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UFC

Jon Jones says he's given up weightlifting ahead of UFC 200 rematch with Daniel Cormier

By Elias Cepeda FoxSports
Published | Updated
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BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 25: Jon "Bones" Jones weighs in during the UFC 172 weigh-in at the Baltimore Arena on April 25, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Ahead of his comeback fight last April at UFC 197, Jon Jones had dedicated himself to an intensive powerlifting regimen, in addition to his normal martial arts training. After he won a decision over Ovince Saint Preux, his coach Greg Jackson bashed the weight-training routine, while Jones defended it.

As he heads into next week's UFC 200 title rematch against light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, however, Jones says that he's left weightlifting out of his training camp.

"I felt like I was in good shape, like my lungs were strong," he recently told media members, regarding his UFC 197 performance. "I just felt like my muscle endurance maybe wasn't in the right place, so I think that played a factor in me fighting conservatively and pacing myself a little bit."

Jones packed on the pounds of muscle with his weight training before his last fight and even thought about moving up to heavyweight. Now, he's planning to stay at light heavyweight.

"I got up to about 238 at my heaviest," he said. "I felt great. I felt really strong. I felt I could compete at heavyweight. I think in my last fight, it definitely played a factor in me being conservative and preserving the way I was using my energy."

To prepare for Cormier, Jones claims he's ignored moving any big weight that isn't in the form of a training partner. "For this training camp, I've done almost zero weightlifting," he revealed.

"I've actually been working on burning off the muscle by overloading in endurance. So I think you guys will be able to tell during the weigh-ins and during the fight that I look a lot more like I used to look, a lot less muscular, and my endurance feels amazing. That's one of the No. 1 ways to beat DC, to 'DC' DC by embracing the grind and beating him in the dog fight. And that's what I'm prepared to do."