“Have bigger fish to fry”- Jon Jones takes the high road encouraging Islam Makhachev to break his records Instead of ‘using lips’

Jon Jones and Islam Makhachev's Twitter exchange heats up ahead of UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi. Makhachev fired shots at Jon Jones before the heavyweight champion responded.

“Have bigger fish to fry”- Jon Jones takes the high road encouraging Islam Makhachev to break his records Instead of ‘using lips’

Jon Jones responded to Islam Makhachev (Image via Imago)

Islam Makhachev recently talked about Jon “Bones” Jones. The UFC lightweight champion weighed in on Jones being number one on the pound-for-pound rankings. Jon Jones responded to Makhachev’s comments on X (formerly Twitter). Jones first tweeted, “I wish you all the best Habibi @MAKHACHEVMMA”, for Makhachev’s title defense at UFC 294. One fan commented beneath the tweet, “Volk in 4 KO,” which referenced the fan predicting a 4th round KO for Alexander Volkanovski against Islam Makhachev at UFC 294.

Jones reposted this tweet with the caption, “As far as the fight, may the best man win. I was just talking about in life. Islam made some negative comments recently. No need for me to respond with negativity. I have bigger fish to fry right now.” He did not stop there as he further tweeted an hour later, “I want to encourage the young fighters to beat some of my records instead of using their lips. Now thats gangsta.”

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The UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings place Jon Jones first, Alexander Volkanovski in second, and Islam Makhachev in third. Islam Makhachev refuted Jones’ standing as pound-for-pound king during the UFC 294 pre-fight presser. Makhachev cited Jones’ refusal to fight Chael Sonnen at UFC 151, which led to the event cancellation. UFC CEO Dana White praised Makhachev for his decision to fight Volkanovski on short notice.

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Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev were initially set to headline UFC 294. Unfortunately, Oliveira suffered a nasty eye cut during a sparring session. Even though Mateusz Gamrot was the backup fighter for the event, the UFC reached out to Volkanovski, who immediately took up the fight. That made the UFC 294 headliner a rematch of UFC 284, where Makhachev defended his title for the first time against Volkanovski in Perth, Australia.

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Jon Jones wished the best for Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 on X (formerly Twitter)

The UFC 294 main event featured the number two and three pound-for-pound fighters, and they dragged Jon Jones into the discussions. It is because of his title as the pound-for-pound king of the UFC. Even though Islam Makhachev criticized him, Jones did not engage in a similar manner.

Jon Jones wished luck to Islam Makhachev
Jon Jones and Gordon Ryan (Source: Instagram)

Jon Jones tweeted on X, “I wish you all the best Habibi @MAKHACHEVMMA.” Preluding his heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, Jones congratulated both Volkanovski and Makhachev for their accomplishments. It was during his interview with main event. Islam Makhachev taking jabs at Jones showed that Makhachev did not care for him. Moreover, Jones seemed intrigued to watch Makhachev face Volkanovski on short notice.

Furthermore, Alexander Volkanovski is not the only short-notice replacement at UFC 294. Kamaru Usman replaced the injured Paulo Costa in the pay-per-view co-main event. In his middleweight debut, he is set to face Khamzat Chimaev, and the victor will earn a guaranteed title shot against Sean Strickland. This development has pushed aside the hopes of the number one ranked middleweight, Dricus Du Plessis.

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