Jon Jones gave Conor McGregor his flowers before his lackluster return to the Octagon at UFC 329 and now “Bones” is saluting “Notorious” once more.
Last weekend, McGregor’s long-awaited return to fighting completely nosedived as the former UFC double champion blew his knee out in just 69 seconds in his main event rematch with Max Holloway. McGregor’s comeback was five years in the making and produced UFC’s highest gate ever, but it was pretty much over before it even started.
Whether or not McGregor entered UFC 329 with a pre-existing injury the outcome was still the same. Fight fans were left in awe and McGregor has once again suffered an injury that will keep him sidelined for even longer.
Luckily, “Notorious” is in a better headspace than he has been in the past. For the most part, McGregor has remained positive following his UFC 329 injury and intends to get the medical procedure he needs to fully heal and complete the remaining fight on his UFC contract. After all, McGregor was hoping to steamroll Holloway at UFC 329 and recapture the glory that made him the biggest MMA star of all-time a decade ago.
While many people have ridiculed McGregor’s performance and have been calling for him to finally step away from the game, others have publicly come to McGregor’s aid. This includes Jones, who has always been a fan of McGregor and has always shown some admiration for the Irishman’s body of work. That didn’t change following McGregor’s injury at UFC 329 as Jones believes “Notorious” continues to handle the outcome with grace.
“Conor has been publicly leaning on Christ,” said Jones in a recent interview with Ring Magazine. “I feel as if when you are trying to resist the world and walk that narrow path, I feel like one of the steps is God asking you, ‘How bad do you want it?’ When you publicly talk about your love for God, and then you turn around and get injured, it’d be really easy to go back to the bar and have this rage and this animosity – and so far, what I’m seeing from Conor is he’s still praising God.
”That shows me a lot about his character. Because that’s what God’s gonna do, man. He’s going to strip you, he’s going to humiliate you. He can do so many different things just to see if you mean it when you say you love him. I’ve lost my family members, I’ve embarrassed myself, and every time something goes wrong, I always give grace back to God. So, that’s one of the ways I look at Conor’s story. It’s just like, man, can you hold true when the whole world is laughing at you? So far, he is holding true. So, that means a lot to see.”
“I think Conor has already won,” Jones added. “He has an opportunity to change so many lives in so many different ways. I think he’s a really great example of just how humans can be so imperfect and so unique and special at the same time. I just hope he doesn’t give up. I hope that he continues to let his light shine and just draws closer to God.”
