Trevin Jones had been tagging UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Sean Shelby on social media posts for years. So when the 30-year-old from Guam pulled off the stunning comeback win over Timur Valiev last weekend in a late-notice 140-pound catchweight bout on the UFC Las Vegas 7 card, Jones knew all that work had finally paid off.
“I always tagged Sean. I always tagged Dana. I told them ‘I can do this. Put me in there’,” Jones told Heavy. “I’ve been tagging them for years, man. But now they know.”
Watch Jones Score Epic Knockout
Jones pulled off the stunning second-round knockout victory over Valiev last Saturday night at UFC APEX that had many pundits afterward hailing it as both the UFC’s Upset of the Year and its Comeback of the Year.
Now, that’s a way to make your UFC debut count.
Jones admitted the comeback part of the story was huge but said the upset piece of the puzzle was something he doesn’t quite see in his own eyes.
“He’s that tough, but I can beat him three out of three times,” Jones said.
Jones Lost 16 Pounds in 36 Hours
Amazingly, Jones also revealed that the devastating kick to the body he absorbed in the first round that almost led to the referee stopping the fight and for certain caused all three cageside judges to score the round 10-8 for Valiev, wasn’t even the toughest part of his experience.
Trevin Jones was trailing in a major way on the scorecards before securing the second round finish against Timur Valiev at #UFCVegas7
(via @UFCNews)
Nope, Jones said having to take the fight on just two days’ notice, going through the process of losing 16 pounds in just 36 hours and the six or seven doctors’ appointments he had to shuffle round to around Las Vegas just to get to the Octagon was harder on him that what happened in the fight.
“Man, it is crazy, but I think it’s more crazy for other people than for me,” Jones said. “When I went through the two-day weight cut and everything…I just believed in myself. It was very tough, but it put even more belief in me. So as it all unfolds, even to this point, I’m not in disbelief that it happened because I knew I had the skills to do that.”
Jones Hopes for UFC Return in December
Now, Jones is headed back to his home country Guam, and he’s happy to be 1-0 in the UFC. The fighter said he hoped to be back inside the Octagon as soon as the end of November or early December.
But for now? Jones said he’ll probably be stuck in quarantine for a bit.
“I think when I get back to Guam next week I’ll be quarantined for about 14 days at one of the hotels so that’s gonna be a bummer,” Jones said.
Still, Jones said he’s anxious to show all those UFC people he’d been tagging in social media posts over all these years what he can do with a full training camp behind him for his fight.
“I want a full camp my next fight so I can perform exactly how they expect me to perform,” Jones said.
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Tagging UFC on Social Media No Longer Needed: ‘Now They Know’