Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya refused a fan’s request to publicly disrespect Jon Jones during a recent interaction.
The exchange was captured on video and shared widely on social media. It shows Adesanya taking a stance when approached by a fan who asked him to say “f**k Jon Jones.”
“That’s rude,” Adesanya immediately responded. “Why would I say f**k Jon Jones? Even though he’s going through some stuff, I don’t have to kick a man when he’s down. He’s going through a hard time right now.”
Adesanya used the moment as an opportunity to educate the young fan about respect in the combat sports community.
“You gotta understand, as a fighter, it’s really hard to be in this s**t. So you can’t just be rude like that,” Adesanya explained.
When the fan pressed the issue by bringing up Jones’s past controversies, Adesanya maintained his position while acknowledging human fallibility.
“We all do dumb sh*t. No one’s perfect,” Adesanya said. “He’s a piece of sh*t. You’re a piece of sh*t. I’m a piece of sh*t. No one’s perfect. So you can’t just kick a man when he’s down.”
Despite the fan’s persistence, Adesanya continued to emphasize the importance of respect while not completely defending Jones’s past actions.
“He’s a d**khead, but you gotta be more respectful,” Adesanya advised the young fan. “He’s a piece of sh*t, but you gotta use your brain.”
Adesanya recently lost his middleweight championship to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305. On the other hand, Jones announced his retirement from MMA just weeks ago, abandoning plans for a potential superfight with Tom Aspinall.
Though Adesanya and Jones have had their share of bad blood over the years, they reportedly settled their differences after a meetup at UFC 290. Adesanya has even gone on record saying he believes Jones’s retirement is temporary, predicting the former champion will eventually return to the octagon.
