Jon Jones made sure he had a special move ready for UFC 309, and it wasn`t intended for Stipe Miocic in the Octagon.
In the main event of the November pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Jones successfully defended his UFC heavyweight title by decisively defeating Stipe Miocic. This fight marked Miocic`s return after a three-and-a-half-year absence. Apparently, Jones was so confident of winning that he dedicated a portion of his pre-fight warm-up to perfecting his victory celebration.
With former President Donald Trump watching from cageside, Jones performed Trump`s signature dance right in front of him. According to his cornerman, Gordon Ryan, Jones invested significant time to ensure the dance was executed flawlessly.
“Here’s a good Jon Jones story that’s not widely known. I was in his corner for the last fight against Stipe, and we learned that Trump would be there,” Ryan recounted on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan podcast. “For a good 15 to 20 minutes of his warm-up, while he was preparing to fight for the belt, he was practicing the mechanics of the Trump dance to get it just right.”
“We actually looked it up on YouTube,” Ryan continued, “and he was practicing the Trump dance in the locker room, getting ready to perform it.”
Despite this being only his second appearance in the heavyweight division, the 37-year-old Jones is very familiar with title fights. During his reign in the light heavyweight division, Jones secured 14 championship victories, including an impressive streak of eight consecutive title defenses of the 205-pound belt from 2011 to 2015.
Rogan reacted to Ryan`s anecdote with laughter, remarking, “How confident do you have to be of victory to already be practicing your victory dance?”
Ryan further explained that Jones’s team fully supported the champion’s playful rehearsal, offering coaching to refine his technique, as if he were practicing a fight-ending combination.
“The best part was that we were all in on it,” Ryan said. “We were like, ‘No, your hands need to be a bit higher, a little bit lower.’ We were actually coaching him through the dance as he was doing it.”
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