Striking coach Brandon Gibson says Jon Jones believes long layoffs have only added to his longevity.
Jones will be making his return to the Octagon on Dec. 29. Jones will meet Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch for the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title. The bout will serve as UFC 232‘s main event inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Coach Talks Jon Jones’ Layoffs
Jones is no stranger to layoffs. He was out of action from the beginning of 2015 until April 2016 due to a hit-and-run incident that caused him to be stripped of the light heavyweight title. Jones then popped for a failed UFC 200 drug test, which caused him to stay outside of action for another year. Now, he’s coming off a failed UFC 214 drug test which has once again had him sit on the sidelines. Gibson explained how these layoffs are actually helpful to Jones on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour:”
“He’s not getting his brains battered in [during his time off]. He’s not getting concussions. He’s taking care of his body and his mind, and this is such a — at this top one percent, these guys are tough. That’s not an aspect that comes with sparring or anything like that. The time off where we’re not having impact, where his body’s not getting beaten up and broken down, where we’re just continuing to evolve the skill and the technique and the strategy and develop Jon that much more as a martial artist is key. And you said he’s 31, he has a long fight career ahead of him still, and he really feels like this time off has prolonged his career that much more.”
Do you think Brandon Gibson and Jon Jones are reaching with this explanation of how the layoffs have helped, or do they have a point?
