"Train harder, hate less" - Jon Jones claps back at former light heavyweight title challenger for accusing him of being 'scared' of Tom Aspinall
While Jon Jones is set to face Stipe Miocic this weekend at UFC 309, many would rather see 'Bones' unify the heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall. This has invited a slew of criticism his way, and a light heavyweight star's recent accusation has especially gotten under Jones' skin.
Earlier today, the No.1-ranked 205-pounder Magomed Ankalaev hurled another insult at 'Bones'. The Russian has been on the New Yorker's case for the past few days.
This time around, Ankalaev accused the heavyweight kingpin of being scared of Aspinall in a post on X. He wrote:
"Sounds like some one scary of big TOM."
For Jones, who'd already been engrossed in an online rant all day justifying to his fans why he wasn't interested in fighting the Englishman, this was the last straw. The consensus MMA GOAT clapped back at the former light heavyweight title challenger, writing:
"Magomed, jealousy won't earn you legend status my friend. Train harder, hate less. Want to truly insult me? Break some of my records first. Let's get started."
Check out Jon Jones and Magomed Ankalev's posts below:
Ankalaev was last seen in a unanimous decision win over Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308. The 32-year-old has been clamoring for a crack against champion Alex Pereira for quite a while and is expected to fight the Brazilian sometime next year.
'Bones', on the other hand, will go into UFC 309 as the favorite. He is currently listed at -625 by the promotion website, with Miocic as a +455 underdog.
Jon Jones explains how win against "idol" unleashed "self-belief" in him
Jon Jones is widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all time. Interestingly, it seems one particular fight catapulted Jones' self-belief that fueled his rise to MMA glory.
During a recent interview with ESPN MMA, the 37-year-old revealed that his first-ever UFC title win over Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua was one of the fights that changed his career:
"To dominate him the way that I did, to take one of my idols and make him a rival, it just unleashed this self-belief inside of me where I knew I would be beating more famous people in the future."
Check out Jon Jones' comments below (9:36):
For context, after famously starting his fight against Rua with a flying knee, Jones dominated the Brazilian both on the ground and feet, before knocking him out in the third round.