The dust-up between former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate is heating up.
Tate initially commented on “losing faith” in Jones after he was fined $205,000 and had his fight license revoked by California with a pending case with USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) where he could face up to a four-year suspension for his second violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy.
“The thing is, I don’t really care at this point if he comes back because I’ve lost the motivation and the interest, and the faith that I have in Jon Jones has been lost,” Tate said on her weekly show on Sirius XM radio.
A short time later, Jones caught wind of Tate’s remarks and issued a tweet directed at his fellow former UFC champion.
“I don’t quit when things get tough for me, I get stronger,” Jones wrote. “You just wait and see, maybe you’ll even find motivation in it. Sucks I lost you as a fan. Enjoy retirement sister.”
@MieshaTate I don’t quit when things get tough for me, I get stronger. You just wait and see, maybe you’ll even find motivation in it. Sucks I lost you as a fan. Enjoy retirement sister
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) March 1, 2018
Although it seemed somewhat innocuous at the time, it appears Tate took at least some offense to Jones’ response.
“You make things tougher for yourself. I hope you can figure it out this tie, but I’m not holding my breath,” Tate wrote in a reply to Jones.
“Supported you plenty in the past and if you are implying I’m a quitter that’s pretty low. There’s a tie when all of us have to stop. Happy I walked away with a clean slate.”
@jonnybones u make things tougher 4 urself, I hope u can figure it out this time but I’m not holding my breath. Supported u plenty in the past & if ur implying I’m a quitter that’s pretty low. There’s a time when all of us have to stop & Happy I walked away with a clean slate https://t.co/uOuhVzPAG4
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) March 2, 2018
While Jones is mired in the adjudication of his latest UFC Anti-Doping Policy infraction, Tate has since retired from fighting and moved on to hosting her radio show and starting a management company.
Having defeated Holly Holm for the UFC bantamweight belt in March of 2016, Tate went on to lose the belt to current titleholder Amanda Nunes in July of that year before passing the proverbial torch to Raquel Pennington. Pennington defeated Tate by unanimous decision in November of 2016. That was the last time that Tate set foot in the Octagon.
