Rochester native, Jon Jones has continually come under fire in the months since his November return – remaining tight-lipped on an overdue unification clash with Tom Aspinall. However, it seems the UFC heavyweight champion has been pulled into another feud; one between between cutman Brad Tate, and ex-light heavyweight champion, Quinton Jackson during the former’s appearance on The Jaxxon Podcast.
Taking on former Pride FC megastar, Jackson, in the first-ever defense of his light heavyweight crown back in 2011, Jones would eventually lock up a fourth-round finish over the veteran with a rear-naked choke. The highlight, however, would become an oblique kick Jones would aim at Rampage’s knees.
And that is precisely what Tate kicked Jackson with again, verbally of course, as Rampage joked about whether the cutman would fit on a private plane. “What’s with the seatbelt [situation]?”, Rampage joked.
Implying Jackson’s crown was larger in size than normal, Tate quipped back and said, “What size is that hat?“.
Before Rampage could answer, Tate went for the kill shot, asking “Did Jon (Jones) hurt your knee when he kicked you on it?” – to a chorus of jeers of “shots fired” from the co-host Bear Degidio and UFC lightweight Bobby Green.
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Taking in the funny encounter between the two, Jones would react to Tate’s comments with a simple smiling emoji — with full knowledge, he had the last laugh in the rivalry with the former champion.
— THE UFCGUY (@the_ufcguy) February 21, 2025
Despite this being a well-known sore spot in his professional career, Jackson wouldn’t mind. Because everyone loves Brad Tate!
Jones, on the other hand, divides opinions. And his continued insistence on fighting light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira doesn’t seem to be making things better.
Jones stiffing Aspinall again?
Former pound-for-pound pacesetter, Jones has been urged and urged again to finally make good on his return to action this summer to finally unify the heavyweight crowns with interim gold holder, Tom Aspinall – to no avail as of yet.
Headlining UFC 309 at the tail end of 2024 in his first Octagon appearance at MSG at UFC 309, Jones would make relatively short work of the veteran ex-champion, Stipe Miocic. He would stop the returning Ohio stalwart with a vicious third-round finish after a barrage of grueling bodywork throughout their championship setting.
However, Miocic was 41 at the time and hadn’t fought in about 3 years. So, even though Jones would secure a title defense on paper and be hailed by the promotion’s head, it would not suffice in the court of public opinion. Furthermore, Jones’s continued refusal to fight Aspinall, citing perceived uncivil remarks by the interim champ doesn’t seem to have jibed even with his own core fan base.
For a moment between UFC 309 and now, a fight between the two had been speculated on the assumption that Dana White would write however many zeroes on a cheque as Jones would need, to agree to a title unification fight.
However, earlier this week to boot, Jones seemed to put even more distance between himself and a fight against Aspinall next — weighing up his options of taking on incumbent light heavyweight champion, Pereira, who has been vocal regarding a heavyweight climb.
Fuel was added to the proverbial fire on a pairing between the duo when Pereira revealed it was ultimately up to Octagon brass if they wanted to book one of the biggest fights in promotional antiquity between the sizeable duo.
