Despite being one of the greatest fighters of all time, Jon Jones is being accused of having insecurities by one of his oldest rivals.
The UFC heavyweight champion is widely renowned as one of the best to ever compete in the octagon, and is a rare two-weight world title holder. He has one highly-contested DQ loss to his name, but has defeated every other opponent including multiple all-time greats.
However, one of his rivals believes that he still harbours severe insecurities about his place in the sport. Despite landing two wins in one of the greatest feuds of all time, Jone’s old foe reckons that he has never been comfortable in his position as one of the best.
Alleged Jon Jones DMs leak as he responds to Twitter troll
Over the weekend, Jones was reported to have communicated privately with a troll on social media who mocked him on X. That account, which goes by the handle WillTheSkillet, has since leaked what he claims to be messages from Jones, where the UFC legend appears to take the bait.
Jones appears to initiate the conversation, asking Will: “What if I’m filthy rich and literally own not one but two small mansions in the same town. What does that make me, just curious?”
The troll appears to be a fan of Tom Aspinall as he shared a GIF of the interim heavyweight champion and replied: “All that money and you’re still this much of an insecure coward lmfao… Just go fight Stipe then retire so we can forget about you already.”
Jones then allegedly replies: I’ve already agreed to make $15million my next fight… Hell yeah bro, I’m about to beat up this old man. And right off into the sunset. Hope you enjoy watching, Will.”
Daniel Cormier believes ‘leaked Jon Jones’ DMs indicate his insecurities
Jones had an infamous long-running feud with former light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, which saw the pair fight twice. He won a decision first time around before knocking out Cormier in their rematch, although a failed drug test saw the result overturned.
Cormier has since made peace with the Jones situation and the pair have even shared some kind words. But there is still a clear animosity between them, with the Olympic wrestler noting that he feels his rival is very insecure.
“Jon Jones wrote that,” Cormier said in a recent YouTube video after reading the alleged conversation. “I’m telling you right now as a guy that has exchanged direct messages with him that he wrote that.
“I think he wrote that, I could be proven wrong. It sounds like something he would write because it’s something he gets to brag about and it’s something that he feels justifies what he is doing.
“And if he’s making $15 million? He should be fighting Stipe Miocic, right? It’s almost like asking someone to win the lottery, but say I don’t want the ticket.”
Daniel Cormier says social media troll was ‘not off’ with Jon Jones critique
And despite the social media user’s antagonistic tone, Cormier believes that he actually wasn’t far off with his critiques of the UFC legend. The former fighter defended Jones against allegations of being a “coward”, but did say that other notes may not be incorrect.
“Of course he’s going to fight him if he’s making $15million,” Cormier added. “A lot of times fans will just say rude s*** that they think will hurt you and it doesn’t make sense.
“But that fan was not as off as some might think because when you say all that money and you’re still as insecure as you are? Coward, no, but he’s still insecure.”