UFC commentator Joe Rogan has interviewed former light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones on several occasions during his storied octagon career.
Most of those conversations took place inside the cage, this following any one of Jon Jones’ sixteen career UFC victories.
With that said, it was recently revealed that Joe Rogan met Jon Jones long before he ever competed in the UFC.
During his most recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), the longtime UFC commentator and fellow comedian Ari Shaffir discussed meeting Jon Jones in Montreal when “he way nothing”, an introduction which allegedly could have persuaded “Bones” to join Jackson-Wink academy.
“Early on Jon Jones, he wasn’t anything then – 4-0, maybe, something like that – meeting him, talking about sh-t – and I can talk about this now because it’s no longer a banned substance in the UFC – talking about weed,” Shaffir said (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “And he was like, ‘Yeah, let’s smoke, bro.’ He wasn’t anything. He wasn’t anything, and just going like, ‘Who’s got weed?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, Rogan’s got it, but he’s in his hotel room,’ and texting you . . . ‘Hey, man, are you up?’ And you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m kind of tired. I’m going to sleep.’”
According to Ari, Joe Rogan initially hesitated, before eventually opening the door and inviting he and Jones into the hotel room. It was during their smoke session that Joe Rogan told “Bones” he needed to join a real fight camp.
“We also had a conversation with him about I was wanting him to go to a different camp,” Rogan said. “I was like, ‘You’re too good. You should be in a real camp.’ He was like, ‘You really think so?’ I was like, ‘I know so.’
“I go, ‘You only have a certain amount of time in this thing. Your time should be invested with a real coach who’s going to hone your skills. You could be an all-time great, man.’ I remember telling him that. He was like, ‘You really think so?’ I go, ‘I know so. You’ve really got to move on.’”
Soon after this conversation with Joe Rogan, Jon Jones would make the move to Jackson-Wink Academy. That decision eventually culminated with “Bones” winning the UFC’s coveted light heavyweight title.
Jon Jones is scheduled to make his highly anticipated octagon return at December’s UFC 232 event in Las Vegas where he will rematch Alexander Gustafsson for the promotions light heavyweight title.