through his entire UFC 285 training camp without using a mouthpiece/mouthguard in his sparring sessions. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jones is set to end his three-year MMA hiatus and make his heavyweight debut.
Jones will face former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title at UFC 285 on March 4th. Ahead of his upcoming fight, 'Bones' has highlighted how he surprised people by not using a mouthpiece during his training camp.
The mouthpiece is a protective device used in several full-contact sports to help prevent or reduce injury primarily to the athlete's dental arches, lips, jaw joints, teeth, and gums. Every UFC athlete is required to don a mouthpiece during their MMA bouts inside the octagon.
The UFC 285 Embedded: Vlog Series - Episode 3, posted to the UFC's YouTube channel, featured a mouthpiece that Jon Jones will likely utilize for his UFC 285 fight. The UFC icon indicated that he didn't use one throughout training camp, as he simply tried not to get caught clean, particularly in the face. 'Bones' stated:
"I actually went through my whole training camp without a mouthpiece, and people think I'm absolutely crazy for doing that. I just try not to get hit in the face. You know what I'm saying? I try to be quick and have really strong defense -- Try to be slick with head movement and timing, and I try not to get caught too clean."
Watch Jones discuss the topic at 0:41 in the video below:
Jon Jones made his MMA debut in April 2008 and his UFC debut in August 2008. Meanwhile, Ciryl Gane debuted in MMA in August 2018 and joined the UFC in August 2019. In the UFC 285 Embedded: Vlog Series - Episode 1, the 35-year-old Jones alluded to the same and jibed that the 32-year-old 'Bon Gamin' is relatively new to the upper echelons of the sport.
Also, Ciryl Gane recently stated that he's lazy and trains only when he's booked to fight. Jon Jones seemingly referenced Gane's self-admitted laziness and opined that the French MMA stalwart likely won't have much of an impact by the time he's done in MMA. 'Bones' said:
"I'm not going to lose all these years to a guy who is just here right now. That's the way I view him. He's just here right now. His words let me know that he doesn't believe he'll be here for a long time and I'm not losing to a guy like that."
Watch Jones' assessment at 8:56 in the video below:
