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Mason Jones made arguably the toughest decision a professional fighter could be forced to make soon after he lost to Ludovit Klein in London back in 2022, but it’s one that more competitors could probably stand to learn from and emulate as well. Sitting at 1-2 with one no contest after completing his first four-fight deal with the UFC, Jones and his team opted not to re-sign with the sport’s premier organization, with the Welsh athlete knowing that if he’d made another trek into the Octagon, it probably wasn’t going to go as anticipated and a loss would then end any future hopes of competing on the big stage in the future. Limited Tickets Remaining For UFC Sacramento | Get Yours Here “People always say the thing of like, ‘Did they need to go back? Were they forced to go back?’ but look at what I’ve done since,” Jones said ahead of his matchup with MarQuel Mederos. “Yeah, I probably could have stuck around, but I knew it, the UFC knew it, that if they’d given me one more chance, I’d have gone in there half-baked and that would have been the end of my UFC career, because they wouldn’t have given me another go.” While getting to the UFC is the goal of just about everyone that steps into the cage to compete, the trickier part is staying long term, and Jones recognized that he wasn’t ready to do that the first time around. It’s not that his performances were poor — he’d battled Mike Davis and Klein hard in decision losses at the start and finish of his first deal, with an accidental eye poke prompting the no contest with Alan Patrick and a win over David Onama tucked in between — but he accepted that the better course of action was to press pause, take a detailed look at what he was doing, and regroup. The intention was to get himself to a point where, when the call to return to the Octagon finally came — and he knew it would — he was ready to make waves and establish himself as one of the best lightweights in the world. He went a year between the fight with Klein and his return to action under the Cage Warriors banner, where he had previously reigned as a two-division champion before his first tour of duty with the UFC, and though there were constant discussions of possible avenues back, Jones simply continued to bide his time, deliver strong performances, and wait for the right opportunity to present itself. Watch This And Every UFC Event On Paramount+ After four straight victories, he made his return last May in Des Moines, Iowa, taking on hometown favorite Jeremy Stephens, battering the veteran on the feet for two rounds before leaning on his grappling and searching for a submission that never materialized in the third to earn a unanimous decision win in his return to the fold. Four months later, he stormed through Bolaji Oki, finishing him in the second round in Paris to run his winning streak to six before kicking off his 2026 campaign with a unanimous decision win over France’s Axel Sola in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors in London back in March. “We really started to work on my strengths rather than focusing on my weaknesses and really focused on where I’m good; changed my style a little to where I really started hurting people, and I’ve been hurting people ever since,” Jones said. “I’ve seen jumps in my S&C, but when it comes to Fight IQ and ability, I wouldn’t say there are jumps. People say, ‘I’ve noticed massive jumps here, there,’ but I haven’t.” Even through the last three fights, Jones hasn’t been fully impressed, constantly catching mistakes he has made, bits where his technique could have been better as he has gone back and watched the tape. But along the way, he has also seen the positive moments as well, and the aim is to get to a point where those are the only moments that exist. MORE UFC SACRAMENTO: Fight By Fight Preview | Fighters On The Rise | Reinier de Ridder Interview | Chris Padilla Interview “You see moments of brilliance in there, and the main thing is to keep sanding away until all there are just moments of brilliance.” Heading into this weekend, there is a bit of a “the stars are aligning” feel to his matchup with Mederos, as the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate has gone 3-0-1 through his first four UFC appearances to push his unbeaten streak to 10, and the opportunity to compete in Sacramento brings Jones back to a place that feels like a second home to him. “I said after London that I felt like I came full circle because London is one of the worst parts and then I managed to top that by one of the best parts,” Jones said. “Being able to finish off a four-fight contract in a place that really helped me grow — and obviously, I plan on doing it in emphatic fashion — is the cherry on top.” Putting a stamp on things against Mederos is not an easy feat though. UFC BJJ 10: Match by Match Preview | Andrew Tackett Interview | Rebeca Lima Interview | Brianna Ste-Marie Interview Not only has he yet to taste defeat inside the Octagon, but Jones admitted that it’s a terrible matchup for what he’s trying to do. “I hate this matchup! I hate it!” he said emphatically. He’s a win-stealer! He goes out there and does just enough to take the wins. I don’t call him a win-stealer as an insult. I call him a win-stealer because he’s someone that has such high Fight IQ that you believe you’re controlling the range, controlling the distance, and then BOOM —he cuts you out of nowhere and now I’m cut, I’m showing damage, and he’s there fresh-faced. He looks like he could walk through a rain of fire without getting a mark on him.” Though their striking numbers are comparable —Jones lands about half-a-punch more per round, while Mederos is the far more accurate of the two according to UFCStats.com — looking at their recent slate of performances individually highlights what “The Dragon” was saying. Over his last three wins, Jones had striking differential totals of +39 against Stephens, +19 while finishing Oki, and + 45 in his battle against Sola in March, while outside of Mederos’ dominant win over short-notice newcomer Mark Choinski where he had a +52 striking differential, his other three outings have yielded differentials of +5, +18, and -35 last time out against Chris Padilla at UFC 327. You would think that given his proficiency at finding ways to pull ahead in competitive rounds that Jones would be angling to get in Mederos’ face and drag the MMA Lab representative into what has become a customary Mason Jones type of brawl, but the streaking lightweight intends to take a different approach. Get Your Tickets For Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn On September 12 “You’ve got to be technical; you’ve got to be clean,” Jones said. “I’d love to go out there and just blow his face open exactly how I did against Axel Sola. Even more, I’d love to go out there and clean his clock, put him straight away, but I think it’s gonna be one of those ones where we’re gonna play a little fency-fency, chip away, and then I’ll hurt him and put him away in the second.” Should he emerge victorious, Jones will have completed his four-fight deal with a perfect 4-0 record, with two bonuses already in the bank and, if things go as he’s envisioning, another coming his way on the weekend as well. Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass! Upgrade licenceThis video is not available in your country There was a problem while loading content. Please try again. “I want a top 15, and I’ve been asking for a top 15,” he said. “I beat this guy, and they have to give me a top 15. I want my face on a poster, and it’s like, ‘You have to get a top 15, and you’re one or two fights away.’ All of a sudden, I’ll have everything I want coming towards me, and I find it exhilarating rather than scary; I really do. I need a finish or a performance bonus, but I’ll take a win; I just need a win. Keep chipping away, keep getting those wins, and keep racking it up.” And if he can make all of that happen on Saturday, what does he want the takeaway for fans, media, and maybe even the UFC brass to be come Sunday morning? “How is that man not ranked!?” Don't miss a moment of UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs Rodrigues, live from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California on August 22, 2026. Prelims start at 5pm ET/2pm PT, followed by the main card at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Stream the entire event live on Paramount+.