Jon Jones made sure he had a special move ready for UFC 309, and it wasn`t for Stipe Miocic.
In the main event of the November pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York, Jones defended his UFC heavyweight title by decisively defeating Stipe Miocic. It was Miocic`s first fight in three and a half years, and it seems Jones was so confident of winning that he used his pre-fight warmup time to practice his celebration.
With President Donald Trump watching from cageside, Jones performed Trump`s signature dance right in front of him. According to his cornerman, Gordon Ryan, Jones dedicated a significant amount of time to perfecting this moment.
“A funny Jon Jones story that nobody knows, because I was in his corner for the last fight against Stipe, and we found out Trump would be there,” Ryan shared on a recent Joe Rogan podcast. “For a good 15 to 20 minutes, while he was warming up and getting ready to fight for the belt, he spent about 20 minutes of that warmup practicing the Trump dance to get it just right.”
“We even looked it up on YouTube,” Ryan added, “and he was practicing the Trump dance in the locker room, getting ready to dance.”
Despite it being only his second heavyweight appearance, the 37-year-old Jones is very experienced in title fights. During his time as the light heavyweight champion, Jones won 14 championship fights, including eight consecutive defenses of the 205-pound belt from 2011 to 2015.
Rogan laughed at Ryan`s story, commenting, “How confident do you have to be in victory to practice your victory dance beforehand?”
Ryan said that Jones` team fully supported the champion`s playful rehearsal and helped him refine his technique, as if he were practicing a fight-ending combination.
“The best part was that we were all for it,” Ryan said. “We were like, `No, your hands need to be a bit higher, a bit lower.` So we were coaching him through it as he practiced.”
