UFC stars Jon Jones and Khamzat Chimaev engage in hilarious grappling exchange

Jon Jones is back in Russia and he had a humorous grappling exchange with UFC Middleweight Champion Khamzat Chimaev.

Jones is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, while Chimaev has been building his reputation as being one of the most dominant fighters today. “Bones” and Chimaev have long wanted to meet each other, so naturally, their greeting involved a grappling exchange.

https://twitter.com/ChampRDS/status/1993117861217550470

Jones hopped on his X account to praise Chimaev for his dedication.

“We were able to have a great dinner together, he seemed so humble, focused, and driven,” Jones wrote. “At the end of the dinner he told me he needed to drive four hours back to the mountains to train.”

Back in 2022, Chimaev took to his YouTube Channel to express his desire to train with Jones. He showed respect for “Bones'” legendary run inside the Octagon.

“Maybe I will write to Jon Jones,” Chimaev said. “I said I want to train with him. The guys who he beat, it was monsters, monsters in his division. He didn’t get easy fighters but he made them look easy.”

Well-known MMA journalist Ariel Helwani has said UFC is hoping to book Jones against current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira for the White House card. Helwani also dismissed rumors claiming that Pereira vs. Carlos Ulberg is on the table for UFC 324.

As for Chimaev, his first UFC middleweight title defense isn’t known at this time. Most within the MMA community believe that Nassourdine Imavov is likely next in line for a title opportunity, but nothing has been confirmed at this time.

Chimaev captured the UFC Middleweight Championship with a dominant performance against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 318. Chimaev nearly had 22 minutes of control time against du Plessis on his way to capturing UFC gold for the first time in his career.