Some wrestlers end their competitive careers after high school or college, some continue on to the senior level, and others make their way into the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Jon Jones chose the latter for this career path.


Jones will be taking on Dan Henderson at FloGrappling's second Submission Underground event in Portland, Oregon. Tune in at 2:30 p.m. PST on Sunday, December 11th to watch it all go down LIVE on FloGrappling.

The 29-year-old Jones was born in Rochester, New York, but became a standout at Union-Endicott high school. That is where he earned the nickname "Bones" and first made his name on a wrestling mat.

Bones' earliest success came in Fargo, where he placed fifth in Cadet Greco at 189 pounds in 2003. That was the summer before his junior year, when he ended up placing third in the state at 189lbs. He won a state title at 189 pounds in 2005 for the Section IV school. That was the same year future NCAA champs Troy Nickerson, JP O'Connor and Gregor Gillespie also won NYSPHSAA titles.



After winning that state title, Jones made his way down to Virginia Beach for the NHSCA senior nationals. In a loaded field, Jones wound up fourth behind future NCAA champs Mike Pucillo, Jake Varner and Max Askren. It appears that tourney decided the ASICS All American team, as champ Pucillo made the first team, runner-up Varner was on the second team, and bronze Askren was chosen for the third team.

Jones ended up as an honoroable mention, along with the likes of Louis Caputo from Blue Springs, MO and Patrick Bond from Great Bridge, VA. The future UFC champ would beat both of them at NHSCAs. Bond ended up as a four-time NCAA qualifier for Illinois and Caputo was a two-time All American for Harvard.

After graduating from UE, Jones wrestled for Iowa Central Community College, one of the best JUCO teams in the country. He avenged his loss to Askren in the semis of the UNI Open in November. His final notable accomplishment in the sport came that spring, when he won an NJCAA individual title at 197lbs, in turn helping Iowa Central win the overall team championship as well.

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