Jon Jones is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and he is returning after a lengthy suspension to challenge Daniel Cormier for the title at UFC 214.
The former champion admits that he knew all along that the life of a fighter is the life he is supposed to live.
"Fighting was something inside of me that I didn't realize was there," Jones said to Bleacher Report. "I think about this a lot. Fighting is not what I do—it's who I am. It's what I was meant to do, what I was meant to be. I knew that right after my first MMA practice."
Jones and Cormier were supposed to meet in a rematch at UFC 200, but Jones failed a drug test and was suspended days before the event.
While Jones always knew he was meant to live the fighter's life, it was a life that began with a poor family.
"We definitely were poor," he says. "The religion business doesn't pay a whole lot, especially when you're the assistant pastor. But my parents worked really hard and stayed together, and they showered us with a lot of love."
UFC 214 takes place on Saturday, July 29 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
