Jon Jones has shared his perspective on Ilia Topuria’s first professional loss and expressed confidence in the Spanish-Georgian fighter’s ability to rebound.
Speaking from Russia, where he was hosting an IBA Bare Knuckle boxing event, Jones discussed Topuria’s recent defeat to Justin Gaethje in an interview with Red Corner MMA, touching on the pressures that come with becoming a UFC champion.
"When you become a UFC champion, you become more famous right away," Jones said. "You get invited to dinner, there’s the girls, there’s the money, there’s all these new friends. There’s just so much that gets thrown at you. And if you’re not grounded enough, if you don’t have a strong enough circle and team, it’s easy to just get distracted."
Topuria, described as having fought more sloppily than in past performances, lost both his undefeated status and suffered his first loss in the cage. Merab Dvalishvili has attributed some of Topuria’s struggles in the fight to eye pokes.
Jones pointed to mindset and accountability as key for a successful return.
"Ilia, he’s gonna be in a good position," he said. "He has faith. He has a strong team. And that’s what it takes. He has a work ethic. I think he’s honest with himself. Ilia and I, we share the same agent, and we were talking about him earlier today. And what I heard was that he’s humble, that he is honest. He realized that he just didn’t perform well, and I think that’s the number one step of getting back into the ring in a healthy way."
