Jones Bashes Weidman: ‘Make Sure You Get Past My Contenders First’

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Chris Weidman was hoping to eventually get his hands on current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones with a successful 205-pound debut last night (Fri., Oct. 18, 2019) at UFC on ESPN 6 from Boston, Massachusetts. The only problem is that Weidman lost to main event counterpart Dominick Reyes via first-round knockout, suffering his fifth knockout defeat in his last six Octagon appearances.

With Weidman still stuck in the UFC loss column and UFC president Dana White calling for the former middleweight king to move back to 185 pounds or retire, a matchup with Jones at light heavyweight is basically not existent. It’s a shame because the two New York natives have been talking about fighting since 2014.

Jones, who usually searches for inventive ways to belittle fighters who take aim at his light heavyweight crown, ripped into Weidman following his loss to Reyes at UFC Boston and sent a message to any outsiders hoping to invade the 205-pound title scene.

“Before you guys come to my weight class and start talking shit, make sure you can get past a few of my contenders first #welcome,” wrote Jones via Instagram.

Also pictured in Jones’ post is former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who called “Bones” out on multiple occasions in the past. Rockhold tried to move up to light heavyweight this past July in search of a grudge match with Jones, but ultimately fell to Jan Blachowicz via knockout in his divisional debut. Subsequently, Rockhold seems to be nearing permanent retirement from MMA.

Let’s hope former middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has better luck with his 205-pound crossover next month against the aforementioned Blachowicz.

As for Weidman, this loss is absolutely crippling. The 35-year-old veteran was hoping that a move up in weight would give him an advantage inside of the Octagon, but he was actually finished more easily than any of his other knockout losses to date. Reyes is an absolute monster who may have just locked down his own title shot with Jones, but Weidman looked outmatched from the opening bell.

For complete UFC Boston results and coverage click here.