Stone Cold Steve Austin is a big fan of the UFC, but he has a serious problem with the current light heavyweight champion. For whatever reason, Stone Cold does not like Jon Jones.
During a lengthy interview with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour,” Stone Cold ripped Jones for being a hypocrite who is “living two lives.”
“I mean, you here a little stuff on the side, about his lifestyle. I mean, his lifestyle is a little bit different than what he preaches,” Austin said, as transcribed by MMA Mania. “But, as a fighter, premiere. And, God, in the light heavyweight division! And (Alexander) Gustafsson really handed him his ass and took him in the deepest water that he’s ever been in. So that’s going to be a hell of a rematch. Anyway, he kind of gets on my nerves because I think he’s living two lives. To a degree, yes (he is a hypocrite).”
Jones was extremely quiet early in his career, but the longer he has retained the championship the more he has been feeling himself. A little over a month ago, Jones hurled some homophobic slurs toward a Gustafsson fan and claimed he was hacked. He also talked trash about Chuck Liddell and Phil Davis on social media a couple of weeks later.
“Yeah, (he annoys me), but in a good way,” Stone Cold continued. “I would love to see him get his ass kicked, because it’s going to take a hell of a man to be able to do that. I come from pro wrestling, I’m not a judge; but I think he (Gustafsson) did enough last time to get that victory.
“But, what that match proved to me about Jon Jones was that when he’s in deep waters, he had the heart of a champion. So, when I say some things about Jon Jones irritate me, I respect who and what he is inside that Octagon, make no mistake about that.”
In wrestling terms, it sounds like Stone Cold thinks of Jones as the perfect heel. Jones has held the light heavyweight title for more than three years and defended it seven times, so he has earned the right to be cocky. We’ll see if he can hang onto that privilege after a rematch against Gustafsson at the end of September.
H/T Bloody Elbow
