Thomas sent this in:

UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn may be fighting on December 12th, but mixed martial arts’ latest prodigy takes to the Octagon a week earlier. He’s Jon Jones. You’ve heard the name, you’ve seen what he can do in the Octagon, and you’ve heard all about the 22-year old’s potential.

And frankly, it’s hard not to get excited about the kid from Endicott, New York with the fast hands and feet, the JUCO national wrestling championship in his back pocket, and a dizzying array of unorthodox moves, some of which came straight off youtube. Seriously. Add in an unbeaten 3-0 UFC record (9-0 overall) that has seen him beat Andre Gusmao, Stephan Bonnar, and Jake O’Brien, and the talk of Jones being called the future of the sport and an eventual world champion doesn’t seem so far-fetched. It’s got to be a lot for a young man to grasp, but Jones has the right attitude about reading his press clippings.

“People say I’m the future of the sport and the next champion, and I never asked for any of that stuff,” he admits. “But people are saying it for a reason, I guess, and it motivates me to work harder and live up to those expectations.”

He pauses, as if to reflect on how his life and his public perception have changed since he first stepped into the Octagon in August of 2008.

“Those are big expectations,” he continues. “I’m only 22 and I haven’t even been training for three years, and to get that type of recognition definitely adds a lot of pressure. I just try to train hard and do that extra pushup or go train one more time when I have no strength left, and hopefully I can make myself happy and provide for my family. Ultimately that’s the only reason I’m doing this.”

Jones, mature beyond his years, but still quick with a smile or a laugh, has been forced to accelerate the maturity process after becoming a father at 21 (he and his girlfriend have a second daughter due on December 15th), and that ‘old soul’ attitude is evident as soon as he begins his walk to the Octagon on fight night. He credits the mentors in his life for keeping him grounded and on the straight and narrow, and he’s needed them over the last few months, as he made the difficult decision to leave his original training crew – Team Bombsquad in upstate New York – for Albuquerque and Greg Jackson’s MMA team.

“I had a great team where I came from, and I definitely credit those guys for all the success I’ve had thus far,” said Jones. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without them and I appreciate them so much, but I also know that with more wins, the competition is going to become greater and greater and eventually I would possibly get stopped not training at an elite level. And once you get 4-0, 5-0 in the UFC, the opponents are gonna become elite. So I needed to surround myself with champions.”

Jones mentions some of the Jackson crew that he works with, MMA standouts like Georges St-Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, and Joey Villasenor, and while it probably wouldn’t be the reaction from us civilians, “Jonny Bones” gets almost giddy when talking about life in the New Mexico gym.

“I literally get my butt kicked every single day, which is new for me,” he said. “I come from a school where I wouldn’t even get hit. I would never get a black eye, a bruise, a bump, or a nick, and now, I’m icing every night because these guys are kicking the snot out of me.”

It was almost an inevitable step for Jones to make, especially given his prodigious talent and his need to keep testing himself as he moves up the light heavyweight ladder. But in any walk of life, whenever someone leaves for newer pastures – whether it’s a fighter leaving his original trainer or team, a band leaving its hometown for the big city and a record deal, or a bright student leaving his old life behind for an out of state school – there will be some resentment, some negative whispers, and it wasn’t exactly something Jones was ready for.

“I got a little criticism from some people back in my hometown,” said Jones. “I heard things like ‘oh, you think you’re too good for us now?’ But I realize after talking to some of my mentors that if people are your real friends, they’ll be happy for you when you branch off and have to do what’s right for you. And the people who aren’t happy for my move are the people who really don’t care about my best interests. They only care about themselves. Fortunately, Team BombSquad is really happy for me and they encouraged me to leave. They knew that I was kinda coming to a plateau and my teammates weren’t really pushing me as hard anymore. They were starting to respect me a little bit instead of trying to knock me out. So I came down here and I had to humble myself. Not that I wasn’t humble, but it was a different feel. I went from being the big fish to just another guy in the camp. There are just so many guys walking around here who are way better than me.”

And when you stop growing at home and become the big dog, it’s time to leave. Jones admits to thinking “Maybe I am pretty good,” after he stormed through his first three UFC opponents. But a little dose of Jacksons’ tough love will clear that notion up pretty quickly, because you may be good, but you’re not as good as you think you are – yet.

“I’m getting tapped out, taken down, punched in the face, and it’s just a reality check,” said Jones. “There’s so much work to be done. In a sport like mixed martial arts, a real black belt doesn’t think he knows everything; he pays attention to how much he doesn’t know. I’m really not anything. I’m a young guy who’s had some impressive fights, and when it comes to proving myself, I really haven’t done anything. There’s a lot more talent out there besides me, a lot of other guys that are looking great, way more well-rounded, and until I get to that level where you can find no holes or weaknesses in my game, I’m gonna continue to be a grinder and continue to work hard, improve, and keep my head on straight. I’m not resting until I’m officially Anderson Silva status.”

Jones laughs, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he will one day be sitting on top of the pound for pound list. In fact, if he keeps on the road he’s on, it would be a major disappointment if he doesn’t make it there. But that’s not what Jones is concerned with these days. What is on his mind is Saturday’s main event bout at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas against Matt Hamill.

Hamill, at 33, may be in his physical prime, and with back-to-back knockout wins over Reese Andy and Mark Munoz, he is hitting his stride at the perfect time for this weekend’s matchup. Jones has a great deal of respect for his fellow upstate New Yorker, and says that it’s “an honor to fight him.” But ask him about the stylistic makeup of the fight, and you need to step back and let “Jonny Bones” roll.

“The biggest thing that’s on my mind when it comes to Matt Hamill is the whole wrestling mismatch,” said Jones. “I think it’s so unfair that people are calling him this world-class wrestler and all this. Matt had a great collegiate career, but it was so long ago. If you were a great wrestler, unless you’re all about wrestling every day, and still training at that level, you lose a lot of it. And for people to say that Matt’s just gonna take me down, hold me down, ground and pound me and beat me that way, it’s just ridiculous. I can’t wait to show the people that I’m a fresh wrestler out of college. Matt’s college career was like ten years ago. This time last year I was warming up for tournaments. I’m a wrestling coach now at Ithaca College, I wrestle at Cornell University all summer long, so I think it’s funny that people are giving him that huge gap in the wrestling department, and I can’t wait to make Matt prove that he’s a better wrestler than me.”

How do you really feel, Jon?

“I have so much respect for the guy for what he’s done, but people think I’m going to get taken down repeatedly,” he continues. “That’s just not gonna happen. Maybe if he does get one takedown, great, he timed it well. But for people to act like I have no takedown defense, are you kidding me? I’ve wrestled my whole life, and just because I’ve practiced my striking a lot, that doesn’t mean because he might touch my leg he’s gonna take me down over and over and win the fight that way. I can’t wait to go out there and show people that I’m a wrestler too, so don’t get it twisted.”

Does that mean we’re going to see a Mark Coleman-esque performance on Saturday night?

“You might see a wrestling match,” he smiles. “Me and Matt Hamill, we grew up in different eras, and who knows what would have happened if I had to wrestle Matt. Not to sound arrogant, but I was on my way to doing big things in the wrestling department.”

Then, just like that, Jones stops, and chuckles.

“Obviously you can see how passionate I am about that topic.”

Obviously.

And that’s fine, because if you don’t get fired up about training, learning, competing, and winning, you’re in the wrong game. The great ones in this, or any, sport are the athletes who eat, sleep, and breathe competition. Jon Jones isn’t one of the great ones yet, but he certainly has the desire to get there one day. But again, he’s not worried about one day today. All that matters is Saturday – and beating Matt Hamill. So while he may be light-hearted now, when the lights go down, that all changes because that’s when Jon Jones becomes a fighter. And all fighters think about is winning.

“All this training, all this hard work, and the bumps and bruises, I can’t let that go in vain,” he said. “Once I decided to put college on hold, I put all my eggs in one basket. I have no choice but to succeed in this sport to provide for my family. I don’t want to be a guy who gave MMA a try, made a little hoo-rah, and didn’t pan out to be what I could potentially be. I work hard and I think about how bad I need this for my family. My girlfriend is pregnant, but I’ve been here and I haven’t seen my family in a long time. She’s due December 15th and these are the last weeks of her pregnancy and I’m out here training and not there for her. So it’s really important for me to make sure I come home from war with the prize.”