That Phil Davis vs. Jon Jones matchup isn’t happening any time soon. But the war of words between the two light heavyweights is still going strong.
Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champion, poked fun at Davis last week after finding out Davis was leaving the UFC for Bellator MMA. Jones tweeted that maybe Davis’ “Mr. Wonderful” nickname will “come into play now” and also called him “Mr. JV” on a Google Hangout with Andrei Arlovski.
Maybe the whole wonderful thing will come into play now https://t.co/xRn7H9wqQl
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) April 16, 2015
Davis laughed when host Ariel Helwani told him what Jones said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.
“It sounds like I got under his skin more than a little bit,” Davis said. “It sounds like I’m living rent free right in the top of Jon Jones’ head. It’s interesting he has all that to say as I exit. It’s a little bit of a rivalry.”
Davis (13-3, 1 NC) fired the first salvos in his feud with Jones last year at UFC 172 in Baltimore. Jones fought Glover Teixeira in the main event and Davis ended up falling to Anthony Johnson in the co-main. If Davis had won that fight, he might have earned a title shot.
Davis, 30, once said that he would break Jones apart like a cookie, among other quips. Jones obviously remembered that when he talked about his rival last week.
“I do believe the competition is not as stiff at Bellator as the UFC so I think he’ll definitely be a top three guy in the world now,” Jones said on the Arlovski hangout. “Good for him. Maybe he’ll even win it. To be a world champion and to make a little more money, that’s a win-win. But good luck crumbling me like a cookie from all the way over there.”
Back in January before Davis fell to Ryan Bader at UFC on FOX 14 in Stockholm, he told reporters at a media lunch in Los Angeles that he could take Jones down in a fight any time he wanted.
“I’ll get him down and keep him down,” Davis said.
Davis didn’t express too much remorse about not getting the fight with Jones he built up so much. He told Helwani that he got a preferable deal from Bellator, so that’s where he went.
“I don’t fight to beat people; I fight to be the best,” Davis said. “Jon Jones is the best guy in the UFC and I definitely want to be the best. And that meant fighting him. I’m slightly bummed I didn’t get the chance to fight him. At the same time, not really.”
That doesn’t mean the beef will end here, though. Who knows? Maybe the Jones-Davis bout will still happen one day. Davis thinks “Bones” would like it to.
“He’s like your little brother or somebody,” Davis said. “There’s a part of Jon Jones that really wants to beat me.”