When asked whom he predicted to win Saturday’s lightweight championship fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, Jon Jones opted not to give a political answer.
Saturday, Khabib Nurmagomedov turned in his second successful title defense when he defeated Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 242. Prior to the event, Jon Jones provided an honest answer when asked whom he predicted to win the fight, but he also gave an equally honest answer for whom he’d be cheering for and why. And the response had much to do with a certain longstanding nemesis of his:
“I’m rooting for Dustin,” Jones admitted in a UFC 239 media scrum. “Me and Dustin, we’ve worked together. We’re both sponsored by PureKana CBD…so he’s one of my business partners and I, quite frankly, don’t like Daniel Cormier teammates. So I am rooting for Dustin Poirier.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov is a longtime teammate of Daniel Cormier at the American Kickboxing Academy and he has taken some small shots at Jones in the past. Back in the UFC 229 press conference last year, Khabib ripped USADA for its handling of Jon Jones’s most recent case, stating:
“USADA gives my friends two years for first time problem with USADA. They give us two years, my friends. What about Jon Jones? He have second time problem and they give him one and a half years?” Nurmagomedov told TMZ after arriving in New York for the UFC 229 pre-fight press conference.
“I think it’s very bad. It’s very bad. They have to give him a little bit more but now I understand — USADA is No. 1 bulls–t.”
Jon Jones did not disclose whether these comments contributed to him rooting for Dustin Poirier or not, but they certainly did not sway his judgment for how the fight would play out:
“Khabib’s a wrestler. I’m a wrestler. And wrestlers, oftentimes get to dictate where the fight goes…If I had to bet the house, I would lean on Khabib’s side, but I am hoping that Poirier can pull it off.”
Jones’ desire to see Khabib lose may have fallen short, but as a consolation, his prediction was bang on.
What are your thoughts for Jon Jones rooting against Khabib at UFC 242? Petty or understandable?
