Jon Jones once said that he is a bad guy trying to be good. And no one, not even his most fervent fans would argue with that. After all, the UFC heavyweight champ has a knack for getting into trouble, which has soiled his reputation and made him one of the most polarizing figures in the entire sport. You will remember the early, pre-hit-and-run, pastor’s son Jones, who put on a nice guy persona for the public.

But that seems to have been an act. Jones may have turned a corner recently, after all, no one is beyond changing for the better and seeking redemption. But the early Jones’ nice, respectful, Christian persona seems to have been just for show. At least that is what UFC veteran and Jones’ former teammate Michael Johnson‘s recent revelations about their personal relationship on ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry‘s podcast on YouTube seems to indicate.

“I go back with Jon quite a bit, man. We used to, I was out there training right before he fought ‘Shogun’ [Rua], you know. So me and him linked up and it was cool for a little bit,” Johnson recalled. Jones, of course, famously fought and annihilated the then-light heavyweight champ Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 128 in 2011 to become the UFC’s youngest-ever champion.

“Then he got rich and famous and got this clout and he stopped like f***ing with me, walk by me in the in the lobby and s**t, not really saying ‘what’s up.’ I’m like ‘damn Jon, that’s how we moving out here bro?'” Johnson added. This is a strange thing to do. After all, being training partners, even briefly, is an almost sacred relationship in the sport. Not even acknowledging a guy you trained and hung out with is the definition of entitled sc**bag behavior. At the time Jones became champion, Johnson was a largely unknown UFC grunt, fighting on Fight Night cards.

It seems that after Jones became champ, ‘Bones’ got a massive ego boost and may have just felt that Johnson was beneath him. Or there may be some reason ‘Bones’ developed a dislike for Johnson because of some personal issue. But then again, Jones was pretty young back then and may have changed for the better since. After all, more than a decade has passed since those days, and the consensus MMA GOAT is close to hanging it up. But even now some of his more unsavory character traits are on full display.

Why do fans think Jon Jones is being selfish with the Tom Aspinall fight?

Jon Jones had promised to retire after his UFC 309 showdown against Stipe Miocic last month. Despite there being an interim champ in the shape of Tom Aspinall in the division, Jones had shut down the prospect of fighting him every chance he got. But after the MSG card, ‘Bones’ changed his tune to some extent. Perhaps seeing that he has no other choice but to fight the Englishman next, he has demanded ‘f**k you money’ to unify the titles.

This, of course, has made him quite unpopular among fans, many of whom feel that the New Mexico resident is scared of losing to the generational talent that is Tom Aspinall. The reason ‘Bones’ had tried his best to not fight Aspinall, is that he thought a victory over the Englishman won’t do much good for his legacy. This brings us to another problem fans have with Jones- his selfishness.

The New Mexico resident seems to think that everything revolves around him, the sport be damned. After all, it is an unwritten rule in combat sports- especially MMA- that the ‘undisputed’ champ fights the interim champ as soon as they can. Not to mention this is the UFC, whose whole point is that the best fight the best.

Instead, Jones floated the idea of having ‘fun fights’ against easier opponents like Alex Pereira, Derrick Lewis, and Jamahal Hill. Why? Because that would be good for Jones personally. This tells you something about the type of person Jones is and is in line with how Michael Johnson’s story describes him. What do you think about Johnson’s revelations about his relationship with Jon Jones?