Jon Jones Pushes Alexander Gustafsson Following UFC 232 Press Conference

The bad blood between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson nearly boiled over on Friday following the UFC 232 press conference in New York.

Jones and Gustafsson verbally jabbed back and forth at each other during several exchanges while answer questions from the media while reliving their first fight in anticipation of the rematch on Dec. 29.

“The last time I fought Alexander Gustafsson, a lot of people I remember the media was saying ‘this guy’s a lot like Jon Jones, he’s tall, he’s lanky, he can move and everything like that’. In my head, I was hot. I was on a roll and I just figured maybe he fights a lot like me but he’s not me,” Jones said about the first fight with Gustafsson. “I didn’t train as hard as I should have and I was winning so many fights and I was being a wild dude and I was still winning. It caught up to me.” 

“Excuses, only excuses,” Gustafsson fired back. “That’s all I hear. Nothing else. That’s all I hear. I beat you once, I’ll beat you again.”

Following the end of the press conference, Jones and Gustafsson faced off in a very tense stare down but nothing else happened in that moment.

A split second later when the fighters turned forward for photos, Jones stepped in front of Gustafsson, who then returned the favor as the two light heavyweights jockeyed for position on stage.

Jones didn’t take too kindly to the move and he shoved Gustafsson as UFC president Dana White rushed back into the face off to separate the two fighters.

Cooler heads prevailed but it’s obviously the tension shared between Jones and Gustafsson was very real and they are definitely looking forward to sharing the cage again in less than eight weeks time.