He knows he's shot and said so endless times in different situations/interviews, he has known this even before the third Tarver fight. He does play stubborn like that sometimes to continue promoting, he has a big fight with Hopkins coming up soon and that fight has been demanded by the public countless times every time Jones wins any fight. Just one day before the Green loss this place, and many other places, was literally packed with demands and excitement for the FINALLY happened Hopkins rematch. Green wins by KO in round one and it's a worthless fight, then again Jones has been losing a lot since the Tarver rematch and people still demanded every time he beat someone in between.
He always wanted to fight people and tried to make fights happen -- either people turned them down, or he, due to his ego, stopped pursuing it because of his egotistical "self-importance". What we see from him NOW, is desperation... he will go all around the world to fight people. In his prime he wanted everyone to come to HIM and on HIS TERMS. While he still clings to the past, he has something to prove for himself. Before he felt that he was the man, and everyone had to come to him. GETTING KTFO can do this to a person.
He should have never went up to heavyweight.....ever. Dunno why people in his camp didn't advise him not to.