UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been stripped of his belt after testing positive for banned substances at the weigh-ins for UFC 214.
It’s not the first time the American mixed martial artist, widely regarded as one of the best in UFC history, has tested positive for drugs. And there’s a lot of anger towards him from fans.
Unfortunately for one guy, that anger is being directed at him. These are the perils of owning the @JonJones handle.
"Oh shit u just a white dude" pic.twitter.com/hvtO6pnMeb
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 23, 2017
The Jon Jones who’s receiving hate is pretty used to it by now, with the UFC fighter that shares his name being a highly controversial figure.
welp, either my tweet about cats barfing on my bare feet went super viral, or @Jonnybones done fucked his life up again. pic.twitter.com/cED8gKX8ot
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 23, 2017
He’s got pretty great ways of dealing with it, which is some feat given this is what his mentions look like whenever Jonny Bones does something he probably shouldn’t have.
If anyone's curious, this is what it looks like to scroll through my last *five minutes* of mentions. pic.twitter.com/xzh5WgYtcL
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 23, 2017
The 33-year-old self-declared tech geek often takes to confusing the already confused, with weird interactions like this.
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 23, 2017
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 23, 2017
This is fun. pic.twitter.com/OAWOwcGrXt
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 23, 2017
*respectful hat-tip to @FreshHotelEU* pic.twitter.com/3yyS4Gp0bT
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 24, 2017
It happens so often that he gets a lot of practice, and has even set up a Tumblr page listing the very best interactions he’s had.
But it’s not always hate – despite his transgressions Jonny Bones still has a lot of fans, and has achieved a lot in the UFC since becoming the promotion’s youngest ever champion at 23.
Open DM status: mixed pic.twitter.com/ydmsxfEYm6
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 24, 2017
10% hate, 40% disappointment, 50% love. Not a bad ratio. ?? https://t.co/QK30KIU5jt
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 23, 2017
But, in all of this, it seems Jonny Bones is the only one not enjoying it.
No, we've never spoken. He blocked me over Christmas 2014. No idea why. Kinda weird. https://t.co/iNPgfmE2rC
— Jon Jones (@jonjones) August 24, 2017
Poor man doesn’t even know the fun he’s missing out on.
Jones’ agent Malki Kawa maintained his client’s innocence in an interview with MMA Hour, saying: “He’s devastated and he’s hurt”.
Kawa said Jones passed two random, out of competition drugs tests ahead of the fight.
“Then the one test that we know about, the one that we for sure know about, is the one that we fail? So, something here is not sitting right,” he said.
“I know Jon better than anybody, and I’m telling you, this man does not cheat. He has no reason to,” he added.
VIDEO: Jon Jones manager Malki Kawa explains how things "don't add up" for his team and the UFC on #themmahour pic.twitter.com/qtN88J7bfq
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 23, 2017
Daniel Cormier, the man Jones fought and knocked out at UFC 214, told MMA Fighting: “It’s hard to find words to describe how I’m feeling right now.
“We as athletes are entitled to due process, and I will refrain from saying much more until I know exactly what happened.
“In my mind, on July 29, I competed and I lost. I thought Jon Jones was the better man that day. I don’t know what to think anymore. I can’t believe we are going through all of this again. We will see what happens next.”
Jones faces a maximum four-year suspension from USADA for his potential UFC 214 failure, following a previous one-year suspension for a failed test.