Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
An image has surfaced on Twitter showing the two championship wrestlers hanging out during their Iowa roommate phase.
Back before Colby Covington blew the collective minds of MMA fans around the world by fully embracing MAGA and Donald Trump as his troll aesthetic, he used to keep things relatively meat and potatoes by dishing s**t on his former college roommate, one Jon Jones.
As usual with Colby it’s hard to know what is real and what’s just Colby saying stuff, but they did indeed live together during their time at Iowa Central Community College, and now we have photographic evidence of this magical era.
Jon jones and Colby Covington partying together (that’s actually colby) #MMATwitter pic.twitter.com/OGTDCzQnm6
— Michael”Left Hook Larry”Bisping (@MMA_UFC_BANTER) August 31, 2019
Oh, to be transported back to the simple days circa 2006 … was America great back then? We’d have to ask Colby, but they certainly seemed simpler. Both young men where championship level wrestlers, and it would be two years later that Jon would step into the cage for the first time and start competing in MMA. Interestingly enough, Covington tested the waters first around the same time this picture would have been taken. He holds an amateur MMA win from back in August of 2006, his lone match before going pro in 2012 and hitting the UFC in 2014.
No one cared too much about Covington as he toiled away on UFC prelims, but he did manage to generate press when bringing up his old roommate.
”When you’re in a small town in Iowa, a lot of kids are farm kids and they always wanted to start some stuff with the wrestlers,” Covington told FOX Sports in 2014. “I was a national champ in college and Jon was a national champ, so they’d always try to pick fights at our house parties and stuff. We would just clear out the place of a bunch of townies. Especially Jon — he’d be throwing people through windows and stuff. It was nuts. He has a bad temper, when he gets mad, he gets mad.”
Covington eventually graduated from airing Jones’ dirty (and smelly) college laundry during interviews to calling his ol’ school chum out directly on Twitter, eliciting this classic response from “Bones”
Yes because I’ve been using your name and interviews talking about some imaginary college two year relationship.
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) November 16, 2017
At the end of the day brother, I feel sad for you. I couldn’t imagine holding that type of animosity in my heart.
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) November 16, 2017
Your jealousy and hatred for me it’s clear as day. The weird thing is, I’m not even sure what I did to you. I haven’t seen you in like 11yrs
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) November 16, 2017
Just wish you would smash some people in the octagon and become more recognize that way instead
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) November 16, 2017
And now Covington’s doing both. Happy?