Jon: "As far as the way I treat my fans and my supporters, I try to treat people the way I want to be treated. I try to treat women the way I want my daughters to be treated. I realize all of this can be taken away. I’ve been through the lows in life, so now that I’m rising, it doesn’t make me any better. I know what it’s like to have a hard time paying your bills. I know what it’s like to go to the prom in a suit that’s way too big for you because you just couldn’t afford anything else. All of that was just three years ago./o:p
/o:pI’m not going to look at anyone who’s still working a nine-to-five as if I’m better than them. If anything, those guys are the ones who make us. Without your casual fan or your average person, where would Dana and Lorenzo get all of this money to be able to take care of us? I’m very aware that without the fans, we would be nothing. Without the fans who would watch us fight? We owe a lot to the fans."/o:p
Jon: "I’m striving to do the right things in my competitions. I’ve got to keep it real to myself. You know? And realize that I can’t afford to believe my own hype. Once I start to believe that I’m the greatest and all that type of stuff, that’s when I’ll stop doing my push-ups, that’s when I’ll stop studying footage the way I do. That’s when I’ll allow my passion to decrease. Right now, my passion is really high and passion’s everything – just keeping that genuine love for what you’re doing is going to be key for me. I just don’t let the hype get to me and I realize that I have a lot to prove to myself."/o:p
Video: Jon Jones and Rashad Evans interview with CSS Sports
Date: February 18, 2012 -- One year and one week after his defeat of Ryan Bader./o:p
(0:07) - The Transformation
Jon:“There’s something about being really young and fresh. I haven’t seen the world; I don’t have the riches. I don’t have this and I don’t have that."
Jon: “Yeah, I do have a Bentley. I do have a Bentley. 2012 Bentley. Bottom line really is that I want more. I want more. I want more for my family’s future. And I have a dream and a vision that’s so much better than what I’m doing right now. That’s why I….I won’t say that."/o:p
Jon: "No, it’s just another chapter in my life; a chapter in my story. And I think that it’s so much greater than this fight. And that’s why I feel calm. I’m extremely calm. I do believe my own hype. And I’m working towards making it true."/o:p
Rashad: “That’s the worst thing you could ever do."/o:p
Jon: “It’s working for me. I’m not saying that it’s an arrogance thing."/o:p
Jon: “I believe that I’m the greatest. Muhammad Ali said ‘I said I was the greatest before I was the greatest. I made the world believe I was the greatest.’ But with his own self-conviction, he became the greatest./o:p
I have an attitude of a champion. Of a winner. I’m not going to be apologetic. I think that it’s something the people of America could learn from. It’s very important to believe in yourself. It’s a cold world out there and people will just pass you by if you give another man anything over yourself. So I will say yes, I’m the best looking. I’m the most charismatic. I’m the most mainstream. I will say everything. And I believe in my hype."
bornop - Good find. It seems like Jones wanted to portray the image of the respectful young prospect who hit the big time. When he hit the big time though, it was not what he imagined and started acting like he thought a superstar athlete should act, when all we want to see is the REAL JBJ. Hope he gets it together mentally&emotionally because he has the tools to be the GOAT
Thanks. It's possible that Jones was really once that humble guy that he portrayed in the first video, only a year and a half ago. A lot of things have changed since he fought for and won the UFC light heavyweight championship belt.
I could be wrong, but I don't think he was faking his humility when he was on his way up.
It really seems that fame and fortune have gone to his head and he's truly changed as a person.
I think throughout his early career he was trying to portray something he wasn't, something he thought he should be.
Made what he deemed to be mistakes and went on to 'fix' the previous mistakes in an attempt to portray himself 'better' and it just snowballed.
But where does it stop? When it's not genuine and you keep changing to say the 'right' thing it all turns pear shaped as we have seen with his comically long list of contradicting comments and statements.
"It’s very important to believe in yourself. It’s a cold world out there and people will just pass you by if you give another man anything over yourself. So I will say yes, I’m the best looking. I’m the most charismatic. I’m the most mainstream. I will say everything. And I believe in my hype."
You know, this part kinda hit home in my head. The world is cold, specially for men (women do live in a totally different world in terms of attention and care they receive). Although he is getting to an extreme, and it's indeed selfish, i can relate and understand. A man without status or money, without the ability to rise or the ability to be seem as someone at the top is a man that will go unnoticed, unloved, and incomprehended that might live and die alone and ill in a lot of internal and external suffering.
Brian J DSouza - How has Jon Jones met his demise?
He his popularity hasn't even peaked yet, he's just picking up more speed.
Maybe the wording in the title was a bit confusing. He hasn't met his demise. But did he predict how it works occur when it does?
(5:45) - The Prediction Jon: "I’m striving to do the right things in my competitions. I’ve got to keep it real to myself. You know? And realize that I can’t afford to believe my own hype. Once I start to believe that I’m the greatest and all that type of stuff, that’s when I’ll stop doing my push-ups, that’s when I’ll stop studying footage the way I do. That’s when I’ll allow my passion to decrease. Right now, my passion is really high and passion’s everything – just keeping that genuine love for what you’re doing is going to be key for me. I just don’t let the hype get to me and I realize that I have a lot to prove to myself."
OP I see the angle you are going for, but I don't think there has been any 'demise' so to say of Jon Jones. He has some hate and backlash from fans.. but people still want to see the guy fight. He'll be just fine... still on track to becoming one of the most legendary fighters of all time.
Clarence Parents - OP I see the angle you are going for, but I don't think there has been any 'demise' so to say of Jon Jones. He has some hate and backlash from fans.. but people still want to see the guy fight. He'll be just fine... still on track to becoming one of the most legendary fighters of all time.
Agreed. No demise yet.
The point is that Jon himself predicted what would ensue for him as a person if he did start to believe his own hype and call himself the greatest. He stated unequivocally that he would lose his passion and desire of that happened.
At some point after winning the belt, he had a paradigm shift and started saying, verbatim, that he did believe his own hype and that he is the greatest at life.
Whether it will have the impact on him that he initially predicted remains to be seen. He predicted it would be his demise but up to this point, it's been tough to gauge. We'll see what happens in his next few fights.
