Magomed Ankalaev, the newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion, is seemingly on the hunt for a war of words with Jon “Bones” Jones, following his victory at UFC 313.
Ankalaev’s win, which secured him the title previously held by Jones, has derailed potential plans for Alex Pereira to challenge Jones for the heavyweight championship. Had Pereira retained his 205-pound belt, calls for a super-fight between the two would have been inevitable.
However, Ankalaev’s victory has cleared a significant hurdle for a Jones unification fight, a point the Russian has been keen to emphasize on social media.
This online feud began when Jones posted a graphic highlighting his record-breaking number of UFC title defenses, stating, “Small flex.” Ankalaev responded sharply, accusing Jones of cheating, stating, “Yes, but all this CHAMPIONs clean his big cheater we all know this.”
Ankalaev has continued to taunt Jones, specifically accusing him of avoiding a fight with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. This online roasting follows Dana White’s recent statement that Jones will return “this summer” for a unified heavyweight title fight against Aspinall, though the promotion has yet to formally announce the bout.
“Johnny steroid machine was very disappointed. I beat Alex please fight big Tom Aspinall stop running,” he wrote.