Jon Jones reveals career path if he didn’t become MMA fighter: ‘Now I beat up people for a living’

Jon Jones didn’t always plan on being one of the greatest fighters in UFC history.

The UFC heavyweight champion recently had his first successful title defense of the belt with a lopsided stoppage win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November. “Bones” joined the Alex G Was Here YouTube channel to drive a Bugatti, and share stories, including answering a question of what his career path would’ve been if he didn’t become a professional mixed martial artist.

“If I wasn’t a fighter, I was always really interested in like military, and being in the military—like doing law enforcement or military type stuff,” Jones said. “I’ve just always been into trying to help people out, try and be a hero.”

Jones had a dominant run as light heavyweight champion, defending the championship a total of 11 times over multiple stints as champ. Jones never lost the belt in a fight, but ultimately vacated the 205-pound title—and the division—after defeating Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020 via controversial decision.

The 37-year-old returned after a three-year layoff to defeat Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes at UFC 285 in March 2023 to win the heavyweight title vacated by Francis Ngannou after “The Predator” made the choice to leave the UFC and sign with PFL. Injuries kept Jones out of the octagon for 20 months before he came back to dominate Miocic via a third-round finish at Madison Square Garden.

If Jones didn’t choose the fighting path, or certain aspects of his life went in an opposite direction, things could have been vastly different.

“My life turned out pretty wild,” Jones explained. “I definitely haven’t always been the good guy, but growing up, I always wanted to help people. So I went to school for criminal justice. I ended up dropping out, had a kid at a really young age, and now I beat up people for a living.

“It’s a lot different than what I thought I would be doing, that’s for sure.”