Morning Report: Jon Jones makes ‘promise’ to Alexander Gustafsson – ‘You will never beat me’

It’s been a big week for Alexander Gustafsson. First, he went on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show and said beating Jon Jones is “bigger than taking the belt,” then he signed a“lucrative” new deal with the UFC, and now, Jon Jones is talking trash about him on the internet.

On Thursday, seemingly in response to Gustafsson’s recent public comments about him and their previous fight, Jones came out on Twitter to warn Gustafsson about any possible rematch between the two of them, promising that Gustafsson will never beat him.

Jones and Gustafsson had a memorable battle at UFC 165 with Jones eking out a unanimous decision win in the 2013 Fight of the Year. In their fight, Jones struggled with the boxing of Gustafsson, who was ahead on two of the judge’s scorecards after the third round and was on his way to winning the fourth until a massive spinning back elbow from Jones turned the tide. As if to prove the point that he is closing that boxing gap, Jones then posted a brief video of himself working mitts in his garage.

Jones was recently fined $205,000 and had his MMA license revoked by the California State Athletic Commission for his testing positive for the steroid Turinabol in an in-competition drug test in relation to his fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 last July. He is currently still facing sanctions from USADA for the failure, including a possible four-year suspension as a repeat offender, having previously tested positive for the banned substance clomiphene and Letrozol in 2016 which resulted in a one-year suspension. If and when he returns to the cage, a rematch with Gustafsson would be high among the MMA fans’ wish list as possible bouts for Jones.