Jones aims for UFC top 15 after London redemption
· Yahoo Sports
"Last time I was in London it was the start of the worst part of my life."
Mason Jones did not mince his words in Saturday's post-fight interview with Michael Bisping at the O2 Arena, after a points decision against Axel Sola.
Visit michezonews.co.za for more information.
A bloodied Welshman, the 30-year-old reflected on a full-circle moment.
In July 2022, Jones was beaten by Ludovit Klein, the start of what Jones called "a period of tribulation".
Jones would have to wait until May 2025 to return to the UFC octagon, with four wins in Cage Warriors under his belt in between his stints with Dana White's promotion.
This time, in his third fight back in UFC, Jones left with a unanimous decision win, a $100,000 (£74,968) fight of the night bonus and redemption.
"After my last run in London, people told me I needed to give up," Jones said.
"I think I could be an example to everyone never giving up and doing everything you can to get where you want to go, because I'm going to the top."
Standing in Jones' way in London was the previously unbeaten Sola, a six foot Frenchman with a strong all-round fighting resume and 11 professional wins to his name.
In Jones' own words, Sola is "a rangy, dangerous, southpaw, long, things that aren't fun to deal with".
But deal with Sola, he did.
Jones threw his hands with fury and delivered a barrage of knee strikes to his French opponent.
Sola stayed firm, delivering a vicious spinning back elbow into Jones' jaw.
Undaunted though, Jones recovered to bloody Sola before the first five minutes of the bout were completed.
As the fight continued Jones grew in confidence, delivering more successful strikes with every round and a frightening 61 successful strikes in the third.
All three judges scored in favour of the Welshman (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to extend his win streak to seven and three in a row since re-signing with UFC.
For the Welsh fans of Jones, it is not necessarily a comfortable watch, with his head often taking a lot of damage.
For the neutrals, he might just be the most exciting fighter in the promotion.
With two fight of the night bonuses and one performance of the night from his seven bouts, he makes a great argument for that being the case.
The road not taken
Jones was beaten by Ludovit Klein in July 2022 at UFC London [Getty Images]After defeat to Klein in July 2022, Jones and UFC mutually agreed to not sign a new deal.
Reflecting on what alternative path he could have chosen, Jones gave an honest appraisal.
"I remember sitting down in my coach's office after the whole thing in London because I was in a mess," he recalled.
"My one coach said to me, 'Look I think you need to go somewhere else and work with someone else because I don't think I can give you what you need'.
"I said to him in tears at the time, 'Please just stick with me, as long as you boys are in my corner I'll go through anything'.
"They've stuck by me since then, and I can't thank the boys enough.
"As long as those boys are there for me I'll give them as much as they give me and I couldn't ask for anyone else to stand by me and help me reach the top."
For Jones there really was no other possibility than to stick to chasing his UFC dreams.
"I had an acknowledgment on this camp when I was running through the mountains, and I chose this life.
"I know it's a weird thing to say, but every day I wake up I choose this life."
Jones admitted the easy thing would have been to go and get a job.
"I could literally at any time just think, no, I'm done, and get a different job that pays on a weekly basis," he added.
"After I left London I didn't get paid for two years, I racked up credit card debt, and family members and friends told me to quit.
"I had a family business I could have gone into, done more with school.
"But for me fighting is what's in my blood and fighting is what I want to do."
Top 15 beckoning for Jones?
Mason Jones handed Axel Sola his first professional defeat [Getty Images]Jones' performance against Sola makes a solid case from him to fight a ranked opponent next, having "cemented his foundations in the UFC".
When asked at the post-fight press conference who in the top 15 of the lightweight rankings he thought would give him the most exciting fight, Jones did not hesitate.
"I wanted to fight Beneil Dariush, he was booked," he said.
"Michael Chandler was booked, so to be fair I'll go back and have a break because I've been pushing since my fight in Paris last year, six months of churning through training camps six days a week."
Regardless of who The Dragon might fight next, he can head for a welcome break seeing the fruits of his labour and "doubling down" on himself.
"The only person who can make you quit is yourself, there's always a way, if you want it enough you can make it work," he said.
"I proved that I deserve to be here with a number next to my name to be the best in the world and I'm just going to keep proving that.
"I live this life, it's all I've ever wanted to do and I'm going to prove that eventually I am going to be number one."