Jon Jones once again rips Daniel Cormier over ‘TowelGate’ incident

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 210, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier scored an impressive, second-round submission win over the ever-dangerous Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Regrettably, Cormier’s win was not without controversy.

On the Friday morning before his battle with Rumble, Cormier stepped onto the scale and weighed in a 206.2 pounds, 1.2 pounds over the required weight for a light heavyweight title fight. Initially, it looked as though disaster had struck. Cormier was over weight, and it appeared the title fight would be off. But then, in an unprecedented twist, he was allowed to weigh in again just minutes later, and this time, he met the required weight of 205 pounds. That’s where the controversy emerged.

Discerning fans noticed that, on this second weigh-in attempt, Cormier appeared to press down on his towel (UFC officials held a towel around him so he could strip down). By redistributing a small fraction of his weight from the scale to the towel, the champ was able to shed that last 1.2 pounds in mere minutes, and make championship weight. Clever? Yes. Ethical? Probably not.

In the wake of this incident, which has been nicknamed “TowelGate,” the MMA community seems to have many different opinions on it. Some are happy that Cormier did what was needed to assure UFC 210 included a title fight as planned. Others meanwhile, believe it was a dirty and unfair bending of the rules.

You can file Cormier’s biggest rival, Jon Jones, into this latter category.

After calling Cormier’s towel maneuver “one of the dirtiest things I’ve seen in sports,” Jones has now made his opinion on the ordeal clear again, sharing a photo to Instagram that calls Cormier the 206.2 pound champion of the world. See it below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSzs26qjf_g/?taken-by=jonnybones&hl=en

Jones, who never lost the light heavyweight title but was instead stripped after a litany of troubles outside the cage, is expected to return to action later this year. When he does, a grudge match with Cormier will be the biggest option on his menu.

What do you think of this latest jab from Jon Jones?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/13/2017.