We’ve seen a lot of Jon Jones interviews this weekend as the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champ bounced from his Dirty Boxing event to UFC 327. There was the usual will he or won’t he return to fighting questions, many of which he answered in completely opposite ways.
And then there’s this little moment from Shea Filling, who has become a regular covering all the unorthodox boxing events like BKFC and now Jon Jones’ DBX event. After complimenting “Bones” on an impressive event she also
dropped this chestnut.
“You are nothing [like] what I expected,” she told Jones.
“Yeah? Did you expect me to be a scary guy?” Jones replied, raising an eyebrow.
“The media, there’s a lot of stuff out there about you,” Filling said. “And you think, ‘What would he be like in person?’ And you’re completely the opposite of that.”
“Thank you,” Jones said. “Yeah. You know, I am a little bit of a wild guy and and I’m pretty well known. So when I mess up, it gets very, very public. But I do believe I’m a way more good of a person than I am any negative. We all have our things, you know. We all have our sides. But I think I’m a pretty good person.”
Jones’ last ‘mess up’ (just a week ago!) was a road rage incident where he confronted someone in a parking lot with what looked like a gun in his hoodie pocket. That was the first whoopsie since an intoxicated Jones threatened to have a police officer murdered back in February 2025. Go back another year and Jones was accused of threatening a female DFSI agent who showed up at his door for a random test.
This isn’t the first time Jones has had to respond to comments like this. He’s been saying he’s not a villain and actually the nicest person ever since 2012. But we prefer the ultra-real Jon Jones from 2017 who was just returning to fight again after blowing a drug test and getting yanked from UFC 200’s main event.
“It’s all out there in the public, and that’s a freeing feeling to be looked at as a piece of s–t by so many people,” he said. “And to be able to just be real for yourself and to take responsibility for the things you’ve done wrong. I feel so free, man. It’s a great feeling to be who I am. Jon Jones, the f–k up. Jon Jones, the great. However, you look at me, it’s just great to be me.”
