Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith take a look at the social media activity of Conor McGregor and Jon Jones in their latest video.
Two of the biggest headline makers in the UFC are Conor McGregor and Jon Jones. Both have recently returned to being active in the organization within the past few months. Jones is set to return from a three-year absence to face Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285. McGregor will be returning from a nearly two-year absence to coach the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter and then fight Michael Chandler later this year. Despite big fights coming up for these two men they have been making headlines for their tweets rather than their fights.
Jones recently came out and tweeted that he felt redeemed for a past failed drug test. Because of a ruling change from the USADA a past failure by Jones would no longer be a violation today. It’s because of this he took to his social media and proclaimed his freedom. Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith took a look at what Jones said and gave their thoughts on the subject.
“I think either way at some point there was something in his system so I don’t necessarily know how all that works, to be honest,” Smith said.
“I mean those things were in his system you know so I’m always dubious you know anytime there’s a contaminated supplement defense and all the rest of it,” Bisping added.
Anthony Smith and Michael Bisping believe that Jon Jones and Conor McGregor have similar mindsets which lead to their greatness
Jones and McGregor are two of the most popular fighters on the roster. They also have found themselves in some hot water due to some of their Twitter activity. Recently McGregor sent a threatening message to a fellow UFC fighter Tom Aspinall when he threatened to kill him after receiving some criticism. Bisping and Smith believe that McGregor and Jones have similar mindsets, ones that make them great inside the cage but also leave them on the edge and combative on social media.
“Here’s what I think’s going on, it’s kind of the same reason why I’m excited for Jon Jones coming back,” Bisping said. “For Jones you know he’s definitely in the discussion about being the GOAT anytime you talk about Khabib, Islam, Volkanovski he’s very quick to jump on Twitter and say well, have you guys forgotten about me type of scenario. Because he feels forgotten about, he feels disrespected, it feels like you know people have basically as I said a moment ago forgotten about how great he was and I think that’s kind of what propels Conor a little bit as well.”
“Fighters in general, it’s like you hold onto stuff that got you to where you were but then once you don’t need it anymore you don’t ever let go of it,” Smith added. “So it’s like you kind of live like you’re in defense all the time, like you’re constantly defending yourself, how you feel, or you’re constantly like in a state of survival.”
Bisping went on to explain that he feels both men would be less guarded when they actually retire from mixed martial arts. He feels their defense mechanisms make them great and while they are still active will continue to do things the way they have always been done.
