Former UFC champion shares how 'drunken' night with Jon Jones changed his mindset on his career

Jon Jones is the current UFC heavyweight champion. Photo: Instagram/UFC Brazil.

Sharing experiences with great fighters is always a way to evolve in your career, and it was no different for aljamain sterling com Jon Jones. The context of this transformative encounter, however, was not a big training session at the gym, but rather a night of 'drinking' and fun at a bar.

In a video posted on his official YouTube channel, Sterling began by talking about his first impression of Jon Jones, his former schoolmate, when he saw him starting his successful career in professional MMA.

See too

Featherweight prospect signs with UFC after leaving PFL as a free agent

Before rematch for belt, UFC champion says rival is 'cute' and 'funny'

“I was in his school my freshman year, his sophomore year, before he became a UFC fighter. We used to party a lot. He left, I changed schools, I started seeing all these pictures of him doing cool stuff and I thought, ‘I need to live the life of a monk, I need to be super disciplined.’ I thought that was what it was.” Jon Jones was doing. I thought that was why he was taking all those guys down, because of the sacrifices, the mentality and everything, the dedication,” explained the former bantamweight champion.

Everything changed when aljamain sterling found Jon Jones in a bar, having a wild time on the eve of a UFC fight. At that moment, 'Aljo' claims to have understood that it was more about mentality than necessarily giving up on having fun.

“One day I met him at the bar, when he had two or three UFC fights. He was drinking heavily, having a great time and offered me a drink. I declined because I had a fight in five weeks. He was fighting the next day, bro. I was confused. That changed my mindset. I gave up everything I enjoyed in life, that made training more enjoyable. I only thought about the sacrifice. That's when I realized that it all comes down to the mentality,” he concluded.

The change in mindset bore fruit. After that, aljamain sterling had a successful career in the UFC, winning the bantamweight belt in 2021 and defending the title on three occasions. Currently, the American of North American descent competes in the featherweight division (up to 65,7 kg) and is coming off a loss to Movsar Evloev, in December.