"He really intimidated me a lot" - Jon Jones glad he missed out on fight with this former UFC star

Jon Jones arguably boasts the most impressive resume in mixed martial arts, filled with wins over some of the sport's biggest legends. However, as it happens, there is one fight he's relieved that he missed out on.

'Bones' came up at light heavyweight during what many think was the heyday of the division. The New Yorker quickly climbed the ranks and claimed the title, defeating Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua.

He then proceeded to largely clean out the division, going through a bona fide death row, including Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Daniel Cormier, and Alexander Gustafsson, among others.

Nevertheless, he never got to face the late Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson. During a recent appearance on No Scripts Podcast, he got brutally honest about not getting to share the cage with 'Rumble':

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"I'll tell you guys a story. I ended up getting in trouble and not being able to fight against Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson... He was one of the scariest but most respectful people ever. I really missed out on that one, not being able to share the ring with such a human being. At the same time, somewhere in my heart, I was glad that I got in trouble."

Jones added:

"That's one that everybody missed out on. He really intimidated me a lot. But yeah, man. Jeez, that was, yeah, I didn't get to share the ring with him."

Check out Jon Jones' comments below (11:33):

Johnson was a former two-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger with knockout wins over Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, and Ryan Bader, among others. He passed away in 2022 at the age of 38 from organ failure due to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Jon Jones talks about his hilarious clap back at Tom Aspinall

Tom Aspinall chose not to continue fighting at UFC 321 after getting poked in the eyes by Ciryl Gane. Predictably, Jon Jones made sure not to let the opportunity slide after facing incessant ducking allegations from the Briton just a few months earlier.

Following the anticlimactic end to the pay-per-view, 'Bones' changed his profile picture to a duck with an eye patch. He then appeared at the DBX 4 weigh-ins, riding a horse and wearing an eye patch.

However, it seems there was no ill intent behind his actions, and it was all for a bit of fun. Speaking on the abovementioned podcast, Jones clarified:

"I'm just having fun with it, I'm having fun with it. Yeah. It's like, you know, he had at it with me. He had a long time coming at me. So, it's just to keep the fans engaged and just to keep things fun." [6:42 minutes into the interview]