Kickboxer and Daniel Cormier’s teammate Chi-Lewis Parry talks in detail about his previous confrontation with Jon Jones.
In mid-May, former Glory kickboxer and American Kickboxing Academy fighter Chi-Lewis Parry had a confrontation with Jon Jones. As seen on video, Parry was goading on the UFC light heavyweight champion, asking “where are your brothers now?”
As it turns out, those statements were rooted to something deeper, when Parry had a previous encounter with Jones backstage during the pre-fight press conference for the Jones-Cormier rematch at UFC 214 in July 2017.
Speaking to John Hyon Ko of Kumite TV (via the Body Lock MMA), Parry detailed how Jones’ brothers got involved in the said backstage confrontation.
“We went to the arena to do this press conference like an hour later. I was backstage and I bumped into Alistair Overeem who I’ve known for many years,” Parry explained. “Originally, I was with the group but DC and them carried on walking, they didn’t see me stop. So I’m talking with Alistair for like 10 minutes, catching up with him because I haven’t seen him for a while.
“When I turn to leave, here comes Jon and his brothers and like an entourage, it was like five or six people. And they tried to surround me like they were going to f—ng jump me. I just squared up to Jon and was like ‘what are you gonna do?’ His brother started getting involved, jumping up and down like he was going to do something.
Parry went on to say how Jones wasn’t able to stand up for himself without other people around him.
“He wasn’t on his own, but he had his manager with him at the first encounter,” Parry said of Jones. “But the second time, he had his brothers, all of a sudden, he was a different guy. I’m not saying he was afraid the first time. But he was not as cocky the first time, he wasn’t as willing to step forward.
“But the second time, he had his brothers being all loud and noisy, that he’s kind of stepping to me. And I was like ‘oh, now you got your brothers.’ That was the meaning behind that ‘where are your brothers now?’ Because he was happy standing behind that table. But he comes over to say to the security guard ‘don’t hold him back’ but he’s still behind the security guard.
“See what I’m saying? So it’s all a façade,” he continued. “I’m sure he’d be happy to fight me but in the cage. He wasn’t happy to fight me in the street.”
Jones is currently slated to defend his title against Thiago Santos this Saturday, July 6th at UFC 239 in Las Vegas.