Jon Jones made his MMA debut on April 12, 2008 against Brad Bernard, winning by knockout in just 1:32 minutes. Thirteen fights later, in March of 2011, Jones was crowned UFC light heavyweight champion, marking a meteoric rise.
However, well before his 2008 debut, the current champion dedicated himself to the martial arts – that being wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu. Jones even ventured into competition in the gentle art.
“I was part of the college wrestling team and there was a Jiu-Jitsu academy there. Just seeing it made me want to do it. So I went on to reconcile the two styles and did well in my first championship, getting the finish in four matches,” said Jon on the pages of GRACIEMAG #164.
In the video below, the fighters competes at Grapplers Quest, an event featuring Gi and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu contests. Check out how the UFC kingpin’s Jiu-Jitsu was slick even back then:
