Getty Joe Rogan speaks with Jon Jones during the UFC 214 weigh-in at Honda Center on July 28, 2017 in Anaheim, California.
Light heavyweight champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, Jon “Bones” Jones, shared a screenshot of a private conversation he said he had with middleweight star Paulo “The Eraser” Costa. Costa, who is currently ranked No. 2 in the middleweight division and in line for a shot at Israel Adesanya’s title, has thrown shade at Jones on Twitter in the past.
For example, on June 8 Costa replied to one of Jones’ tweets about setting up a light heavyweight championship fight between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz and potentially fighting Adesanya in 2021. The Eraser said, “Sorry JJ, I will erase Izzy in 2020. In 2021, I will erase everyone. Stay retired.”
Jones said a few weeks ago that he was vacating his light heavyweight belt because of a contract dispute with the UFC.
According to Bones, he replied to Costa through direct message and the champ shared a screenshot of what appears to be the conversation. He said to Costa: “Once you get 100,000 followers on Twitter I still start replying to you publicly. Why did you have to start with the insults man, the wasn’t very nice. You hurt my feelings. It’s not too late to apologize.”
Costa replied, “Hello Jon, if you felt bad I’m sorry. Was not my intention, really. I wish all the best to you sincerely. This is a humor page too, don’t take things here too seriously. But if you want I can delete it without any problems. As I said it is not the same sense to offend.”
In the caption of the tweet that showed the conversation, Jones wrote: “Lol this dude is a b*tch, I was being sarcastic and he actually apologized.” Bones has since deleted the tweet, something the champ does often. Here is a screenshot of the alleged conversation with Costa:
TwitterJon Jones and Paulo Costa message exchange.
BJPenn.com journalist Chris Taylor shared the tweet as well:
Jon Jones played tweet and delete after sharing these direct messages from Paulo Costa
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The Eraser Said That the Screenshot Jones Shared Is ‘Fake’
The top-ranked middleweight has claimed that the screenshot Bones shared was fake. One fan shared a screenshot of Jones’ tweet, asking: “Paulo what’s this??” The Eraser answered, “Fake.”
Another fan asked The Eraser on Twitter: “Hey paulo how about you beat izzy then take his dream fight at las vegas in 2021 against jon jones.” The fighter responded, “If Jon still alive until 2021 it will happens.”
Jones Is Still the Light Heavyweight Champion Even Though He Said He Was Vacating the Title
After Jones announced a few weeks ago that he was vacating his belt, the fighter has been mostly silent about his MMA career. He is still officially the light heavyweight champion as per the UFC rankings. Bones is also ranked as the No. 1 active male pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion.
The last time the light heavyweight king stepped into the Octagon was on February 8 when he took on Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC 247. He defended his belt by unanimous decision in what turned out to be an all-time classic bout. Many viewers scored the match for Reyes, and he has campaigned for a rematch with Bones since their fight.
Before Jones announced he was vacating his title, he publicly campaigned for a fight with Francis Ngannou at heavyweight. Bones went into negotiations with the UFC for the match, but he said the promotion was unwilling to pay what he was asking for. That incident, coupled with feelings of being underpaid for most of his career, Bones made the statement that he was walking away from his belt.
Earlier this month, UFC president Dana White told the media that he and Jones will “figure it out.” Click the link below to read more about White’s remarks.
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