Jon Jones Says He Doesn't Train to Poke Eyes, Therefore He Doesn't Poke Eyes (Deliberately)

[ReadWrite]

“I fight how I fight,” Jones told MMA Fighting during a conference call in support of Saturday’s pay-per-view event at Toyota Center. “I grab for hands a lot, and over the years, I’ve 'coincidentally' landed 'a few' eyepokes. But if you guys think I trained poking people in the eyes, think about how ridiculous that is. We fight with our fingers open, and I can be a very reachy fighter sometimes, and 'it happens.'

“In my last (Alexander) Gustafsson fight, the referee kept saying, ‘Watch your fingers, Jon!’ My fingers weren’t even out, and he kept yelling at me, which was a major distraction.

“I know Dominick has a problem with the finger stuff, too, and he’s talking about talking to the referee before the fight. None of that stuff’s gonna matter, dude. I feel like the game made a rule that was singlehandedly based around me, and I won’t let that type of stuff matter.

”I haven’t changed anything about my training style. I train very hard, and I don’t train to poke people in the eyes.”

https://www.mmafighting.com/2020/2/...k-reyes-eye-poke-concerns-i-fight-how-i-fight

 

[Amianto]

Well, nothing that Jon ever said made sense.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

Waiting for one of these, come fight night:

 

[Sweater of AV]

"I can be a very reachy fighter sometimes"



Trying to blind people is indeed "very reachy".

 

[Mahkor]

 

[Verace]

Wait... were you expecting him to flat out say "Yeah, i train eye pokes. I have mastered the technique over the years like nobody else"?

How the hell is him denying this even news or thread worthy? Aside from a bum soul attempt to hate on the guy.

 

[Medulla Omoplata]

I don't need to train kicking people in the dick to do it deliberately.
Good thing refs don't penalize fouls in MMA.

 

[Medulla Omoplata]

Wait, were you expecting him to flat out say "Yeah, i train eye pokes. I have mastered the technique over the years like nobody else"?

How the hell is him denying this even news or thread worthy? Aside from a bum soul attempt to hate on the guy.

no u

 

[CTEGod]

Jon and dc are both cheaters

at least Jon doesn’t cry while cheating though

 

[Paulsp]

well damn

 

[Silverstar17]

Didn't he specifically say he does poke people in the eyes before? Pretty sure he did.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

You know who *never* says "I don't train to poke people in the eyes"?
-People who actually don't train to poke people in the eyes.

 

[Gamer2k4]

I don't need to train kicking people in the dick to do it deliberately.
Good thing refs don't penalize fouls in MMA.

I think the point Jones was making was that he doesn't have deliberate strikes that aim to gouge the eyes like DC uses. He just keeps his arm long and his fingers out, and eye pokes happen.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

He also complained that sometimes refs send him bad juju vibes in the locker room before the fight. Truly eye rolling stuff.

At some point, something bad is going to happen to him. When that happens, (right or wrong) people are going to celebrate and mock him. And he's not going to understand at all where all that bad energy is coming from, let alone his own role in creating it in the first place.

 

[Mr_Mole]

To be fair, he isn't poking him in the eye. The threat is there and is making Rampage lose focus. Solid fight IQ

 

[Yoctogram]

He doesn't need to train he's a natural

 

[Vil7]

Someone needs to give him one huge revenge foul.

 

[OmegaRugal]

I think what Jones does and KNOWS is that even the threat of you running into his fingers is enough.

He can leave his hand out there and limit your entry to the left or right. Makes it far easier for him to counter you or you run into his fingers into your eyes.

Wins either way.

 

[The Big Bang]

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

I haven't seen Jon rush in and go for the finish immediately after an obvious eye poke

Fat Cormier deliberately poked Stipe more than once, then immediately rushed in attacking