Former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones is set for his return in March this year. He is currently in a fight camp to prepare for his upcoming heavyweight title shot against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. However, ahead of his return on March 4, an old clip goes viral that shows Jon being heckled during an event. While the heckler was yelling at Jon, he showed a great deal of restraint and did not fire back.
So what exactly happened during the incident? UFC lightweight fighter Terrance McKinney shared the video on his Twitter account. In the caption, he added that a bodybuilder allegedly ran into Jon Jones at a public event and decided to confront the latter. The bodybuilder is an MMA fighter, named Chi Lewis-Parry and he certainly gave Jon a mouthful. However, Jon seemed to laugh it off.
Some body builder tried to go at Jon Jones and was about to have a bad day pic.twitter.com/0hmtaosbds
— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) February 19, 2023
But his mood soon changed when the person brought up Jon’s Super Bowl-winning brothers. Jon Jones has two brothers, Arthur Jones, and Chandler Jones. They have both played for high-profile NFL teams and had great careers respectively. Fans recently saw Jon share a frightening story of his daughter escaping a bobcat attack. So it is evident that he does not appreciate his family being dragged into an argument.
However, to Jon’s credit, he did not take any action against the instigator. But “Jonnny Bones” is no stranger to public confrontation. In the past, former UFC and the current Bellator fighter Corey Anderson also confronted Jon during a public event.
Who is the heckler in the video?
Although the video is going viral in 2023, the incident actually took place in 2019. The heckler in the video was Chi Lewis-Parry, who was one of Daniel Cormier’s sparring partners for his bouts against Jon Jones. Lewis-Parry is a kickboxer and has an MMA record of 9 wins, 2 draws, and 0 losses.
View this post on Instagram
During an interview with Submission Radio in 2019, Chi explained why he decided to confront the former champ at the BodyPower UK event. According to him, Jon sent him disparaging personal messages on social media. Hence, Chi Lewis-Perry decided to address the matter face-to-face with Jon Jones.
He said, “It was personal because the guy had been sending me messages all over the last couple of years, sending me these DM’s in the middle of the night,” Lewis-Parry said. “Dude, honestly, this guy, do you know what? I didn’t even post the stuff that he said because people don’t need to see that. People don’t need to see how disgusting he is.” (h/t via MMA Junkie)
Fans react to Chi Lewis-Parry confronting Jon Jones
Jon Jones is a changed man. Following his last arrest in 2021 due to an alleged domestic assault charge, Jones promised to turn his life around. To some extent, Jon has been successful in that. He has mainly focused on building up his physical frame for his big move to heavyweight. Even recently, he made an attempt to bury his hatchet with once bitter rival Daniel Cormier.
However, it is needless to mention that Jon Jones remains one of the, if not the best fighter in the world. If Jon decided to take matters into his own hand, things would not have ended well for the Chi Lewis-Parry and fans pointed it out as well. By the end of the footage, MMA manager Abraham Kawa was seen escorting the Lewis-Parry away. If the situation went on any longer, Jon would have perhaps retaliated.
Here are some Twitter reactions on the matter
At the end you can literally say the Jon Jones killer wake up 😭😭 https://t.co/eMb9LbtzFs
— Pere Jae (@SirJordann) February 20, 2023
Can you imagine if folks had swung on jon jones the fuckin elbow that he would’ve caught ? 😂😂 https://t.co/nWtobUqvYm
— 2M (@TwoMilligramss) February 20, 2023
Buddy was about to have a real bad day and he wasn’t even gonna know it 🤣 https://t.co/tMwqPQN5K1
— Ryne Scott (@ry_miller23) February 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/rajthepundit/status/1627524270925676544?t=9xLNfgKms-ClROub_qr7ZA&s=19
LMAOOOO nigga said do not hold me back and security got rid of that nigga asap https://t.co/9gtIUcpiBg
— Free TDxB47ANCE (@tdxb47ance) February 20, 2023
People act like Jon Jones didn’t try to kill his opponents in the cage lol. https://t.co/vNbDGNLntT
— Amiliano “Amil” Fragoso (@AmilianoFragoso) February 20, 2023
Man escaped an encounter with death https://t.co/tW0DiqTwDz
— The Anglerfish (@marlow_chase) February 20, 2023
What are your thoughts on the viral footage? Do you think Jon Jones handled the situation well? Let us know in the comments down below.