In his mind, Curtis Blaydes said two factual things about Jon Jones. He’s not sure why the former UFC light heavyweight champ — and soon to be heavyweight contender — is so mad.
” I don’t believe he understood everything that I said,” Blaydes stated on The MMA Hour. “I think he read the first line and was just like, ‘Ah!’ But all I said was I picked Stipe over Jon Jones, because Stipe has five-round title fight experience at heavyweight. With Jon, he does not. Is that why you are so angry?
” I also stated, “Jon, He hasn’t shown that he can one-punch knockout Power,’ which isn’t a bad thing. There’s a lot of guys who don’t have one-punch knockout power that have the belt. Khabib, he had the belt. Izzy, is he one-punch knockout powerful? There’s a lot of guys that don’t have one-punch knockout power.”
Jones’s reputation for quick clapbacks to those who challenge him or question his authority in the octagon is evident. Ex-champ Jones is known for his Twitter rants, especially after losing in the Octagon. He has two favorite opponents in Daniel Cormier, and Israel Adesanya (middleweight champion), but will take a chance on anyone that takes the opportunity to challenge him.
“Focus this weekend Tiny on my fight, Tiny. You’ve been rooting for me for many years,” Jones wrote. “I see you. You won’t be a champion if you hate me. Less hate, more work.”
In this case, the slight was Blaydes’ opinions about his heavyweight experience and punching power, expressed on a recent episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer . Jones has not had any 5-round heavyweight bouts — after much debate over his UFC contract details, he still has not booked his debut in this big-man division. The majority of Jones’ stops have been by his ground-and-pound and not his hooks and crosses.
” I don’t know why he took offense to my words, but it’s over,” Blaydes stated. “I don’t feel like I said anything super disrespectful or super aggressive. Perhaps he was drinking too much that night. I don’t know.”
Blaydes has bigger things on his mind, namely, generating momentum after a disappointing injury TKO win in his outing against Tom Aspinall this past Saturday at UFC London. He considers it a win and will wait to see if there is a winner in Tai Tuivasa or Gane at UFC Paris. Jones vs. Miocic was the victor. But he wants to be able to present a stronger case for the title shot.
With champ Francis Ngannou’s future in question due to approaching free agency, Blaydes sees an alternative that could benefit him.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be angry with the interim thing if they do Jon Jones vs. Stipe,” he said. It gives me some sort of goal. It means that I will get the man who holds the real belt. That’ll be something.
If that’s Jones, all the better for Blaydes. Jones might be crazy enough to choose him as his next pick. Jones is already laughing at the size of “Bones”.
“I’m like, ‘Bro, you know I’m not tiny,'” Blaydes said. “I don’t know what that was about.
“If they hit me up for Jon, I’m down. I will take this fight
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