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‘Use your brain’…Israel Adesanya vehemently defends Jon Jones against trolling fan at UFC meet-and-greet

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Curtis Calhoun | Last updated Jul 1, 2025 9:04 PM ET

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya didn’t appreciate one UFC fan’s attempt to get him to troll Jon Jones.

Jon Jones‘s retirement continues to send shockwaves around MMA. The now-former UFC heavyweight champion decided to hang up the gloves a few weeks ago after months of speculation over a potential super fight with Tom Aspinall.

After Jones’s retirement, Aspinall was promoted as the UFC’s undisputed heavyweight champion and is expected to make his first title defense later this year. Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov are two names in the mix for Aspinall’s next opponent.

Jones’s retirement led many fans to express ire at the way he decided to end his career. UFC CEO Dana White remains perplexed by Jones’s retirement after months of assuring fans that the Aspinall fight would come to fruition.

Israel Adesanya scolds fan for getting him to say ‘F— Jon Jones’ for TikTok

While Jones has a loyal UFC fanbase, he’s also ruffled many feathers with his actions outside of the Octagon. Many fans have turned on Jones in recent years, especially in light of several run-ins with the law.

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Jones used to have a lot of bad blood earlier in their careers, but they squashed their beef after a meetup at UFC 290. Adesanya was one of several top UFC names to appear at the promotion’s annual fan expo in Las Vegas during UFC 317 fight week.

As one fan approached Adesanya to take a picture with the former champion, he asked Adesanya to say ‘F— Jon Jones’, prompting a strong reaction from the UFC superstar.

Watch the full interaction below.

Israel Adesanya didn’t like a fan asking him to say “f**k Jon Jones” today:

Izzy: “He’s going through a hard time right now.”

Fan: “So he beat his wife because of that?”

Izzy: “No, we all do dumb sh*t. No-one is perfect.”

DDPGlazer17 TikTokpic.twitter.com/JwznHM1iYI

— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) July 1, 2025

Israel Adesanya dismissed Jon Jones’s retirement as ‘rage baiting’ in comeback prediction

Adesanya isn’t buying Jones’s retirement, recently predicting that the UFC legend will eventually return to the Octagon for a comeback fight. Adesanya accused Jones of ‘rage baiting’ with his recent social media posts.

Since retiring, Jones has been discredited by Demetrious Johnson and other top analysts in the UFC GOAT debate. Johnson claimed that Jones’s history of PED use disqualifies him from being considered the greatest UFC fighter of all-time.

Jones’s last UFC fight came against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November. He defended the UFC heavyweight title one time after winning the then-vacant belt at UFC 285.