LOS ANGELES – As another series of out-of-cage troubles neared resolution, UFC interim light heavyweight champ Jon Jones this past November posted a picture of his dramatic physical transformation.

A side-by-side shot of his past and present body advertised Jones’ infatuation with off-season powerlifting, which he indicated would better prepare him for a title rematch with Daniel Cormier after the UFC reinstated him to fight.

As it turned out, Jones’ new regimen wouldn’t be put to the test against Cormier. The champ withdrew from a scheduled fight in April at UFC 197, leaving the former champ to acclimate to the octagon against short-notice replacement Ovince Saint Preux.

Jones dominated the fight from start to finish, capturing the interim title. But he was booed by fans for an action-light encounter. He was immediately critical of his performance.

So, too, was his longtime coach Greg Jackson, who was overheard telling Jones’ team, “Powerlifting’s a problem. He gasses.”

Jones initially denied his increased focus on strength training had affected his performance against Saint Preux. At an April press conference announcing a rebooked fight with Cormier in the main event of UFC 200, he said he felt “great” in the cage.

“If you realize I had the same pace going the whole fight,” said Jones (22-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC), who fights Cormier (17-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on the July 9 event’s pay-per-view card at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. “I really didn’t do too much. I did just enough to win the fight. I started off in the fight pretty slow. Every round of the fight was a consistent speed, so it was never an issue with cardio.”

But on Tuesday during a UFC 200 media day, Jones talked about his training regiment for UFC 197 and seemed to concede that, yes, powerlifting was a problem.

“I got up to about 238 at my heaviest,” he said. “I felt great; I felt really strong. I felt I could compete at heavyweight. I think in my last fight, it definitely played a factor in me being conservative and preserving the way I was using my energy.

“I felt like I was in good shape, like my lungs were strong. I just felt like my muscle endurance maybe wasn’t in the right place, so I think that played a factor in me fighting conservatively and pacing myself a little bit.

“For this training camp, I’ve done almost zero weightlifting whatsoever. I’ve actually been working on burning off the muscle by overloading in endurance. So I think you guys will be able to tell during the weigh-ins and during the fight that I look a lot more like I used to look, a lot less muscular, and my endurance feels amazing. That’s one of the No. 1 ways to beat ‘DC,’ to ‘DC’ ‘DC’ by embracing the grind and beating him in the dog fight. And that’s what I’m prepared to do.”

In recent weeks, muscular selfies have been replaced by training photos, food, and fan shots. Jones is advertising a renewed focus on his goal to be the best light heavyweight in the world – this time, without weights.

At UFC 200, fans will see how much of a difference there really is.

For more on UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.