Trevin Jones cut 16 pounds in 36 hours ahead of stunning comeback at UFC on ESPN 15

If Trevin Jones’ comeback win at UFC on ESPN 15 wasn’t impressive enough, he also had a very tough battle to make it to the scales.

Jones (13-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) who pulled off a stunning upset TKO of Timur Valiev (16-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) last Saturday, revealed that he had to cut 16 pounds in just 36 hours to make the 140-pound catchweight limit for the fight.

As soon as Jones got the short-notice call, it was right to work. He weighed in at 140.5 pounds on the first attempt at the Friday morning weigh-ins, but hit the mark the second time when he weighed in an hour later.

“I got the call on Wednesday night and weigh-ins was Friday morning,” Jones told MMA Junkie. “I cut about 16 pounds. When I got home, I got home about seven, six o’clock, when I got the call I went into the scale, I was like 156, 156.5. I cut all the way down to 139, so actually 17 pounds in 36 hours.”

Jones admits that he was afraid that he wouldn’t make the weight, but it’s been a long journey to the octagon and he wasn’t about to let the biggest opportunity of his career slip away.

“It was a lot of fear I don’t make the weight, but it was for the UFC so I knew I was willing to give everything to make the weight for the UFC,” Jones said. “I knew that for sure. I’m like, ‘Man, the UFC wanna test me. Trev, this is what they wanted, they wanted to put you to the line. You have some losses on your record so if you wanna show that you’re worth it and you wanna show you’re quality, you gotta make this weight on two days’ notice.’

“And me, I’m a competitor. I like to win. I have five split decision losses, I have six losses on my record, but the guy didn’t look at these fights good. I got five split decision losses, I’ve been fighting around the world in different countries, I probably fought in more places, in different countries than these UFC guys.”

The debut win didn’t come without adversity, though. In Round 1, Jones was in survival mode when he was struck by a brutal body kick from Valiev that had in him in all sorts of trouble. But somehow, Jones gutted it out and survived the round.

Round 2 was a different story, because Jones was able to turn the tables and drop Valiev with a right hook. Jones swarmed him until the referee stopped the fight, mounting one of the most incredible comebacks in recent UFC memory.

But Jones said the weight cut certainly had an impact on his performance and vows he has so much more to give. Nonetheless, a win over the highly-touted Valiev is a big feather in his cap.

“I had to cut all that weight, my feet were very flat,” Jones said. “Guys wanna critique about the first round, like I cut 16 pounds in a day and a half vs. a talented guy. Like my feet were not under me. If they think that’s how I fight, they’re in for trouble and my No. 1 thing was that situation is, I’m a competitor, I didn’t want to lose the fight.

“I didn’t want to go out there, fight him, lose and just be in the UFC. Trev Jones in the UFC off a loss, that’s what they didn’t see. I didn’t want that, that wasn’t going to happen that night.”