Saturday, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is returning to action at UFC 214.
While Jones may go down as one of the greatest fighters of all time, there was a point in his past where he felt that he was just a waste of life.
"I was 19 years old. I went from being a guy with all these wrestling dreams to feeling like a complete waste of life. I had these two brothers who were still in college and who were starting to be whispered about being NFL players. And there I was, back in my hometown, working at the local bar, a dropout with one baby and one more on the way, running into all the kids who were still in college. I felt like even my parents didn't believe in me at that point. I felt like no one believed in me but Jessie (mother of his second child) and her mom. I had to prove them right. I had to,” Jones said to Bleacher Report.
Jones would start finding motivation from certain family members and friend, plus through motivational videos he would find on the internet.
However, the fighter was messaged by somebody on Myspace to go into MMA training and after the first day of training, the man would find his purpose.
"I called (the MMA school) on Monday," Jones says. "By Wednesday, I went to my very first martial arts practice. I left there with a black eye and this big-ass smile on my face. I knew I was home."
UFC 214 takes place on Saturday, July 29 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
