Tai Tuivasa is a fan of Jon Jones. Really.
It might not be obvious from the short exchange they had over social media, but Tuivasa is full of praise for both the UFC’s three-time light heavyweight champion and the soon-to-be heavyweight competitor.
Tuivasa spoke on The MMA Hour Monday, ahead of Jones’ main event match with Ciryl Gane.
“He actually messaged me, which was quite funny,” Tuivasa stated. “It must have been that I said I would fight him [in an interview], and he is going like: ‘Keep winning, You’ll Get Your Wish’ or some such thing.
” I don’t know whether he wanted to scare or turn me on but it was .”
While Tuivasa’s conversation with Jones proved to be uneventful, the Australian’s ascent up the heavyweight ladder — he is currently No. 5 in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings — has placed him in the thick of the title picture. It’s possible that Jones and Tuivasa will cross paths if he is serious about building his legacy by a legitimate shot at heavyweight.
Tuivasa loves the idea of meeting Jones even though he isn’t a fan of Jones personally.
“I’ve said it many times before and I stand by what I said, I think Jon Jones is the best fighter to ever fight,” Tuivasa said. He fights exactly the way he does. How he fights, he is probably the best fighter to ever step foot in the cage.
“But, is he really a d***head. Yes, I think he’s a d***head. And will I fight him? Yes. Yes. He’s been able to fight everyone. It’s a great feat, and I would love to fight him. Not for anything else, just for the same reason I like to fight all these people who have made names.”
Jones’ outside-of-the-cage failures — including a hit-and-run conviction that caused him to be stripped of a UFC title in 2014, a failed drug test that cost him another title run in 2017, and an arrest in Las Vegas after a domestic incident from earlier this year — have permanently dented his reputation, but he remains one of the most accomplished athletes in MMA history. “Bones” only has one loss in 28 pro bouts, a 2009 disqualification against Matt Hamill.
No fighter has ever actually defeated Jones in competition, but Tuivasa thinks he could be the first to not only beat Jones, but knock him out.
“Win or lose, I’ll go in there and have a swack,” Tuivasa said. “If I dink him, I sink him. If I dink him, he sinks me. That’s fair dinkum, you know what I mean?”
