Jon Jones admits ‘I would love to fight bare knuckle’ amid UFC rift

Bare knuckle fighting continues to attract some of the biggest names in combat sports. One of the latest to express interest is former two-division UFC champion Jon Jones.

Jones is widely considered the greatest fighter in MMA history. He is a multiple time champion at light heavyweight, and also enjoyed a brief reign as heavyweight champion. At the moment, he is technically retired from MMA, but he has kept the door to fighting again open.

Over the weekend, Jones was in attendance for the IBA Bare Knuckle 4 event in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The card was headlined by a clash between Russia’s Vagab Vagabov and former UFC star Yoel Romero. After Vagabov defeated Romero by controversial decision in the main event, he made a friendly callout of Jones.

“Listen, Jon Jones, I heard he’s going to fight bare knuckle. If this is true, then let’s throw hands,” Vagabov said.

Jones was then given the chance to respond. While he joked that he would not want to fight either Vagabov or Romero, he admitted he is definitely interested in trying his hand at bare knuckle fighting.

“I would love to fight bare knuckle,” he said. “But not against these two animals.”

See the full sequence below:

UFC legend Jon Jones open to bare knuckle fights

Jon Jones just got called out by a bare knuckle fighter after he beat Yoel Romero 😂

“I would love to fight bare knuckle, but not these two animals. No, no, no, no. I’m good.” pic.twitter.com/PF1HaWAcxC

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) March 28, 2026

Despite his retirement, Jones is still under contract with the UFC. While he is open to fighting for the promotion again, there seems to be significant disagreement about what he should be paid to do so.

If Jones is able to break free of his contract, he would be one of the most sought after free agents in combat sports (like this guy).

If he were to try his hand at bare knuckle, he would be the latest in a long list of former UFC stars to do so. Others include “Platinum” Mike Perry, Jeremy Stephens, Eddie Alvarez, Andrei Arlovski, Chad Mendes, and Ben Rothwell.

Would you like to see Jon Jones compete in bare knuckle?