Former NBA forward James Johnson believes he could defeat UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones in a fight.
The 2009 first round pick made the extremely bold claim while appearing on the NBA Rookie Life podcast where he went on to state that with a year of training, he'd emerge victorious over Jones.
“I rock with [Jon] Jones,” Johnson said (via SI). “…I would need a year [to go up against Jones]. My standup game is great but what we all know with Jones is he's a collegiate wrestler… really good on the ground and that's not my forte.
“I can get on the ground. …To his level? I'm not there yet I'd definitely need a year to work on counters and defenses against it so that we can stay on our feet.”
Johnson is seemingly backing his experience in fighting growing up as well as his physical attributes being 6'7”. He's also a few months older than Jones.
“I could beat [Jon Jones] for real,” he added. “With a year of training defense, I just need ground defense. … He started learning how to use your hands and your feet what? After college? I've been punching and kicking since I was five, six years old.
” … He has a big advantage there [on the ground] but as long as I can keep him from going on the floor… I win.”
"I could beat [Jon Jones] for real. With a year of training defense… He started learning how to use your hands and your feet what? After college? I've been punching and kicking since I was 5/6 years old."
—James Johnson
(via "NBA Rookie Life") pic.twitter.com/WQWllKDsSr
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 17, 2023
Now, to his credit, Johnson is said to have a black belt in karate as well as a 20-0 record in kickboxing along with some MMA experience. However, at the same time, his combat experience isn't really documented anywhere.
But that said, even if he does have some legitimate combat experience, it's extremely bold and delusional to feel he can defeat Jones in a fight with just a year of training.
Jones is regarded as the greatest MMA fighter of all time and is yet to suffer a true defeat inside the octagon with his only loss coming as a result of a disqualification.
Granted, “Bones” does tend to struggle at times against fighters who are close to his height and frame, but he's still emerged victorious every time and those are against fighters training and competing for multiple years at the highest level.
Safe to say, take Johnson's comments with a massive grain of salt.
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