Jon Jones has not been happy with some of the officiating throughout his career, but he said his issues with referees haven’t stopped him from doing what he does best: winning.
Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) said on a Monday media call that he hasn’t made a request for a specific referee for his fight against Dominick Reyes on Saturday at UFC 247, but recalled bad experiences with officials in some of his previous fights.
“I have not (made any requests), but I’ve had some (expletive) situations happen in there,” Jones said. “I felt like I’ve had guys that were very obviously not on my side in that ring, and I’m not going to say their names because I don’t want to give them attention. But even with that happening, I still found a way to not only win those two fights, but finish those fights.”
Jones said the two fights were his submission win over Vitor Belfort at UFC 152, refereed by John McCarthy, and his TKO win over Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch at UFC 232, refereed by Mike Beltran.
“John McCarthy, I felt like his energy was way off when I fought Vitor Belfort, and I found a way to finish the fight,” Jones said. “I also felt the energy coming from – I won’t say his name – I feel like the energy in the second Alexander Gustafsson fight, I felt like that referee was sending me some funny-ass energy backstage and in the cage, and I finished the Gustafsson fight, too.
“At the end of the day, I feel like if it’s in God’s plans for me to do what I’ve been doing, it won’t matter which coaches I have, which coaches Dominick has, who’s the referee – none of that stuff matters. God’s will is God’s will, and so it won’t matter who’s the referee.”
Reyes has expressed his concerns over Jones’ tendency to land eye pokes, and has said he plans to warn the referee prior to the fight. But Jones thinks he’s being unfairly criticized for a habit he says naturally happens with open gloves.
“I fight how I fight,” Jones said. “I grab hands a lot, and over the years I’ve coincidentally landed a few eye pokes. But if you guys think I trained poking people in the eyes, I mean – think about how ridiculous that is.
“In my last Gustafsson fight, when that referee kept saying, ‘Watch your fingers, Jon. Watch your fingers, Jon,’ like, my fingers weren’t even out at the time, and he kept yelling that to me, which was a major distraction, you know? I know Dominick has a problem with the finger stuff, too, and I know he’s talking about talking to the referee before the fight. None of that stuff is going to matter. None of that stuff is going to matter.”
UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
