Jon Jones made a dramatic switch to a nearly all-vegan training camp diet ahead of his fight against Dominick Reyes that headlines UFC 247 on Saturday night.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, the defending UFC light heavyweight champion said that “about 80 percent of my meals have gone plant-based now” and added that he’s feeling better than ever.
“Cardio feels great, I’m lighter than I normally am,” Jones said. “Normally I weigh at least 222 around this time. Right now I’m already 215. So I’m ahead of schedule majorly in my weight cut, which just allows me to focus on happiness and relaxation, and I just feel perfect.”
Jones isn’t the only UFC star who consumes little or no animal products. Both Nick and Nate Diaz are longtime promoters of vegan diets. And following Nate’s upset submission win over Conor McGregor in 2016, Nick told Men’s Journal that his brother’s success in the sport proves that criticism of meat-less diets is “bullshit.”
“I hear a lot of criticism from people saying you need meat to be strong and for recovery, and it’s a bunch of bullshit, because I train harder than everybody,” Diaz said. “It’s so easy to argue with these people. I’m like, ‘Dude, have you done a tenth of what I’ve done?’”
As for the game plan going into Jones’ title defense, “Bones” told TMZ that he’d love to get a speedy finish, but admitted that highlight reel knockouts don’t necessarily come via his relentlessly technical style.
“I feel like when you go out there and you tell people, ‘I’m gonna knock this guy out right away’ and then you find yourself going into the 4th round and you still haven’t gotten that KO,” Jones said. “You start panicking in your head a little bit when your plan is going wrong.”
Jones won by decision in his last two bouts against Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith. But before those victories, he TKO’ed Alexander Gustafsson at 2:02 in the third round.
“To make a meme out of someone is always nice, but people years from now will remember who got the W ultimately,” he added.
Watch what happens when the UFC 247 main card kicks off on Saturday at 10:00 p.m. EST on ESPN+.