Jon Jones’ once kicked comedian Jim Norton so hard during a radio stunt that he almost passed out.
The legendary UFC champion was early in his reign with the light-heavyweight belt, with a defence against Lyoto Machida coming up. Jones was in New York City promoting UFC 140 when he appeared on the Opie and Anthony show, which was one of the most famous programmes on radio at the time.
Part of the show was a running gag where comedian Jim Norton would allow a fighter to put him in a submission hold or give him a strike. Jones was no different, and offered a leg kick that ended up being far from funny for the Netflix star.
Jon Jones kicked Jim Norton so hard he feared he would pass out or puke
During the show, Jim Norton offered to take a kick from Jon Jones as a continuation on from previous stunts that he had done. Jones lined up and threw what appeared to be a kick far from full power, and the comedian immediately let everyone in studio know he was severe pain.
After groaning in pain and struggling to stay on his feet, Norton’s first words were that he ‘feels like I have to s—.” He then claimed that the stunt was ‘the worst one ever’.
Reflecting on the incident years later in a podcast with Dan Soder, Norton said of the kick: “That hurt me so much I almost vomitted. I remember I had the urge to s— and to throw up, I remember it sent me a bit into shock.
“He put his shin in my f—ing thigh, and it was fight week too, a bad week and he also choked me. I remember I went to the bathroom and I think I was like ‘I’m going to pass out’, that f—ed me up.”
Jim Norton took moves from many UFC legends
Norton, who now co-hosts UFC Unfiltered with Matt Serra, would famously take all sorts of moves from famous fighters who visited the studio. He remembered one particularly gruesome submission from BJ Penn, and was even locked in Ronda Rousey’s arm bar.
“I would always acknowledge [the pain],” he told Soder. “We interviewed BJ Penn and I wanted to see what an arm bar felt like because I’d never experienced it. So I’m like ‘these things you watch, what do they feel like?’ On a light scale, obviously.
“So he put me in an arm bar and I was like ‘holy f—‘. I was amazed at how you’re being pulled in two different directions and it really hurt. Brock Lesnar heel hooked me and he laughed, he gave me two leg locks.”